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The Ups and Downs of Hill Running© 2007 by Ken Mierke
Imagine racing stride for stride with a runner who is just a bit stronger thanyou. With heart rate redlined, breathing right on the edge, and legsburning, you know you won’t last much longer. The road turns downhill andyou squirt forward as if propelled by a rocket-booster, gapping your stunned
opponent. By the end of the downhill, you have a 20-yard lead, heart rateand breathing have recovered and your legs feel bouncy again. This doesn’t
have to remain a fantasy.
Stair Stepping
Most runners use the stair-step technique on down-hills,
pushing out horizontally and allowing gravity to pull them
down. This wastes energy and increases risk for injuries.
This brake-propel-brake-propel slows a runner and wastes
energy. If you hit the ground much harder running
downhill than on flats, you are definitely a stair-stepper.
Learn to roll down hills. You’ll run much faster, use less energy, and reducethe damage of hard landings.
Roll Down the HillsEfficient downhill runners avoid using much energy in either braking orpropulsion. Gravity provides plenty of power if you learn how to use it.
Running down hills slowly requires much more energy than runningthem fast.
The wheel provides the best insight into optimal
downhill biomechanics. On a flat road, a wheel’s
center of support is directly under its center of massand provides perfectly horizontal movement.
Downhill, however, these dynamics change. The
orientation between a wheel’s support and center of mass rotates with thegrade. The wheel’s support is behind its center ofmass. It will roll parallel to the slope instead of
perfectly horizontally.
Efficient downhill runners actually place their footdown behind their hip. This is difficult to perfectEvolution Running
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because it feels like falling forward. Efficient runners do, in fact, fall forward
in a controlled manner with minimal braking. As the grade gets steeper,they lean slightly further forward and maintain a somewhat similar body
position relative to the ground as when running on a flat road.
With optimal run technique, the runner’s center if mass always travels in aline almost parallel with the slope of the ground. The force of gravity is used
to provide propulsion instead of causing a harderlanding.
As your leg swings forward, pull your foot back asplit-second earlier than you do now. You’ll feelyourself squirt forward at foot-strike with no attempt
to provide propulsion.
This can feel scary at first, but maintaining balancedoes not have to mean slowing down. Put the other foot down behind thehips and squirt forward again. Learn to stay light on your feet, turn yourlegs over very quickly, and avoid braking. Let gravity do the work.
When coasting downhill on a bike, your orientation to the road is no different
from when riding on the flats and the wheels serve only to hold you up.
Gravity provides propulsion. Learning to run downhill this way is extremely
efficient. Lean forward, allow your legs to support your weight, and let
gravity pull you forward. Let your legs just be your wheels.
Bounce Up Hills
Most triathletes realize that maintaining cadence during uphill cycling iscritical. They watch beginning cyclists struggle up hills at 60 rpm,
wondering mockingly why they don’t shift gears. Then they run up hills
doing the same thing as the cyclist they just scoffed at.
Maintain High Turnover:Keeping turnover high on up-hills is important forthe same reasons as in cycling, plus a major additional one. Runners gainsignificant power from the elasticity of the tissues in their feet and calves,
their springs. If turnover slows on up-hills, you lose a major source of
propulsion when you can least afford to.
Drive the Knee Up the Hill The knee must be
brought up much higher during leg recovery on
up-hills. Driving the knee powerfully upward
puts the leg in position to drive downward into

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the ground, pre-stretch the muscles, and provide both upward and forward
propulsion. Using the gluteus maximus, hamstring, quadriceps, and calfmuscles together is critical.
Kick the Ground. When running up hills, pull your foot back and down into
the ground. Don’t just wait for gravity to pull you down, initiate the contactaggressively. Get this right and you’ll feel the same bounce as on flat roads.
Concentrate on your technique on hills, both up and down, in training. A
little bit of specific work on your technique will pay huge dividends on raceday.
Ken Mierke, coach to some of the fastest runners in triathlon, is author of The Triathlete’s
Guide to Run Training and has produced a DVD about running technique, Evolution Running.
His next book Evolution Running: Run Faster and Farther Without Injury is due out in June.
Join Ken for Evolution Running clinics in Fairfax or Annapolis later this month.
www.EvolutionRunning.com