Running downhill

Frightened Inmate #2

My last race was really hilly. Normally, I just try to hold steady during the downhill portions and push it a little on the uphills.

But, during my last race, I raced a guy that opened up on the downhills and with each down, he'd pull away from me a little bit more and he could hold his own up the uphills.

Are there any special techniques to running downhill AFAP without falling over? It sure seemed like an easy way to drop a couple of seconds off the split times.

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I increase my stride and lower my turnover just a bit. Gives me an increase in speed, but it's still well in control.

Gone Fishin

I suppose it's just practice. I'm one of those guys that opens it up on downhills. Can't quote the source, but in race strategies, that's a common one. Keep in control on the uphills, but use the downhills to your advantage. I'd say holding 'steady' is really losing the opportunity to get the most out of the course. If there's a place to surge and drop somebody in a race, it's on a downhill.

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I too use the downhills to my advantage. This will sound silly but practice some downhills. I can't believe how much better at downhill running I've gotten in the last few months just by running them alot. Also I think ever since I've been able to keep a stride downhill instead of just clomping on down, it doesn't seem to wear out my knees and legs as bad either. Gravity used to control me, now I control gravity. Razz

Talk to me after my first faceplant. I'm sure it will happen sooner or later.

my boys could swim

let me be the voice of dissent...

on downhills...in theory...you are to relax increase your leg turnover and keep a steady pace. A steady pace is the most efficient way to run. Work a little harder on the uphills, keeping your pace up, and relax a little on the downhills.

I worked with my cc runners on this...especially early in the race. If it's toward the finish it's not as big a deal. But speeding up too much, too early is a recipe for oxygen depletion later.

So...I disagree. I always pass people on uphills, and let 'em go on downhills. I usually pass a lot of them during the second half of a race.

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my boys could swim

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What you might be seeing with the cross country runners is that by running the downhills fast, they blow out their quads and struggle latter in the race. If you don't run smooth, downhills can wipe out a runner even more than the uphills. However, this has nothing to do with "oxygen depletion" or any other cardio-vascular effect. Instead it is muscular. If a runner learns to run efficiently and smoothly downhill, they can make up huge amounts of ground with no additional cardio-vascular effort. The key is staying smooth to save your legs in the process.

Lots of books and articles talk about an even pace being the best way to run, although they are almost always assuming flat ground, no wind etc.

At the risk of being obvious, let's take two identical runners with a max HR of 200. Your cardio-vascular system doesn't know anything about how fast you are going. All it knows is the effort you are putting in. This is affected by your pace, but also the footing, altitude, hills, weather, running efficiency, etc. So:

Runner A - Even pace
-------------------------
Flat ground - 8:00 pace = 160 HR (80%)
Up steep hill - 8:00 pace = 190 HR (95%)
Down steep hill - 8:00 pace = 130 (65%)

Runner B - Even Effort
--------------------------
Flat ground - 8:00 pace = 160 HR (80%)
Up steep hill - 10:00 pace = 160 HR (80%)
Down steep hill - 6:00 pace = 160 (80%)

I'm just making up numbers, so don't get caught up in the specifics of my example - I'm just trying to illustrate a point. Runner B stays just on the comfortable side of lactate threshold pace throughout the run. Runner A however, goes into oxygen debt and builds lactic acid in an attempt to hold pace with an increasing effort on the uphills. In actuality, coming down the hill after going anaerobic on the unhill will not completely "make up" for going anaerobic on the unhill.

Running an even pace on hills is the same as doing intervals on flat ground. This may have a tactical advantage in a competitive race, but it certainly isn't the best way to race a fast time.

Former FFL Champion

I side with Coach Craig's analysis.

I also had to spend some time practicing running downhills. It isn't that I was slow or anything, it was just that other runners at my same level seemed to make up so much more time than me going downhill. ( I have this theory that tall people have a more difficult time trying not to brake when going down a hill. ) It took me some time to get comfortable with it, but a shorter, faster stride and forcing myself to be able to lean foward helped generate more speed.

Bob Glover has a good section on downhill running in his Competetive Runner's Handbook.

my boys could swim

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From http://runningforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20092

Jacqueline Hansen won the Boston Marathon in 1973 and held the World Record for the marathon -- and will always be the first woman who ran a marathon in under 2:40.

Tip #1-Hill Running-Form is Everything
By Jacqueline Hansen

Running up or down a hill is a matter of form. In running, as in most sports, form is everything. When running uphill, increase your forward lean slightly, shorten your stride and lift your knees a bit higher. Your arms, while normally bent at a 90-degree angle with your hands carried low, should come in, close to the body, at a tighter angle, pumping your hands in rhythm with your knees. Try your best to maintain pace going uphill without increasing it. Forget trying to pass people uphill. In most cases, it’s wasted energy – they will just pass you by on the downhill. If you’re just maintaining your pace and that puts you ahead of other runners, fine, just don’t intentionally increase your pace going up. At the top of the hill, don’t loose that momentum. Run over the top and prepare to change your form on the downhill.

Running downhill, open up your stride wider, lower your arms - a little away from the body - in order to maintain balance; and do not lean back. Run perpendicular to the ground and push off your toes as if you were running on flat ground. You won’t fall forward because your next stride will save you. Do not “put on the brakes” by leaning back and running heel-to-toe. This will not only slow you down, it will put undue stress on your knees and your quadriceps. It’s not a bad idea to practice hill running in workout so you know what to do in a race; and it’s an excellent strengthening workout.

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Just as an aside - I was coached by Jacqueline Hansens coach. Quite an interesting guy. He did push form quite a lot, although I never discussed hill running with him.