How do I run on hills better?

Question

I seriously need help with running hills. my cross country course has a giant hill which while you run it you zig-zag up and down 6 times. that happens twice, once in the beginning and near the end. its a sharp grade, possibly in some parts bigger than a 50% grade. while coming back, my right foot bent the wrong way pretty far and I had to deal with that the last quarter mile where I usually sprint. how can I prevent that.

its a 5K course, first mile was in 7:15, second in 7:24, third in 8:11. does anyone know a good way to keep up the pace? I constantly find myself slowing down and have to speed up to compensate.

Answer 1

FIrst I have read there is research that says you shouldn't "attack" hills early in the race. You build up too much lactic acid in your muscles and it hurts you from then on.

For hill running, I recommend the following:
1) Try to keep your leg cadence and breathing the same as it was on the flat. That means that you will have to take smaller strides.
Shorter strides mean that your legs stay closer to being under your center of gravity which makes them more efficient in lifting your weight.

2) Exagerate your arm swing. Swing your arms so that your hands come up to eye level. When you do that you end up getting more knee lift

3) When you get to the crest of the hill, get back into your normal stride as soon as possible.


If you are indeed running up a 50% grade, that's steeper than a standard staircase. There is no way that you are going to maintain your pace going up it.

Answer 2

i think theres no great way to run on hills. you will slow down no matter what when running up it, unless you sprint it in which case you will be tired as soon as the ground flattens out. a way to compensate it, though not really fix the problem is to push the downhills as hard as you can. you can cut a lot of time by sprinting down hills. we have a course for our first meet next week that has a huge hill that you run up three times and down three times and it made me fun two minutes slower than my normal 5k times just because of hills so im sorry to say theres no easy answer.

my first though was train in a place where you can run up lots of hills just so those muscles will get more developed and maybe do workouts on stairs. however, since cross country seasons have already started, it wont do you much good right away. if youre not a senior though, train in the offseason with stairs and hills so you will be better next year.

Answer 3

For the hills, don't lean forward, but keep your body directly straight up. (so basically you'll just be in the posture that you would be if you were standing on flat ground. keep your stride repetition the same, get a little on your toes if it's a horribly bad hill. And going down hill....same thing about the posture thing, and just use long floating strides. (this may not be the best way, but this is how i do it, and i find myself burning people away down hills. i just use my calves. but if you're twisting your ankles....i'd be very cautious about that.
For you slowing down, my band teacher always, ALWAYS tells me to feel like i'm speeding up. When you're going slow, (like on a 5k race) you should always feel like your speeding up a little. because if you don't, you're slowing down. or if you're not in first, (which you should be...) just know where you want to finish place-wise, and keep with that guy. you sound like a sprint-at-the-end kind of guy, so you'll probabl dominate that guy in the end anyways. it's all a matter of knowing what you can do, taking some risks, and having fun...

Answer 4

just practice the runners on our team can do a 5 minute mile but at 5 they would pace themselves

Answer 5

I am on the needham track team

what you should do is when ur running up the hill lean foward, and make a great pace when you are coming to a turn use one big launch with your knee thats on the ground

*** do not go to fast though you need to conserve energy when goin up when coming down you need to take advantage of that***

when you are coming down do not go to fast and dont lean foward anymore.

**************************** good luck***************************

Answer 6

get good running shoes, eat foods that give u lots of energy, and practice.

Answer 7

get hiking boots

Answer 8

run forest run

Answer 9

i don't no