Quoted message said:Hills will make a difference, but not minutes worth
__
imo "it depends" (here we go again...). no, seriously...for a skilled &
trainer runner at your level Donnie...I can see your opinion. but your opinion
is born out of extensive hill training & i think that influences your
diminished concern the penalty hills can impose on one's time. However for
where Vimal is today...imo those hills in the course of his 10K could indeed
account for minutes. i've read were for runners significantly above Vimal's
level, a hilly 10K can cause overall performance to be 2.6% slower (which is
about 1 minute for a 37min. 10K runner). it's not a reach at all to see a
44min 10K runner pay a 2 min. penalty to the running gods. congrats Vimal. i
think the article i've placed below will give you a full picture of the
innerworkins of the hill thing.
Hit the Hills
by Trevor Smith
For Running & FitNews
The good news is hills are leg strengtheners and character builders, the bad
news is they slow you down during races. Although you run slower uphill and
faster downhill they don't counterbalance; if everything else is equal, your
times on hilly courses are slower than on level courses of the same distance.
Let's see why that happens, and how you can use hills to improve your running.
The Science of Hill Running
Best racing times come with an even pace; in technical language, you should run
for constant energy output. In turn, this means you need to keep your oxygen
intake the same, and keep your lactate level constant. Lactate is a by-product
of anaerobic effort, and when it builds up to high levels in your muscles they
tire and slow down. The shorter the distance the faster you run, then you run
with more anaerobic effort which increases your lactate build-up.
Uphill running adds to the problem. It takes more energy, so you need more
oxygen. If you were running as fast as you could on the level, your breathing
and heart rates were already close to their limit, so the amount of extra
oxygen you can make available is relatively small. The result is that uphill
you go into oxygen debt. You use more anaerobic energy, and your lactate level
goes up.
Jeffery Staab, Ph.D., and colleagues at Springfield College in Massachusetts,
help us understand why this messes up our overall times on hilly runs.
Fifty miles a week men who run better than 38 minutes for 10K ran three
"treadmill courses." One was flat, the others hilly; one with uphill first, and
the other with downhill first. For race atmosphere, the runners rested the day
before each trial, ran in racing shoes, received mile splits, and ran for
prizes. Each "race" was a 30 minute run. It didn't matter whether the uphill
section came before the downhill section or the other way around, the hilly
runs were slower.
When you run uphill you slow as your body tries to maintain constant energy
output. In spite of the uphill slowdown, Staab found oxygen uptake and
heartrate still increased, and blood lactate increased considerably. Pace
stayed slower than usual when the men ran flat sections following uphill
running, and blood lactate stayed high. This means there was a period of forced
recovery from the anaerobic cost of running uphill. Slowdown on flat sections
was greatest when they followed an uphill which was later in the "race."
On downhill sections oxygen uptake went down. This means the runners couldn't
run fast enough on downhill sections to maintain constant energy output. This
could be due to residual fatigue from the uphill effort, or, perhaps the
runners couldn't handle faster running for mechanical reasons. The overall
result was a race pace about 2.6% slower on the hilly trials. This is
equivalent to adding 58 seconds to a 37 minute 10K. Staab concluded, "...On
hilly courses large amounts of lactate accumulate on uphill which remain
relatively high on subsequent stages of the race. The slower performance time
on hilly versus flat race courses may be due to the higher energy cost of the
uphill, which is not compensated for on the downhill."
Strategy for Hill Racing
Let's think about this. If you include hills, intervals, fartleks, and spells
at 5K race pace in your training, you will push up your anaerobic threshold,
the point at which you'll build up lactate above normal levels. Then you can
run faster and still stay in your aerobic zone. This won't avoid the problems
described in Staab's study, because you're a competitive animal you'll take
advantage of your extended aerobic zone to race uphill even faster. This will
leave you with the same problem, you still won't compensate on downhill
sections.
There seems to be only one answer: race slower than usual uphill. This will
hold down lactate build-up and let you recover more quickly and run faster
downhill. How fast you can run downhill may then depend mainly on how fast you
can move your legs and keep your balance, because there are biomechanical
limitations to downhill running. Editorial Board Member Paul Taylor, D.P.M.,
says "Downhill running tends to cause over- striding at some point, which leads
to increased use of braking muscles to keep you form falling on your face.
Also, running too fast downhill is a common cause of shinsplints." If you could
run a little slower uphill and then run faster downhill, overall, your race
times on hilly courses could improve.
Can you handle this strategy? When you're well trained and feel ready to peak,
do you really have the will power to hold back on the first uphill? It goes
against the grain, doesn't it? All your competitive instincts tell you to
attack that hill with a surge. Also, when you really burn that first hill
doesn't the sense of feeling good carry over during the rest of the course, and
keep you flying when folks who struggled on that hill are beginning to die?
The science is neat, but don't underestimate the psychology. For all the
ingenuity of Staab's experiments, they were still a bunch of guys fighting a
treadmill, with tubes in their mouths and catheters in their arms. Somehow that
doesn't add up to racing in a crowd of pumped up runners, on solid roads, under
an open sky, with live spectators. Surely that's worth as much as a few
milligrams of lactate saved?
But on second thoughts, nearly a minute off a 10K by running slower uphill in
order to run faster downhill; is it really possible? Can you afford not to give
it a try? Suppose someone else tries it first: and it works? You'd better go
for it!
The Art of Hill Training
To race faster on hills you must train on hills. First, you can include hill
intervals in your workouts. You need a hill of 100 to 200 yards, not too steep,
so you can run uphill with good form. A grade of not more than 10% works fine.
Warmup for a couple of miles, then surge up your hill at about 10K race pace,
and jog down for recovery. Run four repeats first time, increase by one a week
until you complete eight to 12 hills. Marathoners can run longer hills, up to
about a mile. Run one at first at about marathon race pace, and increase one a
week until you can handle four repeats.
For added value on hills use springing and bounding drills. The value of these
techniques arises from the principle that your feet act like springs when you
run; they store energy when the muscles and tendons are compressed and release
energy when they expand. British scientist R. McNeill Alexander, F.R.S.,
measured the recoil energy of human feet to prove they behaved like springs.
Alexander described feet as like pogo sticks which compress their springs on
landing and recoil to throw the jumper back into the air. He found the human
arch on impact returns 80% of its stored energy. By comparison, running shoes
of the 1980s returned 55% to 69% of stored energy on impact. Alexander's
research is the foundation of the design of modern tracks, built to aid energy
transfer and help athletes run faster.
You can't change the mechanical properties of the surfaces you run on, but you
can improve the elastic properties of your feet and legs by springing and
bounding. Push off with a more forceful ankle motion and toe-off, push higher
and with a longer stride than normal, and land on your midfoot, or even toes,
not on your heel.
In the 1960s Arthur Lydiard, coach of numerous outstanding runners, such as
Peter Snell, who earned Olympic medals and broke world records, included
springing drills in his programs. In 1978, Lydiard wrote about hill springing.
"Since ankle flexibility and power is important you should work on this
training all the time. Bouncing up gentle slopes on your toes will gradually
develop power and flexion in the ankles. It will also stretch other leg muscles
and tendons." Approach these drills with caution, though, because Editorial
Board Member Pete Pfitzinger reminds us "Lydiard's men were often injured
during this training phase."
A more recent adaptation of hill springing is in Galloway's Book on Running.
"Pick a moderate hill. Bounce off one foot and leap into the air lifting lead
knee. Hang in the air until the last second. Very quickly bring the leading leg
down for a landing, and spring off with the leg almost straight. Here's where
the ankle has to do its work. Never let the push-off leg be perfectly straight.
Keep the knee slightly bent to avoid spraining the weak and slow-healing
muscles behind the knee. Keep a short stride length, just work on floating and
maintaining form."
According to Galloway, bounding is a variation performed on level or slightly
sloping surfaces. Differences from hill springing are: "Lift knees higher. Take
longer strides. On each step you are driving with greater power, extending your
stride and developing your calf muscles."
David Martin and Sebastian Coe (Training Distance Runners) also recommend
similar techniques for short hill runs. "An exaggerated running style is
required to maximize speed, as this spreads the energy requirement to large
muscle groups other than the legs. Once gain, the vigorous arm action, a quick
and powerful knee lift by action of the hip flexors, and the powerful toe-off
from each driving leg are all important elements for sudden dramatic pace
changing..."
Even though you're an experienced runner, treat springing and bounding like any
other new exercise, because although they will help you to deliver more energy
in your running, they take more energy to perform, too. Begin with only 20 to
50 feet and concentrate on form; use your arms to drive your legs. As you
become familiar with these techniques, slowly build until you can keep them up
for 100 yards. If you run long one day a week, and perform speedwork once a
week, add a little springing and bounding to your low intensity runs for
variety. Your racing should improve after a few weeks.
All these techniques aim at strengthening your uphill running. Taylor points
out that since usually running downhill you don't make up the time you lost
running uphill, you should train to improve your downhill running, too. Try
some downhill sections once a week in which you try to run smoothly at
increasing pace, just short of the speed which brings you to the point of
losing your balance. With practice, you should be able to maintain balance at
faster paces. Editorial Board Member Jerry Lynch, Ed.D., suggests shorter
strides with quicker turnover will help develop better downhill technique.
Above all, you need a positive mental attitude toward hills. If you dread hills
you will not run your best on them. Lynch, advises "Turn hate into love." You
must affirm that you love hills for the boost they will put into your races.
Love hills because they make you a better runner, and they give you a
psychological boost over other runners who still hate them. Affirm over and
over, I love hills, I love hills..." says lynch. See how you'll set off a chain
reaction. You'll love hills and you'll improve your hill running. Improvement
brings self-esteem and enjoyment which will reinforce your love of hill
running. Then your race times will improve, which will make you happy and also
reinforce your love for hills. Then you'll work out even harder on the hills...
I bet you can't wait to put this article down, tie on your shoes, and hit those
hills.
Just about all the studies on hill running involve performance and racing. How
about hills compared to level running for people interested only in health and
fitness. Clearly those who run hills will run a little slower overall, and
their oxygen uptake will vary uphill and downhill. But the work performed
during running is determined mainly by bodyweight multiplied by distance, the
calories burned will be similar, which means the health benefits will be
similar.
There might be a slight improvement in oxygen uptake and leg muscle strength in
hill runners, but for slow running you wouldn't expect this to be significant.
At slow pace there's no reason to expect any increase in injury risk as long as
you don't make sudden changes in mileage or speed.
Copyright, The American Running Association.
