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Articles
Secrets of Hill Training (May 2006)
There are a couple of ways you can look at hills: One: they are a pain-in-the-butt and should never have been invented. Two: every time you run one, you are that much stronger.
If you belong to the group that believes the first premise, let's just say it's amazing you showed the self-discipline required to get out the door and run. If you belong to the second group, we have some tips for you that will help you glide up hills that much easier.
Hill training builds leg strength. The main driver muscles in the quadriceps and the calf muscles are developed. Strength is important later in speed training. And you'll need a fair amount in any race, particularly the marathon.
Another ingredient that hills bring is a thing called character. As you do hill repeats, mentally, or verbally if it helps, repeat the words "character, character." On race day, think back to the hill you trained on and repeat the word "character." It should go easily. No course has 12 back-to-back hills.
We have all seen runners attacking hills with their heads down and arms pumping away. But if you bend your head and lean forward, you are constricting the flow of oxygen to your lungs at the very time when your heart needs it most. Their primary purpose is to keep you in a relaxed upright posture. The power is coming from your legs.
The first thing to do when you begin hills training is to find a hill, of course. It should be about 600 yards (or metres) in length, with an incline of between 10 and 15 per cent. The idea is to strengthen the legs by pushing them and then resting them to build up for an even greater effort.
Here's a tip we'd appreciate you not passing on. (Even fun runners like an edge.) As you run up the hill, keep your posture erect and look up the hill parallel to the surface. In doing this, an amazing thing happens. The hill flattens and is not visually as tough as it is when you look up occasionally as you slug it out with your head down.
Concentrate on keeping good form and increase the rhythm of your arms slightly as you near the crest of the hill and push over it.
Shorten your stride accordingly as the degree of steepness increases. Keep your chest out and breathing relaxed. Think of the power coming from your legs, strong and efficient.
The key is to maintain the same effort as you go up the hill. Your speed will slow slightly and increase again as you reach the crest. Keep the same effort at the crest and run past the top. You can then turn around and congratulate yourself on a job well done.Start with four hill repeats and increase by one repeat each successive week, working to a maximum of 12. After a hill session, allow two days before attempting another quality workout. Always make sure you are thoroughly warmed up and relaxed before you begin. Make sure you have taken on plenty of fluids and you have water available if you are doing a number of repeats. The rule of thumb is to drink between one-third of a cup and a cup every 15 to 20 minutes during exercise.
The intensity for those using their target heart rate is 85 per cent of your target heart rate. The intensity for those not using a monitor is to reach the point where you should just start to notice your breathing coming up the hill.
By the time you get back to the bottom of the hill, you should be fully recovered and ready to attack the hill again.
A word to the wise if you are hill training with a group. Warm up with your buddies, but the hill is yours to conquer at your own speed. It isn't a race, but a quality individual workout.
It is now easy to attack all hills, because you know how to make them look flat. Once you get into hill workouts, you will be amazed at how many times you drive up or down a hill in your car and mentally tell yourself: "I must come back and run that one." They're magic.
RULES OF HILL TRAINING:
- Warm up for 20 minutes and cool down for 10 minutes
- Start with four repeats
- Work up to a maximum of 12 repeats
- Two days of easy workouts follow a hill session
- Keep posture erect
- Visualize a flat hill