The Hills Are Alive!

The hills are alive,

With the sound of footsteps

With grunts they have born for a thousand years

The hills fill my ears,

With the groans of runners

My gut wants to puke

Every step I take

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My heart wants to beat

Like in spastic shock

As I lie on the ground looking up to the trees

My lungs give a sigh

As they wheeze and collapse

From the torture they've endured

Okay, Okay, I'll stop. I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about. And no it's not the Von Trapp Family singers. Although, you know, Julie Andrews did do an awful lot or running with that brood of kids she tended. I'm thinking they probably were there first to wear team uniforms. I'm thinking that curtain fabric didn't' have much on today's techno-fabrics though. But I digress.... the point of this post is to talk about hills.

When you mention speed workouts, things like intervals, repeats, fartleks, Kenyan Out-and-backs, and tempo runs come to mind for many runners. But hill workouts are often overlooked by the average runner. Now this could be on purpose. You know, kind of like when Maria chose to have the kids sing even after the Captain strictly forbid music in the house. Sometimes, like in the case of Maria, it's for the good and then other times it's more of an avoidance which can be more for the bad. Many runners avoid hills because, well dang-it, they're tough. They make you sweat. Your heart races. You feel like you're going to pass out. And you ache all over. Man, those symptoms could be for either someone in love or someone with the flu.

Anywho...it's time we stop avoiding such a great workout. I read in Matt Fitzgerald's book, Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running By Feel, about famous distance runner, Haile Gebrselassie's (aka: Geb) favorite workout. It happens to be a hill workout. Well in this case, it's actually a Mountain workout. Let me clarify a bit more...it's a 90-minute run straight up Entoto Mountain. He says he likes it because it's his toughest workout. He also likes it because once he gets to the top, he loves the feeling of accomplishment that he's conquered the mountain.

Well, you don't have to go to Africa and run a mountain to get in some good hill workouts. A moderate hill with just a 5-7% incline will do nicely. Doesn't have to be long either—100m, 200m, 400m, any length will do.

Okay, Geb's story may have motivated you just a little and you may be pondering where the hills are in your neighborhood by now, but you may still be wondering why you should subject yourself to such a hard workout. Well, hill work provides a whole bunch of benefits (almost as many as there are Von Trap kids).

• Help increase your VO2Max (how well your body takes in and utilizes oxygen)
• Strengthens your calf muscles which help propel you forward
• Increases your power and speed
• Helps increase endurance (especially longer hills like Geb's mountain)
• Can help increase your stride or foot turnover
• Helps improve arm movement which is key in helping drive you forward develops maximum

So how do you do a hill workout? Well, there are very formal workouts that you can research and follow, but it really doesn't have to be that complicated for us Maria's of the running world. Typically shorter distance runners stick with short hills (something up to 100m) and distance runners may run hills that are 100m, 200m, 400m or longer. But you know, if you're a distance runner and the only hill near you is 50m, you can still get in a good workout.

The hills don't have to be very steep either. A modest grade of 5-7% is good. You should be able to carry out a fairly normal stride when running the hill. You'll exert more energy, but it shouldn't be so steep that you look like you're doing the Olympic ski jump. Find a moderate hill with a distance that will allow about a 30sec+ run.

So find a good hill and run up it. That's pretty much it. Well, okay, run up it more than once. Well actually run up it about 6-10 times. Start small and over time, work your way up to the higher number of repeats. Basically, treat the workout like an interval workout at the track. Kind of like a 6x200m. Run the hill at a brisk pace (depending on the grade of the hill, your 5K or 10K pace). Then walk or jog back down the hill and repeat. If you're running a long hill try running uphill for 30secs, and then walk down for 30 secs, then run up for 30 secs, then down again for 30 secs. Gradually you'll make your way up to the top of the hill covering the entire length of the hill.

Don't limit yourself to just running one hill either. If you live in an area with hills, plan one of your hill workouts to be a continuous run that's along a route with numerous hills of different grades. There's a park near my neighborhood that has a 1.5-mile loop around a small lake and half of the route is very hilly. Two or three loops around the lake makes for a great hill-run.

Don't have any hills where you live? Then hop on a treadmill and set the incline to 5-7% and run for 30 secs then reduce the grade to 1% and walk or jog for 30secs and then repeat for 6-10 times. Ta dah! Hill work!

So, get out and run some hills! Make those hills come alive with the sound of footsteps!

SHAKE IT UP, BABY! 5 Tips for Increasing Speed

When you're a new runner, each race is so exciting. Because you're new to the game, your learning curve and you body's adaptability curve is huge. So, you see progress with each run. And with each race your finish time decreases. That's an awesome feeling. All that hard work you've put in is really paying off.

Skip to a few years (and miles) down the road and you're not seeing as much progress and your times seem to have stagnated. What's the deal? I hear it and read about it all the time...."I run and run, but I just can't seem to get any faster."

The good news is that you havent' become weaker and no it's not that you're declining as a runner, it's just that your body has now adapted to the stress of your normal weekly routine and because of this acclamation, your body doesn't see the need to adapt any more. So what do you?

You SHAKE IT UP, BABY! What you're body needs is a jolt...a wake-up call. Listed below are 5 Shake-It-Up-Strategies one or more of which you can add to your weekly routine to help get you over that "stagnation wall" and on your way to setting a new PR.

1. Intervals:

One of the best ways to improve your race time is to add a weekly interval workout to the mix. This workout will be short mileage-wise, but it may be your hardest workout intensity-wise for the week. Typically the total mileage in an interval workout is about 3 miles (maybe 4 counting the rest intervals). Find a track (or a flat empty parking lot) where you can easily keep track of 200m, 400m, 600m, 800m, 1000m, etc., intervals. The parking lot at a local park near my house is a half-mile loop so it's great for doing 800s. Typically the longest interval is a 1600m (1 mile). Shorter intervals are usually run at your 5K pace and longer intervals are typically run at your 10K pace. The McMillan Running Calculator is a great tool to help you determine the speed at which you should do various interval distances. Just plug in the race distance you're training for and hit "calculate" and it will break down the training times for a zillion different distances. For me the times are a little fast, so remember that you may need to work up to the times they recommend. Any variety of interval distances in a workout will do. I like to mix it up.

Yasso 800s—Created by Bart Yasso, the race services manger at Runner's World—are great for marathon training and are directly tied to your marathon goal time. If you want to do a 3:30 marathon, then you run a series of 800m intervals in 3mins:30seconds. Your recovery intervals in between each 800 is the same amount of time as you did your 800. So basically a 3hr:30min marathoner wannabe will run an 800 interval in 3mins:30secs then do a recovery jog at a much slower pace for 3mins:30secs and then repeat with the another 3:30 800. Note: These are tough!

I like variety, so when I'm training, each week I'll mix it up a little. Here's a typical interval workout schedule I like to use. It covers six weeks, and then I just start over with Workout #1 again. Give it a Try! Workout #6 is a killer!

Workout #1—5x1000m @5K race pace with 2-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between
Workout #2—6x800m @10K race pace with 90-second recovery (walk or jog) in between Workout #3—Three sets: 1x1200m @ 10K race pace with 1-minute recovery, 1x400m @5K race pace with a 3-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between each set
Workout#4—4x1600m @10K race pace with 3-minute recovery (walk or jog) in between
Workout#5—8x800m @10K race pace with 90-second recovery (walk or jog) in between
Workout#6—400m @ 5K race pace (30sec recovery); 800 @ 10K race pace (90-sec recovery); 1200m @10K race pace (2-min recovery); 1600m @10K race pace (3-min recovery); 1200m @10K race pace (2-min recovery); 800 @ 10K race pace (90-sec recovery); 400m @ 5K race pace

2. Hill Work

Uphill running helps you learn to recruit fast-twitch muscle fibers which will help you run at maximum intensity. Learning to recruit these fast-twitch muscles will help you during an endurance run when you need to ramp it up or when you need to pull yourself out of fatigue.

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Downhill running is also great. Thanks to gravity, you naturally run faster going downhill. This is a great way to see what it's like to run at a faster pace and with a faster turn-over. This is hard to experience on flat ground. Just like adding extra miles, your body has to adapt to running faster. Ever blow it out at the end of a race and you feel like you have absolutely no control of your limbs? They're just flying everywhere? That's because you're asking your body to do something it really doesn't know how to do yet. Be careful, though. The decline doesn't have to be steep. A 5-7% decline is more than enough. You don't want to lose your balance and get an injury from rolling down the hill.

3. Faster Turnover

More and more research is showing that a shorter stride with a faster turnover rate is a more efficient way to run. It's less taxing on the body and helps to prevent heel striking which can cause a breaking effect that can actually slow you down (as well as not being very good on your feet, knees or back). So, don't worry so much about your stride length. Instead focus on improving your stride rate. Most elite runners have about 180 strides per minute. Check out your stride rate by going for a run and counting each stride for a minute. (Note: an easy way to do this is to count each time your right foot hits the ground for a minute and then multiple that number by 2.) Don't be shocked if you're nowhere near 180. But, just by focusing on cadence you'll be pleasantly surprised when you recheck your stride rate. I bet you'll see an increase. Don't be surprised if your legs are a little sore after working on a shorter stride. You'll actually kick in some muscles that may not have been recruited as much in your longer stride. Keep at it though. That soreness should subside after a few runs.

4. Tempo Runs

A tempo run is simply a run (usually 4-8 miles) that's run at a faster pace (typically a little slower than your 10K pace). Warm up for a mile, then do 2-6 miles at tempo pace and then do a cool-down mile. For example for a 4-mile run, run 1 easy warm-up mile, 2 miles at tempo pace, and 1 easy cool-down mile. Be sure to start with a shorter distance for your first tempo runs before working your way up to the longer tempo-run distances. Tempo runs are the bridge between those weekly slow runs and your fast-paced race. They help prepare your body physically for the demands of running at race pace as well as help prepare you mentally for the demands of running at a faster pace.

5. Drop 5-10 lbs.

Easier said than done, but dropping 5-10lbs will help increase your speed. Some research shows that it can decrease your race time by 1-2 minutes.