Most of the runners I’ve coached who are stressed by hills in races have not done much (if any) hill training. As they worry about hills, the negative attitude hormones lower motivation. Running the following workouts at least every 14 days desensitizes runners to the adversity of the hill. Most develop a hill technique that allows them to run on hilly courses without any more fatigue than flat courses. The regular insertion of hill workouts will bestow a significant confidence that helps in every aspect of running and racing, reducing stress and boosting the effect of positive peptides.
Hill training strengthens the legs for running better than any other activity I know. At the same time it can help you maximize an efficient stride length, increase leg speed, and improve your ability to run hills in races. The hill training workouts should not leave you exhausted. Over several weeks, hill work can gently introduce the feet, legs, and cardiovascular system to faster running while also improving confidence.
Hill workout
Length:
Beginners: 50 to 100 walking steps
Intermediate: 100 to 200 walking steps
Advanced: 200 to 300 walking steps
Walk for 2 to 3 minutes.
Jog and walk to a hill for about 10 minutes. Beginners or runners making a comeback should jog 1 minute and walk 1 minute (a longer warm-up is fine) during the first few weeks of training.
Do four acceleration-gliders listed in the previous drills section.
Reverse this warm-up as your cool-down.
Choose a hill with a moderate grade—steep hills often cause problems.
Run up the hill for 5 seconds and then down for 5 seconds, gently. Walk for 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat this 5 to 10 times. This finalizes the warm-up.
Walk for 2 to 3 minutes.
Run the first few steps of each hill acceleration at a jog, and then gradually pick up the turnover of the feet as you go up the hill.
Get into a comfortable rhythm so that you can gradually increase this turnover (number of steps per minute) as you go up the hill.
Keep shortening stride length as you go up the hill.
It’s OK to huff and puff at the top of the hill (due to increased turnover and running uphill), but don’t let the legs get overextended or feel exhausted.
Run over the top of the hill by at least 10 steps.
Jog back to the top of the hill and walk down to recover between the hills. Walk as much as you need for complete recovery after each hill.
Hill workout—Running form
Start with a fairly short comfortable stride.
As you go up the hill, shorten the stride.
Touch lightly with your feet.
Maintain a body posture that is perpendicular to the horizontal (upright, not leaning forward or back).
Pick up the turnover of your feet as you go up and over the top.
Keep adjusting stride so that the leg muscles don’t tighten up—you want them as resilient as possible.
Relax as you go over the top of the hill, and glide (or coast) a bit on the downside.
Hill training strengthens lower legs and improves running form
The incline of the hill forces your legs to work harder as you go up. The extra work up the incline and the faster turnover build strength. By taking an easy walk between the hills and an easy day afterward, the lower leg muscles rebuild stronger. Over several months, the improved strength allows you to support your body weight farther forward on your feet. An extended range of motion of the ankle and Achilles tendon results in a bonus extension of the forward foot—with no increase in effort. You will run faster without working harder. What a deal!
Running faster on hills in races
Maintain the same breathing rate as you go up the hill as when on the flat. As you go up the hill, you will shorten the stride. This reduces effort and allows most runners to maintain the same turnover rate of feet as when on flat terrain. Once you train yourself to run with efficient hill form, you’ll run faster with increased turnover on the hill workouts. This prepares you to do the same in races. You won’t run quite as fast in a race as in your workouts. But through hill training you train yourself to run faster than you used to run up the same hill on a race course.
Hill technique in a race is the same as in workouts: Keep shortening stride as you move up the hill. Monitor your respiration rate; don’t huff and puff more than you were doing on the flat. As runners improve their hill technique in races, they find that a shorter and quicker stride reduces effort while increasing speed. The technique is right for the individual when there is no increase in breathing rate even when the turnover rate is increased slightly.
Note: On your long runs and easy running days, just jog up hills. Don’t run faster up the hill. If your breathing is increasing on a hill, reduce effort and stride length until your respiration is as it was on the flat ground—or take more frequent walk breaks than when on the flat.
Downhill form
Maintain a light touch of the foot.
Use an average stride—or quick shuffle.
Keep feet low to the ground.
Let gravity pull you down the hill.
Turnover of the feet will pick up.
Try to glide (or coast) quickly down the hill.
Biggest mistakes—Too long a stride and bouncing too much
Even when the stride is one or two inches too long, your downhill speed can get out of control. If you are bouncing more than an inch or two off the ground, you’ll risk pounding your feet and having to use your quads to slow down (producing soreness) and creating hamstring soreness due to overstriding. Best indicator of overstriding is tight hamstrings and sore quads the next day. Using a quick and slightly shorter stride allows you to run just as fast downhill as with a long stride without sore quads, sore shins, or aggravated hamstrings.