C25kw5

[Dessie01]

Any advice on running uphill . Only run on flat so far but am going to a hilly part of France , to say I'm worried is a under statement as I get puffed walking up hills

[agedsnailspace Graduate]

Shorten your steps and really swing your arms! Make sure your arms are going forwards and back not across your body.

Try to keep your head up/shoulders down (leaning forwards will mean you can't breath as easily as it will compress your chest leaving less room for your lungs to expand.

Don't think of it as a fail if you don't get to the top. Just remember where you got to and next time go 2 steps further (and if you get those to steps done, try 2 more...)

I find if I pick a song I really like and sing it in my head, it helps with going just a little bit further each time.

Then, when you get to the top, really slow your breathing down (it's really easy to keep gasping and that just makes everything feel hard!), take some deep breathes in time with your foot fall till you can breathe in for 3 and out for 3, then speed up and enjoy the downhill part!

[Dessie01 Graduate in reply to agedsnailspace]

Many thanks for tips and encouragement ,

[Pigivi]

Hills are tough - Slow down, shorten your stride, keep your body upright...

Maybe there is a football pitch and you could run around it?

Before you start running I would go out and walk any possible running route - there has to be some that are not too hilly. On week 5 and 6 you are likely to cover about 3 km ?

Maybe even if you have to go up and down the same stretch of road/path it's not that bad...

If there is no flat parts at all you could go back a couple of weeks and use those run/walk intervals (try 1 minute running, 30 sec walking, on a steep incline) when you are back on the flat you'll probably notice a big improvement even if you haven't ran the week 5 podcast! Oh, and enjoy flying downhill!!!

[Dessie01 Graduate in reply to Pigivi]

Thanks for the tips and encouragement

[gary_bart]

Remember, too, that it's just a length of TIME that you have to run for. As long as you're making some kind of progress up your hill for the duration of the run, you're doing fine. Just keep going forever, or until Laura forces you to end the lovely hill climb.

A plus of hills is that your range of motions is a bit smaller, so they're a bit more controlled. (Think of that in contrast to a downhill, which can get away from you, or where you can hammer yourself braking too much). In fact it's probably more important to make sure your downhill sections aren't too steep than to find the gentlest climbs. You shouldn't hurt yourself going up.

Hills are slow. Just accept that. That's probably 90% of what you need to overcome mentally when you hit a hill. Don't fret! Of course it's going slower! Anything slightly beyond jogging on the spot is perfectly adequate uphill progress.