| Hill Training |
|
Find a hill that's reasonably steep
- around 6% grade is ideal. It
should take you at least 2 minutes
to run up the hill. Focus on your
body position going up the hill and
going down the hill. On the way up:
shorten your stride slightly,
increase your knee lift and arm
action, and run up on your toes -
getting a good push from your hips,
knees and especially your ankles and
toes. On the way down the hill:
lengthen your stride slightly by
increasing your follow-through (high
foot in the back of your stride;
drop your hands so they're near your
hips / waist; lean down the hill;
focus on landing on the midfoot or
forefoot, not on your heel (which
will cause a braking action and
tremendously increase the impact as
you run down the hill.)
Run the hill emphasizing lift off
the ground. It's not as important to
run fast up the hills as it is to
run with good form and a powerful
stride. Your heart rate should be at
or near maximum when you reach the
top of the hill.
After running up the hill, turn
around and run down the hill. This
is your recovery period, so run
relaxed and allow your legs to
stretch out. Allow gravity to carry
you down the hill, don't accelerate
when running down the hill -
remember this is your recovery.
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| Hill Drills |
|
Hill drills are done at a slow pace.
The goal is to get lift off the
ground and not to move forward at a
rapid pace. Your progress up the
hill should be slow. It should take
up to 6 minutes to reach the top of
the hill. All drills should be
performed SLOWLY!
Bounding: Elongate your stride and
emphasize arm action. Focus on
getting off the ground. Think of
jumping over puddles with a long
stride.
Skipping: Skip slowly up the hill,
emphasizing knee lift and arm
action. Focus on getting high off
the ground.
Springing: Emphasize knee lift and
getting high up off the ground.
Don't emphasize forward movement.
Think of jumping over logs.
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| Most Important
Factors in Preparing |
|
The keys to successfully preparing
for your first ultra-marathon are:
Long Runs. Time on your feet. You
need to adapt to spending long
periods of time on your feet and
moving forward. Longer runs (runs
lasting more than 4 hours) can be
broken up with walking breaks. In
fact, learning to walk and then run
again is a key to success in
endurance running.
Hills! Hills! Hills! Whether your
goal race is hilly or not, the more
hills you do in training, the
stronger you'll be and the better
prepared for your ultra.
Middle Distance Workout. The
weekend run on weeks you don't do a
long run (distance weeks) is very
important. If the run is around 15
miles, you'll get an excellent
workout, and you'll recover quickly
from it. You can run this distance
as a tempo run.
Your Ultra Marathon Training Speed
Will Be Your Racing Speed. Don't let
your long runs drag on for hours.
Keep your pace up. When doing your
long runs, don't let your pace slow
down to a shuffle. |
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