I for one, have learned to give running hills a chance. I have grown fond of the quick pain they bring about, but also the difficulty the present. Purely from a training and exercising perspective, hills do wonders. Consistent hill training is excellent for building muscular strength, as well as endurance. Running coach Joe Catalano once said, "Many people shy away from hills. They make it easy on themselves, but that limits their improvement. The more you repeat something, the stronger you get" (Running.about.com).
While his point is obvious, Catalano is exactly right. Too many people shy away from hills in their training. It is easy to have a nice flat run with an easy tempo and rhythm, and lets be honest, nothing ruins a long smooth run like a sharp incline. Yet we as runners loose something valuable when we choose to skip the hills.
Unless you live in a relatively flat region, there is no good reason to be skipping out on hill training. According to Runners World, "on uphill sections your muscles contract more powerfully than usual because they are forced to overcome gravity to move you up the hill. The result is more power, which in turn leads to longer, faster running strides". The benefits of running hills in essence are an increase in running economy, increased strength and form, which in the end all benefit you as a runner.
As always, running has such a deep connection with the trials of life. Hills in plain language suck. They hurt, and they hit you when you are already tired. Similarly, the events in life can seem to be a battle. They hit us when we least expect it, and a long uphill battle ensues in which we struggle to make it to the top. When we see the hard points like an exam, a new opportunity or anything difficult, what does it say about us as people if we simply choose to choose the easy flat path.
My cross country coach always told me that "the uphill is always followed by a downhill on the other side" when I complained bitterly about the Mount Everest sized hill he made us do workouts on. Its true in life and running. The trying moments in life will be lost in the pride and sense of accomplishment we feel from overcoming the odds. Getting up over the crest of the hill will burn the lungs, yet the downhill will reward us with a small reward.
So hit the hills, ignore the burn and keep the chest up as you go. Get up and over and enjoy the road that lies ahead.
While his point is obvious, Catalano is exactly right. Too many people shy away from hills in their training. It is easy to have a nice flat run with an easy tempo and rhythm, and lets be honest, nothing ruins a long smooth run like a sharp incline. Yet we as runners loose something valuable when we choose to skip the hills.
Unless you live in a relatively flat region, there is no good reason to be skipping out on hill training. According to Runners World, "on uphill sections your muscles contract more powerfully than usual because they are forced to overcome gravity to move you up the hill. The result is more power, which in turn leads to longer, faster running strides". The benefits of running hills in essence are an increase in running economy, increased strength and form, which in the end all benefit you as a runner.
As always, running has such a deep connection with the trials of life. Hills in plain language suck. They hurt, and they hit you when you are already tired. Similarly, the events in life can seem to be a battle. They hit us when we least expect it, and a long uphill battle ensues in which we struggle to make it to the top. When we see the hard points like an exam, a new opportunity or anything difficult, what does it say about us as people if we simply choose to choose the easy flat path.
My cross country coach always told me that "the uphill is always followed by a downhill on the other side" when I complained bitterly about the Mount Everest sized hill he made us do workouts on. Its true in life and running. The trying moments in life will be lost in the pride and sense of accomplishment we feel from overcoming the odds. Getting up over the crest of the hill will burn the lungs, yet the downhill will reward us with a small reward.
So hit the hills, ignore the burn and keep the chest up as you go. Get up and over and enjoy the road that lies ahead.
I like this post because one minute you're talking about running, and the next you're talking about life in general. I've recently taken up jogging, and I'm terrible and I skip hills.
ReplyDeleteI love that you relate running to life mottos, it is so true, you just have to get over the hill. I've never been into running so I normally try to get another form of cardio in, but maybe one day i'll learn to love it!
ReplyDeleteI should have commented on this last week, but I wanted to say that THIS is a great sentence:
ReplyDelete"The hill is the nemesis for runners, the arch enemy, the dream crusher, foe, the hated companion, and the maker of misery."