I Eat Hills For Breakfast

There are those who run right pass hills and any challenging terrain, then they get into running events with a hill that resembles an anthill and they fall to pieces. After crawling up any hill, they’re unable to recover. In fact, that usually becomes the talk of most; how there were too many hills. If you plan to be a successful runner, then avoiding hills is not the answer. Hill running is vital to the success for building endurance as well as building a solid foundation.

I’ll be honest, hill running hurts and here’s the good part, everyone suffers on hills. Why, because hills are unpredictable and they make it hard to get into a good steady rhythm. Most runners attack hills the wrong way. I remember thinking I had to run all out when I got to a hill but as soon as I got to the top, I had zero energy left and all I could do was place my hands on my knees and beg for an oxygen tank. Hill running should be done in moderation. Expecting to be able to run from zero elevation to 375 feet with ease in a day or two just will not happen.

The idea is moderation, not exasperation. Start by running slow and try to keep a steady pace. The idea is to build your endurance. Depending on the incline of the hill you may find that you have to stop and walk. In the beginning, making it to the top of whatever hill you are running should be your goal, not how fast you can run the hill or how you look when you get to the top. After making it to the top, take a deep breath then walk down because that give you time to catch your breath and recover. It’s also easier on your knees to walk down instead of running downhill. People talk about running downhill and loving it. If you value your shins, and quadriceps, you’ll walk. Try to mix philosophies by sprinting up hills from time to time. The variations of training styles help activate different muscle groups, which is something that is very hard to do while running on flat surfaces.

Once you’ve worked up a good hill training regiment, you should begin to see results when you return to running on flat surfaces. Hills build toughness and character and increase your endurance like you would not believe. So many runners talk about being stuck in a rut in terms of their finishing times in their 5k, 10k, half marathon, or marathon. If you’re seeing little to no results, then look at your routine and make some changes.

Hills don’t bite, but your lack of hard training will…..