February 20, 2019
I am very fortunate that I live near the beach. I get to see the water everyday and the running loops in the area are flat…ideal for speed work.
But I have three races scheduled for this year…and none of them are flat. Here is a look at the elevation for the upcoming Colchester Half Marathon.
Colchester comes at perfect time of year…allowing us New Englanders the opportunity to do a lot of hill work when road conditions aren’t usually ideal for anything fast.
But it doesn’t have to winter to practice running hills. Your upcoming race doesn’t even need to be hilly to reap the benefits of hill training. As a coach, I always include a healthy dose of hill work in the beginning of an athletes training, no matter what the race.
So here are Coach Kopcha’s Top 5 Reasons to Be a Hill Seeker!
1. POWER! Running uphill uses different muscles that flat surfaces….mainly your glutes and hamstrings. Your glutes are the biggest and strongest muscle in your body, and usually the most underutilized.
2. WORKS TO ELIMINATE MUSCLE IMBALANCE! Since you are using more of your posterior chain, you can give your quads well deserved break, which usually pick up the slack for those lazy butts! Muscle imbalances lead to injury! Injury means no running.
3. IMPROVEMENT IN RUNNING FORM! Hills naturally encourage all the things we know are associated with good running form…high knees, mid-foot strike, and short strides. Another thing that will reduce you risk of injury.
4. FAT BURNER! Are you hoping to shed a couple of pounds before race season? Hill repeats serve the same purpose as the H.I.I.T. Training we do at the gym. It burns significantly more calories than running on flat ground. The increase in your intensity just by adding hill work will help to boost your metabolism.
5. THEY MAKE YOU A TOUGHER ATHLETE! The truth is, hills are hard work…which is why most runners skip this important part of their training. Running uphill can take a tremendous amount of grit and self discipline. But that mental fortitude and the confidence it builds will come in handy when you trying to out kick your competition on race day.
GO BE A HILL SEEKER! The views from the top are worth it!
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