how do i cope with inclines: Hi ladies adn gents... - Couch to 5K

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how do i cope with inclines

toonfan71 profile image
3 Replies

Hi ladies adn gents

I know this may seem a silly question but where i run there is not a lot of level surfaces so the question is how am i best to cope with the inclines so i dont stop and walk like i did today.

Thanks in advance

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toonfan71 profile image
toonfan71
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CaroleC profile image
CaroleCGraduate

hi toonfan71,

There are many, many hills in my little town. If I want to avoid them I have to run up and down the same 200yd stretch or road. (death by boredom would surely follow with ten mins)

The best way I've found to cope with them is this; firstly, as you approach the hill/incline begin to breath deeper from the diaphragm, (it's called belly breathing). Push your tummy out as you breathe in. This helps your body to get more oxygen in even before you are on the slope; try to maintain it at least till you get to the crest of the hill.

Secondly, begin to pump your arms a little harder to maintain your momentum.

Thirdly,look up the slope, pick a lamp post or a gateway; mentally tell yourself that you are going to run to that spot, then if you have to, you will walk! (but you won't will you???)

The main thing to remember is to maintain the effort that you are putting in, NOT the pace or speed that you were managing to do on the flat. This is nearly always impossible to begin with and will only dispirit you if you fail. If you have to, go down to the briskest walk that you can manage. I have found that on extremely steep slopes, I can walk faster briskly, than I can jog slowly. It is not a crime, especially as you are still very much a beginner in the running game.

Good luck with those pesky hills!

CaroleC

Jenbie profile image
JenbieGraduate

What I do is go as slow as I need to. As CaroleC says, it's nigh on impossible to keep up the same speed/pace you were going on the flat, unless you are just going over a small incline, like a railway bridge, and not even then to begin with! In the early days of the C25K I used to run just on the flat, but since we stayed with my parents over Easter, I had to do a run near them, and they have some evil, really steep hills on their doorstep that you can't avoid. I was seriously jogging so slowly that I could have walked faster, so it did feel a bit ridiculous, but I kept going, just really slowly, and I made it to the top and back down to the end of the run. The sense of achievement was even better than finishing a normal run on the flat, so since then I have mixed up my runs a lot more with various different kinds of hill. It has been impossible to avoid hills since I started running for 25+ minutes, so it's good that I was thrown in the deep end really. I now find hills make things more interesting!

My tips are to go as slow as you need to without stopping and, as CaroleC says, make a bargain with yourself that you will run to such-and-such a point and then stop, and then when you get there, to such-and-such a point further on. Before you know it, you are at the top of the hill! There will be days when you stop and walk anyway to be honest - I had one the other week on a really steep hill that I hadn't tried before, and it really dented my confidence, but people on here reassured me it was normal. I am now debating trying to do the hill again on my run this evening... :-S Glutton for punishment!

AliB1 profile image
AliB1Graduate

Shorter steps also help but for me the main one is picking a point up the hill to aim for.

Good luck!

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