Training

The Ups and Downs

March 16, 2009
By John Lofranco

Running up and down hills is the aspect of trail running that most runners find the most daunting. The terrain is nice and soft, the scenery is great, but man, those hills. There is good news, however. You can learn how to tackle the ups and downs of trail running with preparation and practice.

Running uphill, by its very nature, tends to eliminate many bad habits of form, and encourages the most efficient stride. Why is that? Well, because you want to get up that hill as quickly and with as little work as possible, and gravity lets you know every time you step out of line.

What’s the best way to run?

-First of all, lean forward a bit.

-Take care not to bend over from your hips, because this could hurt your lower back. Instead, angle your whole body forward, so you’re up on your toes.

-Take shorter strides than you would on flat ground and swing your arms a little more. Running uphill is a good place to use the old trick of swinging your arms more quickly to increase the cadence of your legs.

-Really focus on the drive phase of your stride. Use the ball of your foot to push off, and look up the hill.

Running up long hills (or as they’re sometimes called, mountains)

-It’s important to control your heart rate when going for a long climb - if you go too hard, too early, your legs will get that burning feeling and when you have nowhere to go but up, it’s hard to recover.

-On long hills, as in mountain running, where climbing can last for around an hour in the long-course race, or sections of 10 to 15 minutes in the short-course race, rhythm becomes important. I try to incorporate a pattern of breaths to steps.

-On the early part of a climb, try to stick to four steps per breath.

-If it gets steeper and you need to increase the power, or you’re going to pass someone, go to three steps per breath

-Near the end, when you know you can push right through, switch to two steps per breath.

In a regular trail run or race, breath patterns are less of an issue, as you’ll usually have a corresponding downhill or flat for recovery, but you can still pace yourself by going easier up the hills early in the race, and charging up the later hills. Of course this means you should be well-acquainted with the course. Going over the route can help you plan your effort, and knowing you have that downhill coming up, or that you are on the last climb, will help get you through that long, burning hill. In any case, form and training aside, running up hills requires mental strength and confidence - something you can gain by experience, either through workouts or racing, and by knowing the course and feeling prepared for your run.

Going down? Let ‘er rip

Running downhill requires a different kind of mental strength that’s not always familiar to distance runners. Instead of having to push, drive and gut your way through, as is the case at the end of a road race, or at the top of a big hill, running downhill requires you to let go. Interestingly, some of the same advice applies regarding form:

-Lean forward and stay on your toes.

-Stay perpendicular to the hill, or slightly further forward.

-Keep your feet directly under your body.

-Your strides should be short and, as a result, quick.

-Use gravity to generate a fast turnover.

-This is where the mental strength kicks in to trust that you won’t end up in a big ball of dust, grass and branches at the bottom of the hill.

-The natural tendency going down a hill is to brake. If you want to get down as fast as possible, you need to let up on the brake, lean into the hill and let ‘er rip.

It sounds simple, but it’s not easy. Running downhill takes practise, and knowledge of the terrain is again key, so you don’t slip on a rock, wrench your ankle on a root or miss a turn and end up face-planting into a tree. Certainly the first couple of times you descend a hill, on reconnaissance, you’ll go more slowly, but with the goal of being able to tear right through on race day. You’ll be amazed at how many people you can pass going downhill, even in a road race - as long as you can overcome your fear.

The transition zone

Another key on a hilly course is to focus not just on the climbs and descents, but on the transition areas just before and after. The crest of a hill is a great spot to pass someone, especially if you’ve mastered the uphill and are feeling confident, while your competitor rests after too hard a surge on the uphill. The same is true right after a downhill: be aware that the flat after a descent will feel a bit like an uphill at first. Being mentally prepared for this is often enough to catch a few competitors off-guard.

Here’s a simple workout that can work for both running uphill and downhill:

1 min up, descent

3 min up, descent

5 min up, descent

3 min up, descent

1 min up, descent

You can do this set once to start, but if you’re training for a mountain race, with extended climbs and descents, then you can work up to two or even three sets. On the descents, focus on recovering your heart rate and breathing, but let the hill dictate your turnover, so you get down as fast as you can. A short recovery after each descent is OK, if your heart rate has dropped enough on the way down, you should be fine.