Tips for running hills

Living in super-duper flat Florida, I don’t know much about running hills. When I say “I don’t know much,” I basically mean I know absolutely nothing about it. Every training route I run and almost every race I run has no discernible hill.  

Until this race. And, I was petrified of it. Never running hills combined with basically knowing absolutely nothing about it and being faced with two gigantic bridges that I had to run over twice was scary. But, I actually made it up and over them and loved it.  

Of course, I’m probably lucky I did this without getting hurt and loving it as much as I did. Why?
In our training for the Iron Girl Half Marathon (which involves the same gigantic bridges), our coach gave us some tips for running uphill and downhill. Surprisingly, I followed all of the uphill running tips without even knowing them. Score!  

Tips on running uphill

• Lean into the hill 
• Shorten your stride 
• Increase your cadence 
• Look forward, not up the hill 
• Use your arms

But, the downhill tips are a different story. 

I wasn’t even worried about the downhill. I just thought I needed to control my speed by leaning backward. I knew you could get injured running downhill, and I just figured it was from going too fast. Turns out, I was wrong.

Tips on running downhill

• Lean forward, getting the body over the hips and ankles 
• Use your arms any way necessary (to help have a sense of balance) 
• Have a light touch with the foot 
• Have a higher cadence

It's just natural for me to lean backward to "brake" myself while running down a hill. This is exactly what I shouldn't be doing (hello, quad injuries waiting to happen). So, I'm retraining myself to lean forward. Instead of fighting momentum, I'm going to give into gravity and let it take me downhill. Seems so wrong, but it's right.

Do you follow these tips when running hills? What works for you? Do you have the urge to "brake" while running downhill?

An eerie calm

I tend to panic. It’s not a good thing, but it happens.

Thankfully, I already went through my panic stage for the Clearwater Halfathon. My panicking usually happens closer to a race, so this is kind of strange for me. The race is Sunday, and I have an eerie calm about me.

So why am I so calm?

•  I know I can do this. I can run 13.1 miles. Even if I didn’t run for a few weeks around Christmas and the new year, I’m still quite capable. Why? Runners don't lose much V02 max over a 10-day period of inactivity. And if you have to miss two weeks, it only reduces it by 6%. Thanks to Julie, I know this and feel so much better. I love her (not in a weird way … don’t be scared, Julie).
• I’ve done this five times before.

• It does involve big, scary bridges, but the Holiday Halfathon did, too (but not as big and not as scary). Guess what? I actually liked the bridges in that race. It broke up the race. It was something different. It was a challenge. That’s a good thing. 
• I'm running mile 11 for my friend, Linda. I've dubbed it "Mile Linda" (sounds better than mile 11, right?). She's been on bed rest during a good deal of her pregnancy. No matter what, that is difficult; but, Linda is a runner, too. So I'm running the 11th mile (her favorite number) in her honor.
• I’m really looking forward to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in St. Pete and view that as my “A” race this year. I love that race. This race will be a build up to that.
• When it comes down to it, it’s only a race. It’s not life or death. I’d love to finally beat my best time, but if I don’t, there’s always another race. It’s not that I’m not taking it seriously or that I don’t want to do well, but on the “what’s-important-in-life” scale, it’s not at the top.

Do you panic before races (or any big events)? Or are you more rational than me? I hope so.