Run 62, 2010 …update on hill training…

Today’s hill training session consisted of a 2 km warm up followed by 4 hill climbs and of course, 4 downhills and ended with a 2 km cool down for a total of 8 km. The hill was the same as last week, a 500 meter hill with a 12% grade. My times were a bit better today. The 4 uphill segments were 4:54 – 4:53 – 4:40 and the last slowed down quite a bit at 5:10 partly because it was my 4th try but also because I tackled it after a 500 meter flat bit just to see how that would feel. The first three hill runs were separated by a 3 or 4 minute rest before the next set, but after a similar rest, on the 4th I decided to try running a good pace for 500 meters on the flat before hitting the hill. The corresponding downhills were 2:44 – 2:47 – 2:43 and 2:55, again a bit slower for that 4th downhill. I noticed that if I shortened my stride and quickened my cadence (2:47), I was a bit slower than if I lengthened my stride and lowered my cadence (2:43) but the difference is not that great over 500 meters. I don’t really know yet what to make of that or what it means. I guess I have to find the most comfortable pace and stride length by how I feel because the times are not all that different.

The uphills seemed a bit easier than last week and I am finding that the ideal stride length is getting easier to recognize – and the same can be said for the downhill runs. I feel that the longer the stride length, the faster I can go either uphill or downhill. Shortening the stride and trying to make up for that by increasing the cadence doesn’t seem to work quite as well or be quite as fast. Also, especially on the uphills, the longer my stride the softer I land and the closer my feet are to the ground. If I go with too long of a stride though, the benefits disappear as I begin to use too much power in what seems to be an inefficient way. The same can be said of the downhills although it feels very different in terms of the amount of effort and oxygen I use than in the uphills. I need to have the longest stride possible so that my feet barely leave the ground without letting my heels drag. I let gravity do as much work as possible. The longer I have both feet in the air the less energy I seem to use. Finding the right balance requires me to go fast enough but not so fast that I lose control and begin to break too hard. You don’t want to be breaking, and above all, you never want to heel strike.

So again, I don’t quite know what to make of all this, but I hope it helps me in my upcoming trail race this Saturday. I will not be running again until then in order for me to heal up from this training session plus I have karate Tuesday night which is always a killer on the legs anyway. That’s why I won’t be running again until the race.

After the race I will be back to my normal training sessions but one day a week will be devoted to intensive hill training. I think I need to run that whole river valley trail system because there are a lot of really tough hills there and that would also be a more realistic hill training session and a change of pace from my regular flat road runs that I seem to have been stuck with these last few years.

I don’t think I will be hill training or even running on the Sunday following Saturday’s 16 km trail race but the next Sunday I think I will measure and tackle a different hill. The one I have in mind is not quite as steep, I think, but it is 1 km long. Did I mention I liked running?

I actually like hill training so far.