I face “the beast” almost every morning of my life – a long 20% grade that I must get up at the end of every workout, whether 3 miles or 10.

Yeah, I live on top of a hill and that means that running hills on a regular basis just isn’t an option for me. Oh sure, I always say I’m going to walk it – that I know constantly running hills is flirting with disaster. But somehow its like “the beast” taunts me, forcing me to attack that last 3/4 mile with everything I have left. In fact, my hill nemesis has become something of a fitness gauge for me; how easily I run it is a solid indicator of my overall training.

Well, I figure if I have to deal with it daily, I might as well do it right. So what constitutes good hill running form? Here’s what I found out:


 

1.     Keep your arms moving, swinging back and forth at 90 degrees from the elbow

2.     Lean slightly forward into the hill (no hunching which deceases lung volume)

3.     Run relaxed the first 2/3 of the hill then, push harder over the top

4.     Stand tall (engages your glutes and helps you power up the hill)

5.     Keep shorter strides, getting up more on your forefoot

6.     Maintain a more rapid turnover than on flat terrain

7.     Keep you head focused forward, not up

8.     Breathe deep and under control

9.     Mentally break the hill into segments

Actually, in my research I found out that properly running hills will help your speed, building general leg strength especially in the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves. All good.

It’s great news for me, but what if you live in a place that’s not “hill endowed”?

Well, you can do a pseudo hill workout on bleachers or there’s always the “dreadmill!” Try this one:

Do a warm up on a treadmill at 0 incline (5 – 10 minutes). Then increase the incline by two levels every two minutes until you are at level 12. Run one to two minutes slower than your normal pace, then “descend” in the same way.

OK, now I know you’re jealous of my “beast”…NOT!

• Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

Tags: hill running, running form, treadmill workouts

Nope, never done it. It does look like a hard workout. I'm actually not I'm hardcore enough! Posted by: MMarie on Dec 01, 2010 at 08:27 PM

Oooh! That IS perfect for repeats. I am going to have to look around and see if I can find something gentle on which to do drills. NO WAY will the beast accommodate - and most of 'em around here are just as severe. Have you ever done the bleacher thing? It looks like a hard workout. Posted by: bmoore on Dec 01, 2010 at 03:58 PM

I live in one of the flattest parts of the country, and always assumed that there wouldn't be anywhere but the (dread)mill to run hills. Granted, this'll be a lot less possible for people without a car, but even in these flat-as-a-pancake middle states, there are some hills. You just have to look for them and travel to them. I found a hill only a few miles from my house (so I just consider running to it my warm-up) that's almost 200 meters long and a good 6-7% grade, perfect for hill repeats. So even if you live in a flat region, look around. You may be able to find at least one hill anyway. Posted by: MMarie on Dec 01, 2010 at 02:25 PM

Oh Yay! Another girl with the conqueress mentality! Yeah, I sometimes find myself envying those women runners living in coastal Florida - all those fast, flat miles (its kinda like wanting curly hair when you have straight :-), but I know that these hills ultimately make us stronger runners. My Garmin e;evation-tracking logs look like an EKG! Posted by: bmoore on Dec 01, 2010 at 10:11 AM

The terrain on which I train is quite hilly--the flattest I get is "less hilly", but never flat. This was a very useful article for me...I have the same trouble with the hill beasts--I just have to conquer that hill every time! Thank you for the article. Posted by: Kritter68 on Nov 30, 2010 at 08:16 PM