None said:
The 5K track is going to be pretty hilly, which I know
will be MUCH more difficult than a flat course. I'm
wondering how I could better train for the hills. Either
techniques I could use on the track, or if I should train
in some hilly areas.
The best way to train for hills is to run hills - both up
and down (unless your race is only up or down). But
generally no more than once a week, if you've only been
running flat. (Mountain runners do a lot more, *but* they
build up to it over years.)
Here's a link that summarizes some basic info runnersworld.com0,5033,s6 51 0 0Open ↗
1063,00.html
You don't say what "pretty hilly" means. Is it on roads
(probably <5% slopes, maybe 100 ft uphill/downhill), trails
(5-20% or greater slopes, few hundred feet change in
elevation), or mountain running (20% and *much* steeper,
2000 ft or more change in elevation)? If you're mostly
training on a track (can you reverse directions occasionally
to reduce wear/tear on legs?), I'm guessing your 5k is on a
road with relatively gentle slopes with no climb over 100
ft. Please correct me if I'm wrong as some places do have
roads with much hillier routes.
For starters, I try to find out what the course is like and
mimic either parts of it or the entire course in my training
runs. If I'm specifically working on hills, I'll pick hills
that are either steeper or bigger (more elevation) or longer
than the course to improve my hill ability. If in the middle
of a long run, I *try* to run the ups and downs at similar
effort (easier said than done on 20-30% slopes). The RW link
describes some ways of doing uphill repeats - hard up, easy
down. As you get better, you can steepen the hills, increase
effort level (above LT), increase reps, etc. The steeper the
hills, the more of a strength workout it is. There's more
flavors of hill workouts than Baskin-Robbins ice cream 😉
Unless your course is only uphill, be sure to work on
downhills. You might run uphills hard / downhills easy (or
walk) one time; other times focus on downhills and recover
on the ups - but be careful of the downs. Downhills can hurt
until you've got the strength for them. Here's a good link
with downhill info pponline.co.uk0009.htmOpen ↗
I also find that some drills like step ups, lunges, squats,
etc. help for the hills in "off"-season, but pay attention
to total volume (running + other drills) so you don't overdo
it and injure yourself.
On a more general note, you might consider adding some
variety to your regular running - alternating easy / hard
days. Do some runs longer than 5k at easier effort, do
shorter runs with fartleks or intervals with the work
portion at higher intensity. Hills are considered hard and
can be run like a fartlek or interval if you maintain pace
(effort will increase on up, decrease on down) or like a
tempo if you maintain effort (decrease pace uphill, increase
pace downhill). When increasing distance, generally don't
increase more than 10% every 1-2 weeks. You don't get better
by doing the same thing all the time. Just some thoughts.
Good luck.
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
