Mojo for Running Episode 163, Running Hills for Speedwork and Hill Running Technique.

Hi, this is Debbie Boyles, coach at Mojo for Running, with episode 163, Running Hills for Speedwork

and Hill Running Technique. This is the last of my series

about speedwork. I hope you're implementing some of the workouts I've described over the last

couple of months. Today, we discuss hill running, which is much more than just speedwork, but it also

must be included in any discussion of speedwork. How often do you train on hills?

I often hear people stressed about the elevation change in an upcoming race. I get that,

especially here in Florida. We don't have many hills. Generally, our hills, and I'm putting the word

hills in air quotes, are bridges, sometimes maybe a golf course overpass or

maybe the occasional pedestrian overpass, but we don't really get the traditional hills that you

might get in other parts of the country. So if someone is traveling out of state to do a race with

real hills, which happens a lot, it may be caused for modest alarm.

If you're not trained for hills, that will have a big negative impact on your time and your

experience, for sure. But if you do train on hills regularly, then when a race comes along

with hills, you'll be primed, ready to crush the unhill-trained competition.

This episode will have three parts. First, I'll explain hill-running technique, because that's

critical to any hill running. Then, I'll explain various ways to structure a hill-training workout,

and third, I'll briefly review the technique for how to run downhill,

because that's entirely different, and since what goes up must come down, it's critical for

you to know that as well. My run Tampa Club did a race last January with not one, not two,

but three bridges, big bridges. To help them prepare for the race, I provided a hill running

challenge. Traditionally, I create a challenge that spans the period of time from Thanksgiving to

...