How do you run hills?

Dilbert75

Not sure where this'll go - I may be the only one who's curious about this. But when you're running hills - either up or down - do you aim for:
- Constant speed (vary effort to maintain speed)
- Constant effort (vary speed depending on whether going up or down)
- Mix of both / neither in particular

Mrs. Dilbert tends to try to blaze off down hills and slow down going up them. I normally try to keep constant speed - bank the energy going downhill, use it going uphill. What works for you?

RoyMcC

The standard instruction is to maintain effort, dig in, work the arms.

However I imagine some of the racers on here would agree that a nice hill is an ideal opportunity for an attack - see who's got the heart to stick with you when you make a break while they're digging in.

Oh, and run off the top, don't relax at that point.

mr.wiggle

Good question D, personally, I HATE HILLS !!
Now given that i run in north cork, its all feckin hills and you'd think i'd be getting use to them ! :pac:
In the past I've always dropped off the pace considerably on hills and rises, and pulled back the average times on the flat . Its only in the past month that I've decided to try and keep my pace up on hills. I've been decreasing my stride and increasing my cadence whilst dropping my hands down lower to around my hips. It is taking a very concious effort to do this and I can feel my heart rate climb, but I've had enough of feeling that the hills are get the better of me !! Some runners that I train with just love hills and its always amazed me to see them take off into the distance on runs , leaving me cursing , and on my own
Hopefully some of the more experienced sloggers on here will have some good advise for us on this !


Rgds, Mr.W~

ss43

RoyMcC wrote: »

The standard instruction is to maintain effort, dig in, work the arms.[/QUOTE

Does the standard instruction explain this? I don't get it.

RayCun

I'd go with even effort.
Uphill - take shorter steps, and pump your elbows back to help drive your legs forward
Downhill - maintain the effort, don't slack off. Longer strides, arms away from your body for balance, try to land on your forefoot rather than your heel so you are maintaining momentum instead of braking with each footfall

spurscormac

RayCun wrote: »

I'd go with even effort.
Uphill - take shorter steps, and pump your elbows back to help drive your legs forward

For uphill I have always pumped the arms - fists moving from hip to shoulder, elbows not moving ahead of your hip. Your feet are in sync the movement of your arms, so by focusing on them, you can keep the cadence high to help maintain your pace.

n-dawg

For me it very much depends on the distance of the race and where the hill is in the race.

For a shorter race up to 10 miles... if the up hill is in the first half I will keep things steady (constant effort). Then for down hills I will stay relaxed and let my stride lengthen and leg speed increase a little. For the down hill you are just trying never to waist energy by braking. If the hill is towards the end, I will attack hard up it (in a way constant speed). If there is a down hill towards the end you have to just go hell for leather down it. Aim to accelerate with every stride.

For longer races its much more about constant effort, shortening your stride a little for uphills while just relaxing and letting gravity take you down the hill (again don't break).

Do some hill/trail races they will give you a new perspective on what you call a hill.

nerraw1111

I would’ve thought it depends on the hill. No hard and fast rules. A short hill, it may be worth maintaining the same pace and upping the effort to get over it and then recover on the downhill.
But do that on a long steep hill and you’ll blow up in no time. Depends on the hill too. A short steep hill may be followed by a very long gradual descent. Perfect for attacking it.

IronmanJNR

RayCun wrote: »

I'd go with even effort.
Uphill - take shorter steps, and pump your elbows back to help drive your legs forward
Downhill - maintain the effort, don't slack off. Longer strides, arms away from your body for balance, try to land on your forefoot rather than your heel so you are maintaining momentum instead of braking with each footfall

+1
Nicely put

Dilbert75

Are any of you concerned about changing your gait running down hills? If you maintain effort & stretch out, your stride length is probably going to change a lot, so your feet will land differently. Do you find that and, if so, do you find it a welcome break from your normal gait or does it cause problems?

downthemiddle

To answer the OP's question- with great difficulty!

RayCun

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Are any of you concerned about changing your gait running down hills? If you maintain effort & stretch out, your stride length is probably going to change a lot, so your feet will land differently. Do you find that and, if so, do you find it a welcome break from your normal gait or does it cause problems?

I'd go with welcome break.
But I run on roads, not proper hills, so I rarely have more than a couple of minutes of downhill running, or very steep hills. More extended climbs and descents could be a different story.

hot to trot

RayCun wrote: »

Uphill - take shorter steps, and pump your elbows back to help drive your legs forward

IN Catherine Mc Kiernans Chi running course she advises to pump your arms Upwards as if punching someone under the chin. You still activate the legs but the forward momentum of the arms pulls you upwards as well

hot to trot

RayCun wrote: »

Uphill - take shorter steps, and pump your elbows back to help drive your legs forward

IN Catherine Mc Kiernans Chi running course she advises to pump your arms Upwards as if punching someone under the chin. You still activate the legs but the forward momentum of the arms pulls you upwards as well

Another thing... if starting hills for the first time, dont try to blast up . Hills strengthen legs and cardiovascular systems. At first just run up at regular pace until your legs can cope with the extra effort and then you can start going up faster to challenge your CV. Otherwise you risk injury.
You wouldnt go from jogging 5k to doing 8k tempo runs. You have to increase one thing at a time.

Dilbert75

Tried that technique and really took off! Never would have thought it but a good tip.

tyw3724e

think like a car, change the gear

rom

hot to trot wrote: »

IN Catherine Mc Kiernans Chi running course she advises to pump your arms Upwards as if punching someone under the chin. You still activate the legs but the forward momentum of the arms pulls you upwards as well

Another thing... if starting hills for the first time, dont try to blast up . Hills strengthen legs and cardiovascular systems. At first just run up at regular pace until your legs can cope with the extra effort and then you can start going up faster to challenge your CV. Otherwise you risk injury.
You wouldnt go from jogging 5k to doing 8k tempo runs. You have to increase one thing at a time.

She says 70/30 % arms/legs on hills while 50/50 on the flat while hands normally would swing behind you with your elbows not passing your hips. Also she said imagine that you are 4/5 feet ahead of where you actually are. Sounds mental but I find it works as it keeps your mind off it.

EMPM

I know that there is no substitute for getting out on the road and doing hill reps but due to time constraint a lot of my running is done on the threadmill, what would be a decent incline to set the threadmill at to get a good hill workout.

thanks

rom

EMPM wrote: »

I know that there is no substitute for getting out on the road and doing hill reps but due to time constraint a lot of my running is done on the threadmill, what would be a decent incline to set the threadmill at to get a good hill workout.

thanks

Most tm's have hill programs built in if you are using a good one ?

Seanie_H

Dilbert75 wrote: »

Are any of you concerned about changing your gait running down hills? If you maintain effort & stretch out, your stride length is probably going to change a lot, so your feet will land differently. Do you find that and, if so, do you find it a welcome break from your normal gait or does it cause problems?

I read many moons ago an article (of course I can't place where) from a guy who was a regular pacer in marathons. His advice was (amongst other things such as never wave or clap during a race, conserve your energy!)that whenever you get the opportunity on a downhill you should drop your arms down to an almost vertical straight to relax your shoulders and then similar to the Chi running principal, lean forward and don't fight the hill. It tends to leave you thundering downhill like you used to gallop like a child.

My thought was it doesn't seem right.... why is nobody else doing it. also I was concerned about the high impact of the extended stride and strike. However, I've been doing it for many a run since and beyond being a good laugh, it's a great rest for the shoulders and a cheap way to increase your pace (rather than fight gravity by resisting the pull down the hill).

Worked a treat in the Garden County 7km a few weeks ago.