ok, new to hills. can run for over an hour on the treadmill but hills kill me. they make me feel physically sick & just underneath my ribcage (stomach area) hurts. sort of muscular pain when I run them. any advice please. I think I tend to hunch forward & look down so that I dont see how much of the hill is left but I really need help to tackle them comfortably.
thank you
I am not sure how qualified I am to advise but it depends on the hill a bit. I find on a shortish even fairly sharp hill really lifting my knees and powering it rather perversely seems to help a lot.
On a steeper hill I find running up on my forefoot is much easier but tests your calf strength.
On really long hills there are two failsafe tactics. The first is to run up any way you possibly can then curl up in a ball for ten minutes somewhere near the top until the nausea passes; the second is to take a different flatter route and pretend that's the way you meant to go anyway 
Realistically though its just a different type of strength so the more you do the better you get at it!
"On really long hills there are two failsafe tactics. The first is to run up any way you possibly can then curl up in a ball for ten minutes somewhere near the top until the nausea passes; the second is to take a different flatter route and pretend that's the way you meant to go anyway "
thank you. this made me laugh out loud! thats me, curled up in a ball
I have tried to avoid hills but live near the top of one so cant get away from them. I can cope with the long gradual ones, its the sharp steep ones that hurt belly feels as if I am doing sit-ups whilst running. eyuck. tip toes all the way
Shelley, what also helps is to start "belly breathing" as soon as you can see the hill approaching. This is quite a long article, (runnersworld.com/article/0,... but it explains it well and it does work - I have used it on hills since the C25K. Also, use your arms to pump yourself up the hill, but not too hard as they are using up much needed energy too! The other thing I do is to focus on a marker halfway up the hill and tell myself that if I'm struggling I will just run to that bit; then I do it again and focus on another marker. You need to look up to where you are running not hunch down, you need all the air you can get into your lungs ...try the belly breathing, see if it helps you!
CaroleC
thanks carole. I remember you mentioning about belly breathing ready for the hill so am just about to bring the article up now, ready for tomorrows run.
enjoy your 2 week school break got kids off as well. lie ins
As a previously mainly treadmill runner who is now venturing outside, I know what you mean about hills. Don't have much advice although my approach to them is what goes up must come down and I try and focus on how great it'll be to run down it!
Going to read the link Carole posted now. Enjoy the lie ins!
Hills, hills and more hills
The strangeness of hills.
week8 run2 with a hill
Wow hills are invigorating!
Back in my hills Wk8R2
