Hills. Many runners avoid them like a plague. Unfortunately or rather fortunately I don't have that privilege as I live in one of the hilliest parts of London. The area around Forest Hill, Sydenham and Dulwich isn't even what you could describe as a bit bumpy, much of the land around here rises up to about 350 feet above sea level. And it's not just the height of the hills but their character, long drawn out seemingly never-ending stretches of road. As a consequence even a regular run will involve some sort of climb.
As I said many runners dread hills but over the years I've grown to love them. There is a technique to running hills and once you have the hang of it a hill can be turned to your advantage. Indeed, my personal best for a half marathon (1:36) was on one of hilliest races in the country, Hastings.
Previously in my blog I've refereed to Kenyan Hill training, a type of long distance hill training that focuses on building endurance and strength through long hill repetitions. As I've said before I absolutely swear by these as after a few reps you get a fairly good approximation of what you're going to feel like around the 21 mile mark.
I recently came across this very good website that details a range of different training techniques for runners to try. Brian Mac's website is a detailed account of precisely what the advantages are of a range of different training programs and well worth reading.
BrianMac.co.uk
As I said many runners dread hills but over the years I've grown to love them. There is a technique to running hills and once you have the hang of it a hill can be turned to your advantage. Indeed, my personal best for a half marathon (1:36) was on one of hilliest races in the country, Hastings.
Previously in my blog I've refereed to Kenyan Hill training, a type of long distance hill training that focuses on building endurance and strength through long hill repetitions. As I've said before I absolutely swear by these as after a few reps you get a fairly good approximation of what you're going to feel like around the 21 mile mark.
I recently came across this very good website that details a range of different training techniques for runners to try. Brian Mac's website is a detailed account of precisely what the advantages are of a range of different training programs and well worth reading.
BrianMac.co.uk
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