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2006-01-24 9:04 AM

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Subject: Training for Hill Climb

Morning everyone,

My next event will be 8 Tuff Miles http://www.8tuffmiles.com/ on Feb 25th. which is run across the island of St. John USVI, it tops out at 1000ft (but the total climb is probably between 1200 & 1400 ft). I completed last year in a 1:17:46 having "trained" (see below) regularly on hills.

I have 4 weeks  - my goal is to improve on last years time by as large a margin as feasible, while still keeping up my Tri program - I have a sprint the week after the 8 Tuff Miles - which I'm classifiying as a fun event - My "A" race is the St. Croix 1/2IM on May 7th - http://www.stcroixtriathlon.com/

I am seeking advice on a training program "Specifically" for a hill climb - I have read the recent posts on "Junk" miles and must admit that I am guilty of just running (and swimming and biking) - haven' been doing tempo or intervals.

I completed a sprint last weekend, and have realised that I really need to adjust my tri training (I have the BT program and have been doing the disciplines per schedule but not the actual work-out) - I feel that my endurance is good but my speed needs improvement.

Thanks in advance.



2006-01-24 9:24 AM
in reply to: #330541

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Giver
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Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb
I don't know about a specific training program for a hillclimb race, but a once-weekly hill repeats session would be really good. Find a hill that takes about 2-3 minutes to climb, run  as fast as you can up it and jog back down. Repeat until you puke (maybe 10x).
2006-01-24 9:30 AM
in reply to: #330541

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Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb
Below is some information about improving your climbing. It was written for road cyclists, so discussion or attacking won't be relevant to non-draft-legal triathlon.

Hope it helps!

Ken

Climbing Faster
© 2005 by Ken Mierke

Every cyclist wants to climb faster, but not all are blessed with the classic climber’s build or Lance’s VO2 max. Every rider can learn to climb faster with specific preparation. Following these guidelines will help you climb faster than ever this year.

Improve your technique:
Riding fast uphill isn’t just about being strong and lightweight, but also about applying your power efficiently to the pedals. Only power directed at a perfect tangent to the arc described by the pedals propels the bike. The rest is wasted energy.

VO2 max tests are a good indicator of an athlete’s capacity for work and an indirect predictor of performance. Essentially, this test tells how strong an athlete’s legs and cardiovascular system are, but also how efficiently he or she pedals. This last part is not given nearly enough credence by test technicians, coaches or athletes.

During this test we measure the energy expenditure (oxygen consumption) of riding at a given wattage. The higher the oxygen consumption, the stronger the rider is, but the lower the oxygen consumption at a given wattage, the more efficiently the rider pedals. This may be compared with a car’s fuel efficiency. We have found that, 84% of the time, efficiency explains more than half of the wattage differences between riders. If one rider produces 10% greater wattage at lactate threshold, 84% of the time the rider uses less than 5% more energy to do so indicating greater efficiency.

Pedal stroke technique is especially critical when climbing. On the flats, where 180 pounds of bike and rider may be moving 28 miles per hour, there is a tremendous amount of momentum to help a rider through pedal stroke dead spots. On climbs, gravity constantly tugs and the speed is too low to create enough momentum to help through dead spots, so minimizing them is critical. When one pedal is at 12 o’clock and the other at 6 o’clock, neither leg is engaged in the downstroke. Creating just a little more wattage through this top and bottom dead center range effectively carries more momentum through to the next downstroke. This allows a rider’s wattage to be more steady instead of requiring great reacceleraton on every stroke. The difference is remarkable.

Downstroke: Drive Forward and Down
Most riders initiate the downstroke at about 2 o’clock, driving straight down. This produces good peak power, but within a very short power zone. Good climbers initiate the downstroke earlier, elongating their peak power zone. Try to start the downstroke early, driving diagonally forward and down from 12 o’clock toward 3 o’clock (Diagram 1). This optimally overlaps the peak torque of the hip extensors (glutes) and the knee extensors (quadriceps) creating a longer downstroke power zone. You’ll know you are pedaling well when you feel your toes press against the front of your shoes across the top of the pedal stroke.

Backstroke: Start Earlier
We’ve all heard that good riders pull back across the bottom of the pedal stroke like they were scraping mud off the bottom of their shoes. While this is an accurate description of what actually happens during an efficient climber’s stroke, attempting to initiate this movement earlier produces a power curve that more closely replicates the arc of the pedal (see Diagram 2). When your pedal reaches the 3 o’clock position, try to pull your heel straight backward, directly through the bottom bracket. Obviously this is impossible, but the downstroke is such a naturally dominant part of the pedal stroke that concentrating 100% on the horizontal aspect during this phase of the pedal stroke and trying to initiate the backstroke too early actually create the optimal downward-backward arc.

Unload on the Upstroke
Most riders use the right leg’s downstroke to lift the weight of the left leg. This reduces propulsion. Good climbers attempt to lift the weight of recovering leg off the pedal using that leg’s hip flexor muscle so that all of the opposite leg’s downstroke power gets to the rear wheel.
At the conclusion of the backstroke, when the pedal reaches 7 o’clock, drive the knee up and forward powerfully toward the handlebar (see Diagram 3). Feel the effort in the hip flexor muscles at the front of the hip and the very upper thigh. On a long, steady climb, concentrate on lifting the knee to unweight the pedal on the upstroke and see how much lighter the downstroke becomes without any drop-off in power.

Feel Power in the Top Half
Efficient riders feel their effort concentrated in the top half of the pedal stroke (see Diagram 4). When your legs do what they’re supposed to in the top half of the pedal stroke, the bottom half generally takes care of itself. The next time you hit a tough climb, think triangles and your legs will make circles more effectively than ever before.

Train Torque
Climbing requires producing great muscular force. Riders who have specifically trained their legs for this will obviously climb faster. During appropriate times of season, strength training is an important supplement for almost every rider. A full discussion is beyond the scope of this article, but using heavy weights is effective for improving sustained climbing.

Transfer Strength:
Strength-transfer training, low cadence efforts which train the muscles to efficiently apply their weight-room strength to the pedals is critical to bridge the gap between the weight room and climbing. During base period, do efforts of 5 to 20 minutes at heart rate zone 3 or power zone CP 90 intensity and a cadence of 50 to 60 rpm. During build and peak periods, perform one workout per week of LT training at 70 to 75 rpm to maintain muscular force. While efficient climbers generally use relatively high cadence in racing, specific low cadence training segments enable high cadence climbing in a harder gear.

Seated or Standing:
Thin riders (less than 2 pounds per inch) climb out of the saddle effectively for sustained periods. The rest of us will be more efficient staying seated most of the time on long, steady climbs.

Prepare for accelerations:
The ability to put out high, steady wattage on sustained climbs is critical, but your opponents won’t keep the effort steady. Preparing for surges and accelerations is critical to be able to match moves made by other riders and to drop them. Long sets of hill repeats on a very short, steep hill that takes about 20 seconds to climb with minimal recovery time between efforts will improve this skill. Also simulate attacks during LT workouts. Accelerating hard for 20 seconds every 3 minutes during an otherwise steady LT climb will enable you to surge even when you are hurting on race day.

Standing to attack can be an effective tactic, quickly opening a gap, but staying seated and increasing wattage without any flourish can be effective in different circumstances. Pulling up forcefully on the pedal during the upstroke makes this possible. At steady state, efficient climbers don’t actually pull up on the pedal, creating wattage, but they unload to avoid creating negative wattage. For short periods requiring extremely high wattage, lifting forcefully on the pedal can provide tremendous reserve power. The hip flexor muscles are extremely powerful, but lack endurance in most riders. Driving the knee upward powerfully for a few seconds can be useful for accelerating or maintaining momentum on steep pitches.

Use Your Head and Your Legs:
We’re frequently amazed at how cyclists tend to think that the top riders train and race the same way they do … only more and harder. Maybe the top guys actually do something differently. Effective climbing isn’t just about getting strong from hard workouts, but also about efficiency – applying power in a way that the energy gets transferred effectively to the rear wheel and at times in the race when the additional expenditure will benefit.

Ken Mierke is Head Coach of Fitness Concepts (www.Fitness-Concepts.com) and developer of Evolution Running (www.EvolutionRunning.com)
2006-01-24 9:33 AM
in reply to: #330541

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Giver
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Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb
Wait...this is a running race, right?
2006-01-24 9:41 AM
in reply to: #330541

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Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb
Oops, sorry. My brain equates climbing with cycling. I'm only half way through my first cup of coffee : )

Below is some information about running on hills. More can be found in my book the Triathlete's Guide to Run Training or on my DVD about running technique, Evolution Running: Run Faster with Fewer Injuries. Both are available at www.EvolutionRunning.com

Efficient Running on Hills
Imagine racing up a long hill, stride for stride with a runner who is just a bit stronger than you are. Your heart-rate is redlined, your breathing is right on the edge of out-of-control, and your legs are burning and feeling heavy. You know you won’t last much longer at this effort level. As you crest the hill and the road turns down, you 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, your heart-rate and breathing have returned to sustainable levels and your legs feel bouncy again. This doesn’t have to remain a fantasy. With a thorough understanding of ideal downhill technique, consistent concentration and hard work, and the courage to explore the limits of your leg-speed, you can run faster down hills and expend less energy.

As important as efficient technique is on flat ground, it is even more important on hills. Most runners use poor technique on flat ground, but even worse technique on hills. Learning to run hills efficiently and training the body for the unique demands of hilly courses enables a triathlete to gain ground on an evenly matched opponent on every hill.

Use Gravity, Instead of Fighting it on Down-hills
If there is one place where an understanding of race strategy, physiology, physics, and running technique can pay off most, it is on down-hills. The goals of Evolution Running, to minimize vertical displacement, to utilize elastic recoil, to take short & quick strides, to avoid braking, and to accomplish the heel flick may be even more beneficial on down-hills than on the flats or up-hills. Additionally, most runners’ downhill techniques are even worse than their flatland techniques. Down-hills are the perfect place to reap the rewards of efficient running technique.
The bad news is that fast downhill running can be very scary. Developing an efficient stride on down-hills will take time and effort and gradually pushing back the threshold of fear requires courage. Master these techniques on shallow to moderate hills first and be very careful using them on steep hills.

The good news is that there is a substantial amount of time and energy to be saved with good downhill technique and attitude. Running downhill slowly takes more energy than running downhill fast, once you learn not to fight gravity, but to flow with it smoothly.
There are two keys to running fast efficiently down hills:

Gravity Propels: The first is the realization that gravity will provide much or all of the propulsion required to run fast downhill. Efficient downhill runners expend their energy on limb movement, support, and balance, but avoid using much energy in either braking or propulsion. Gravity will provide plenty of power if you can avoid fighting against it and keep it under control.

Downhill Speed is Scary: The second key is an understanding that you can maintain control at very high running speeds. A runner actually picking up too much speed and falling face-first down a hill is not a likely occurrence. Although efficient downhill runners fear this every time they run fast down a hill, they have trained their bodies to maintain control and they have trained their minds to push past the fear. Every runner has a threshold of controllable downhill speed and a threshold of comfortable downhill speed. The fear threshold is usually a much slower pace than the control threshold. Training your body and mind to increase both of these thresholds pays huge dividends come race day.

Learning to Roll Down Hills
Running down hills slowly requires much more energy than running down them fast.
The wheel model provides the best insight into optimal downhill biomechanics. On a flat road the wheel’s center of support is directly under its center of mass and provides perfectly horizontal movement, exactly parallel to the road.
When a wheel rolls downhill, however, these dynamics change. The orientation between its center of support and center of mass rotates with the grade. The wheel’s center of support will be behind its center of mass, at an angle proportionate to the grade of the slope. In addition, the wheel will roll parallel to the slope instead of perfectly horizontally.
Taking the analogy a step further, cyclists tend to pedal with less power down gradual hills and stop pedaling completely down steep hills. The greater the assistance of gravity, the less force for propulsion is required from the athlete.

To diagram optimal theoretical downhill running technique, we simply rotate the diagram of optimal flatland technique in proportion to the grade of the hill. Notice that on down-hills, the foot-strike is actually positioned behind the hips and that the entire body leans forward in a straight line from the toes to the head. This is a very difficult movement to perfect because it feels like you are falling forward. Efficient downhill runners do, in fact, fall forward down the hill in a controlled manner with minimal braking. Leaning forward down the hill with the hips and shoulders and trusting your leg-speed and balance takes time, but the rewards are amazing.
Efficient downhill runners lean forward almost as much as the grade steepens, maintaining almost the same body position relative to the ground. They develop propulsion relatively parallel to the ground.

Stair-Stepping
Most runners use what I call the stair-step technique to run downhill, creating horizontal propulsion and allowing gravity to pull them down to the ground. The muscles must contract forcefully for propulsion (instead of allowing gravity to do the work) which prevents physical recovery during down-hills.
Stair-step running dramatically increases landing impact, requiring more forceful contractions to “catch” bodyweight at impact and increasing the risk for injuries. This stair-step style of “brake-propel-brake-propel” slows a runner down and uses much more energy than Evolution Running. If you feel like you run faster down hills, but hit the ground harder, you are definitely a stair-stepper. Save that technique for when you are actually going down steps. Learn to roll down the hills and you’ll run much faster, use less energy, and protect yourself from the damage of hard landings.

With optimal run technique, the runner’s center if mass always travels almost in a line parallel with the slope of the ground. The additional force of gravity, due to the hill, is used to provide propulsion instead of causing a harder landing. Remember, it takes more energy to fight gravity and slow down than it does to run down quickly and smoothly working with gravity.
The real key to this technique is putting your foot down actually behind your hips. While it sounds simple, it will take a while to establish the correct feeling and it will take a long time to feel natural. Put your foot down way earlier during leg recovery than you do now. When you get it right, you’ll feel yourself squirt forward at foot-strike with no attempt to provide propulsion. Your natural reaction to that will be to reach forward with the other foot to regain “balance”. Fight that tendency. Maintaining balance does not have to mean slowing down. Put the other foot down behind the hips and squirt forward again. Learn to stay light on your feet, turn your legs over very quickly, and avoid braking. Let gravity do the work of propelling. Expend your energy supporting your bodyweight, maintaining balance, and turning your legs over extremely quickly.

Learn to “Bounce” Up the Hills
If there’s one time when even the worst heel-striker lands on the balls of his feet and keeps his weight off the heels throughout the stride-cycle, it is running up a hill. On moderately steep hills, a runner can’t land on the heels even if he wanted to. The slope of the hill simply doesn’t allow it.

One benefit of Evolution-style running is that you run up hills using the same muscles that you use in all your training. A heel-striker trains his calf muscles only when running uphill. Imagine a 40-mile per week runner trying to run hard up a hill in a race when he has trained those muscles only about one mile per week. And aren’t hills are where we ask the most of our muscles in races?

Many of the same Evolution Running techniques apply to uphill running. The force dynamics of running hard up a hill should not differ drastically from the force dynamics of flatland running. The difference should be in direction of force, not magnitude of force.

Most runners make a huge mistake here. They push forcefully up the hill, allowing the slope to reduce turnover and using more forceful contractions to muscle up the hill.

Most triathletes realize that maintaining cadence during uphill cycling is critical. They watch beginning cyclists struggle up the hills at 60 rpm, wondering why they don’t shift gears. Then they run up the hill doing the same thing as the cyclist they just scoffed at.

Maintaining turnover when running uphill is important for all the same reasons that maintaining cadence when cycling uphill is important, plus one big additional reason. As discussed in an earlier chapter, reduced turnover dissipates the energy stored in the muscles and prevents optimal energy return from elastic recoil. The muscles already are required to create substantially greater force to propel the athlete uphill. Now subtract the power of elastic recoil and muscling up the hills becomes extremely costly. Even if optimal speed is maintained, it comes at a great metabolic cost, which will have to be paid back by reducing speed later in the race.

Efficient runners allow up-hills to reduce stride length instead of turnover, maintaining the same efficient 180-182 steps per minute used on flat ground and continuing to gain power from elastic recoil. Optimal speed is maintained, and muscular fatigue is minimized, by continuing to use this approach on hills.

The primary differences between efficient flatland running and efficient hill running all stem from the fact that minimizing vertical displacement is not a goal for uphill running. The slope of the hill demands vertical displacement. Optimal vertical displacement for uphill running ensures that the runner’s center-of-mass travels nearly on a line parallel to the slope of the hill. The following adaptations to Evolution Running required to run efficiently uphill are described below.

On flat ground, efficient runners pull through, creating propulsion from hip extension and not from knee extension. Up hills, efficient runners use hip extension to provide horizontal propulsion and knee extension to provide vertical propulsion.

The foot-drag movement is critical running uphill, for the same reasons as with flatland running. Pulling the foot back and down prevents braking and stores energy for elastic recoil. A key difference is the direction of movement of the foot-drag. With flatland running, the foot is pulled almost directly backward into the ground. Up hills, the foot is pulled back and down into the ground at a steeper angle using a combination of hip extension and knee extension. At the moment of foot-strike, the knee is slightly bent, but in the process of straightening. Extending the knee and using the quads creates the upward force required to move upward as well as forward. Over flat ground, this wastes energy and slows turnover, but up hills it is necessary and efficient.

Running up hills, you will not have very much downward vertical displacement before foot-strike to help pre-stretch the tissues for elastic recoil. Concentrate on pulling your foot forcefully down into the ground, actually feeling like you are kicking the ground. Get this right and you’ll feel the same bounce as on flat roads.

To enable the backward and downward foot-drag, the knee must be brought up much higher during leg recovery and the knee remains bent to a much more acute angle until the foot-drag / knee-extension movement begins. Driving the knee powerfully upward puts the leg in position to drive downward into the ground, pre-stretch the muscles, and provide both upward and forward propulsion. Using the gluteus maximus, hamstring, and quadriceps muscles together is critical.


Running up hills, try to maintain the same body position, relative to gravity, as on flats. This will produce an even greater feeling of falling forward up the hill, because your angle with the ground will be more acute.

Just as with flatland running, do not let the foot extend in front of the knee. The knee drives further forward and upward and the foot does move slightly in front of the hips, but not in front of the knee.

Practice running efficiently up hills. Concentrate on the following:
• Maintain the same high turnover used on flat-ground running.
• Pump the arms with short, quick movements.
• Drive the knees powerfully toward the top of the hill.
• Pull the foot back down into the ground with a powerful motion.
• Don’t just allow gravity to pull you down, actually kick the ground
• During foot-strike, drive the opposite knee toward the top of the hill.
• Minimize contact time between feet and ground – feel the “bounce”.
• Maintain the same body position with respect to gravity that you use for flatland running.

Training For Hill Running
In addition to modifying technique, specific training for running on hills will make a major difference in race performance. The muscles and connective tissues face different stresses running on hills than running over flat ground, and they must be trained to handle those stresses optimally.

Strength training is even more important for hill running than for flatland running. Efficient runners use the quadriceps very little running over flat ground, but significantly when running uphill. The hip flexors also must travel through a much greater range of motion and need to be trained to handle the additional stress. After a comprehensive strength training program in the off-season is completed, weighted running and specific running workouts on hills are the best way to accomplish this.

While a runner with perfect technique won’t hit the ground any harder running downhill than running on flat ground, no human has perfect running technique. Our hips will not travel on a line perfectly parallel to the ground and we will land with mush greater impact. A smart runner prepares his body for this before a hilly race.

As discussed elsewhere in this book, weighted running overloads the muscles that act vertically in the running stride. Using a weight vest for an easy hour run trains the slow twitch fibers in those muscles. Generally, the muscles that are more active on hills never get any sustained work running. They work hard running up hills and then rest, work hard up hills and rest … every workout for those muscles is an interval workout. Weighted running on flat terrain allows steady, low intensity work for these muscles.

Make sure that most of your race-pace workouts take place on terrain that is very similar to the courses of your priority races. If the runs of your key races are hilly, some of your aerobic capacity workouts should be conducted as hill repeats instead of on the track. Doing lactate threshold training on hills provides an excellent workout and can be very good for working on technique as you try to maintain heart rate on down-hills.

We all tend to focus on up-hills, but work just as hard on improving your downhill running. One of my clients raced the Columbia Triathlon several years ago. The Columbia course is brutally hilly; athletes often refer to it as “the beast of the east”. She got off her bike in the lead, but was passed in the first mile on an uphill by a lady in her age group who was running much faster. On the next down-hill, she caught her and retook the lead. For four miles they exchanged the lead on almost every up-hill and down-hill before my client finally opened a gap on a downhill that she could hold to the finish. That she got passed on every up-hill tells who was in better condition. In this race, the trophy went to the most efficient down-hill runner, not the strongest athlete.

During hilly workouts and races, think about your technique on the hills until correct technique becomes 100% natural. Drive your knee up the hill, lean forward, pull your foot down powerfully into the ground and keep your turnover up when the road climbs. Lean way forward with your ribcage, put your foot down behind your hips, and let gravity pull you down the hills. A little bit of specific work on your hill running technique will pay huge dividends on the day of a hilly race.

2006-01-24 10:59 AM
in reply to: #330541

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Extreme Veteran
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St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb

Many thanks Ken, great info, I had been thinking of getting your DVD - guess I just made up my mind :-)

Thanks again



2006-01-24 11:40 AM
in reply to: #330647

Elite
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Subject: RE: Training for Hill Climb
don't feel bad,  I thought the same thing and was thinking of suggestions while reading that huge *** article
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