"Running hills is the best way to promote longevity as an athlete," says the voice of conventional wisdom. For evidence, look at Andre Agassi from tennis and Jerry Rice from professional football. They give running hills credit for preserving their fitness.
Recently, I was inspired to run a segment of Wilhelmina Rise. My hill is fairly steep, and my route measures a little over one tenth of a mile.
Attempt #1: I walked slowly to the bottom, stretched my legs, and started out, running nice and relaxed, picking my feet up, breathing, and feeling good. Suddenly the biggest bear jumped on my back and I came to a complete halt.
"Oh my God,"I said out loud, gasping for air, struggling to recover. I was consumed in a cloud of lactic acid. My legs would not work, I hurt all over, my chest was screaming and my head was pounding. Worse yet, I was only half way up the hill.
I was stunned and overwhelmed with humility. All I could think was, "Am I really in this bad of shape?" "Indeed," came the answer from somewhere in my mind.
I emailed the story to my daughter-in-law Shannon Yates and my good friend Todd Iacavelli. From Shannon, these words of encouragement, "Wow-what a great workout; you'll feel so proud the day you can make it up the hill. Whole or part, no matter, the goal is to move from inaccessible to accessible for you."
Attempt #2: I made it one more driveway (from inaccessible to accessible) when the same bear attacked. No amount of mental training could deal with the oxygen debt; the exhaustion prevented me from thinking clearly about running efficiently.
"Yates," Todd said when I answered the phone, "I love your story about the hill and I've met that bear." Then we shared a really good laugh.
"One coaching point," Todd began, "you may be bringing your knees up too high." The lights went on for me as he described the difference between running steps and hills: "When you run steps you want to bring you knees up high to build leg-speed and power. When you run a steep hill you want to pick your feet up just enough so they fall forward. Lean forward and shorten your strides, keep your head down, pump your arms, and use the strength of your legs to propel yourself up the hill."
Attempt #3: I went two more driveways before the bear forced me to stop. "Hey", I greeted Todd, "that worked, my legs felt way stronger and I'm 3/4th's of the way up!" "Good," said Todd, "keep it going!"
Attempt #4: JB (Jessica Broadfoot), an outstanding student-athlete passed by in her car, "Giyah!" (the universal language of the fire) came her greeting. She inspired me… I counted my steps, focused on my breathing, stayed present, stayed calm, embraced the discomfort and felt each step. At the 3/4th's mark the bear raised his head… I felt my chest tighten but; I put my head down and ran right past him to the top.
Wow! What a feeling; you would have thought I had climbed Everest! I celebrated my success, and immediately began to seek some counsel on how to refine my hill workout.
Think Intervals: Randall Shibuya advised, "Run one and then walk part way down and do intervals." After three weeks I'm doing two completes, two 7/8 th's and two ¾ th's.
Training Heart Rate: Christian Friies suggested, "Wear a heart monitor and warm up before you run the hill." I now get my heart rate up to 100 before I start and reach 150 to 156 by the top of the hill. The warm up makes me feel much stronger.
Goals: Greg Cuadra encouraged, "Set a goal for how many intervals based on time and then expand the distance of the hill or increase the speed of each interval." My goal is to run 6 intervals, 3x's per week. (Not sure why I asked Greg, his passion is 100 mile runs).
Summary: Running hills is great… the workout is intense yet it leaves me feeling good all day. My knees love it; with no pounding they have never felt better. In one month, my resting pulse, recovery rate and over-all fitness have improved. Thanks to the input from my friends, I’ve been able to keep it above the line: to stay present without over doing it, to embrace the challenge without taking the results personally and to feel the work without getting hurt. I appreciate the physical challenge, and I love how I've been able to measure and feel my improvement.
