Hills!

[cm1987]

Oh my lord. How can I get better at hills? I’ve been avoiding them like the plague and decided to give it a go today - first 1k was all up hill, elevation of 120m, and absolutely killed me! Stitch recurred for the remainder of the 40 minute run that I had to really dig deep to finish. Any tips how to get better at them?

[Buddy34 Graduate10]

For me hills get well not easier but not as hard with practice so keep at it and also slow down a bit good luck 😊

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

I personally slow right down and divide the hill into chunks - the next tree, the next bend, the next bench - and I personally don’t allow myself to walk (some people prefer run-walking). Using that method, I’m confident I can run up most of the hills I encounter.

They do become easier over time. Just keep incorporating them into your regular runs. Enjoy them - where there’s an up, there’s usually a delightful down as a reward! 😀

[cm1987 Graduate10 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you! Do you think that 1k up hill is probably a bit too much for a beginner like me? I completed Couch to 5k on the treadmill and have been on road for just over a month - longest run so far has been 50 minutes/7k.

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10 in reply to cm1987]

No, it’s a great distance as long as you take it steadily I think! One of the parkruns I do is a straight 2.5k up (with varying degrees of steepness) followed by the same 2.5k down. Lots of people walk it, I make sure I run it.

Like I said before, break down your hill into bite sized chunks. You can do it! 👏👏👏

[Hidden]

I was actually looking forward to finishing C25K because I wanted to add hill training into my week, or once every two weeks. Hill training, or running up steps if you can find them, is great. It's a completely different workout, it's a strength workout that will seriously improve your speed, technique and endurance. It also just gives you loads of confidence when you hit a hill on your run. Here's an article about it... and how to train on them.

runnersworld.com/uk/trainin...

[Granspeed Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Useful reference, thank you. 👏🏼

[HeavyFoot Graduate10]

Keep up your cadence but shorten your stride. Or move to Holland.

[molly1973]

I still struggle with hills, 5 months on from graduation. There are a few hills where I live and it’s hard to run without encountering any, although I sometimes drive to the canal to run for the joy of the flat! I still have to run/walk them for the most part, and they are slowly getting easier, but I have a lot of weight to lose and I know that won’t be helping. Stick at it x

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate10]

Just keep doing them. Never avoid them. "Try" to look forward to them... don't look at the top, it makes it feel harder, just look at the 4 to 6 ft in front of you and focus on the path still moving under you. So long as it's still moving you're climbing.

Shorten your stride but push your pace a wee bit faster so little tiny fast steps and just keep powering and before you know it... you're up and can breathe deep and resume normal pace and stride.

👍💪😁

[grumpyoldgirl]

Take all that advice on board, and just keep doing them. But slower 😊 The only thing that helps me when I get a stitch is to slow down. Try the same run again, using all this advice, and I bet that it will feel easier next time. (I'm not a fan of hills either!)

[Couchpotato2 in reply to grumpyoldgirl]

I would never have guessed GOG...

but yeah, keep doing them. On the way down I concentrate on holding in abs and general core to be stable.

[happysouls Graduate10]

I live in a very hilly town and it is has been great for doing my hill training in a very gradual way. Like the start of couch to 5k with little runs amongst the walking I've added little bits of hill into the flat runs. So I've spent alot of time thinking about the hills I have available to me in terms of steepness and distance. I started with easier ones and then challenged myself to bigger and better. Now I have a hilly workout that has a big long gradual hill and a couple of smaller steep hills. This has worked really well for me...the bigger ones are coming up soon!

[Sweatylady]

Imagine how well it tones and shrinks your (ahem ) “butt”!!! And break it into bits, go slow but keep moving!!