Running and tackling the dreaded hills!
Actually, I find hills not to be a challenge anymore and perversely enjoy them. Hastings has a lot of steep ones to practice on which I have taken full advantage in learning how to tackle them.
The Hastings half marathon route is set so the up hills are of a more gradual level over the first five miles of the race, with a steep decline at the end. I tend to do it the other way around for training purposes in aid of building up greater muscles on the steeper hills, and now I find the gradual inclines pretty straight forward to tackle.
So how do I do it? Well, I don’t sprint up them that’s for sure. Quite a few people tend to keep running at the same speed and take breaks, but this really adds strain and tires you out. What I do is cut my speed and try to keep my energy levels constant at the same levels as if I were running along the flat. Controlling your exertion is the main key, and if you manage to keep the same amount of energy going up hill then on flats by controlling your speed, you can quickly speed back up when the incline levels off without feeling tired. Quite often I would halve my speed or even more depending on the steepness, but I would never stop or reduce to a walk. Doing so I find that I can keep going and going without any more effort. If I feel tired or a drain, I cut my speed. If I feel I have energy, I speed up. This is a good method for distant running (probably not when racing for speed).
If you know anything about skiing, it’s a little like traversing. This is where you ski down the mountain by taking a long route from side to side which in effect reduces the incline to a more manageable level. I’m not saying with running to zig-zag up the hill to make it less step (although you can if you want to keep your speed constant, but it will dramatically increase the distance you run), but cutting speed will have a similar effect.
Similarly on downhill stretches I keep my energy levels constant and increase my speed. I can run steep downhill stretches at my maximum pace and still feel that I am exerting less energy than normal, so it feels like I’m having a break and recovering a bit.
You can do the same method for terrain as well. I run cross country a fair bit, I prefer it really, but it can be a lot harder especially if it’s muddy. I tend to piss my running partners off as I cut my speed when the going gets tough, but as soon as tarmac is hit I speed up dramatically and am off in the distance before they realise that they have to suddenly run faster. I’m told this is a pretty sensible tactic of running, and is suited well for long distance 50 mile runners; It probably isn’t the best if you are looking for speed to break a few records, but it does make running a lot easier and enjoyable without feeling overly tired at the end.
