Hills, workouts, and walking?

Running downhill can KILL you!

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit here, but this post is brought to you by a conversation I had at a wedding last weekend with one of my former athletes. We talked about this blog and about his running. He was a 21' 6" long jumper, a 15 flat 110 hurdler, a 15' 7" pole vaulter, and he did the multi-events which means he also had some experience with the 1500. Many decathletes will tell you running long distance is the least favorite part of the event; it may not be as much the distance, but the fact that it is the 10th event in the two day competition. Having met Ashton Eaton, I can tell you that it's tough if you're the best in the history of the event or the third best on your team.

One of the workouts we use across the board with our athletes is hill running. Hills can be great, but it is running with resistance. Put your arms down at your sides, now lift them straight out. Not too hard, right? Now grab a 20# weight and see how easy it is. Harder, right? Resistance makes things more difficult. Running 200 meters at a high intensity is tough, running with resistance is tougher. That probably won't kill you though, actually it will probably make you stronger and your running form will probably improve significantly and therefore make you less likely to get hurt!

Then comes the problem, you have to get back down the hill. So how do you do it? Well when you're doing repeat hills, I recommend that you walk down the hill. 

Walk? 

Yes, walk down the hill. Running downhill causes an over-stride, gravity causes you to land with a greater impact on your legs, and that greater impact often results in a painful experience. Obviously this isn't a feasible way to run a race, nor a routine easy run. I recommend this on your hill repeat runs. This will allow you to have a good recovery on your hill run, but it will also prevent you from going down the hill too fast and creating a greater possibility of injury.

When not to walk?

It is a good idea to practice running downhill and obviously to do long runs and continuous runs by not stopping to walk down the hill. When you are running downhill, the reason you are most likely to over-stride and put extra force on your knees, shins, hips, etc. is because you will lean back to control your speed. Controlling your speed is your brain's way of saying "don't go too fast, I can't stop you before you hit that tree at the bottom of the hill" but finding an in between may be an important factor in preventing leg injury as you run down the hill.

What is a good hill workout?

You may or may not love hills, but I have come to love this workout:

Warm up to your favorite hill and be ready to go fast.

Run up the hill at the effort you would run a mile, and sustain that for 30-40 seconds.

Take 3 minutes to return to the bottom of the hill.

Repeat (as many times as you would like, but keep track and try to progress!)

Cool down and stretch (and do core and strengthening exercises)

Recover.