Hill Training in Flat Jersey

Southern New Jersey is not known for its mountainous (or even hilly) landscape. Nope. The beach is probably Southern NJ’s better-known calling card. In fact, the beach, the ocean and the bay are what has kept John and I so tied to this area, despite some of its flaws.

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Lake Placid Ironman – Run Course Elevation Profile
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Lake Placid Ironman - Bike Course Elevation Profile

While I love the ocean, it has one obvious flaw for hill training: it’s at sea level. Without the benefit of a mountain range nearby, the flat location leaves us with an obvious dilemma for hill training. The trouble is, my husband and I really like racing the hills, and have signed up for several races with considerable elevation change, the Lake Placid Ironman being the priority race for 2010. The course has a series of big climbs, with around 7900 feet of elevation change (up and down) on the bike course, and about 2600 feet of elevation change (up and down) on the run course.

So, what are we to do?

On a regular basis, we rely on improvisation, my friends, improvisation. Given the vast amount of water that separates much of the land spaces here in South Jersey, bridges are in no small supply. So, we do our hill repeats by running up and down, up and down, up and down, and well, you get the picture.

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Sunrise over Brigantine Bridge. (Brigantine is a barrier island right next to Atlantic City, NJ)

Yes, the redundancy of repeats across such a limited distance can be boring. But, it has its benefits as well. If we get up early enough, we get to see the sun rise over the water, with a beautiful mist that emanates from the water’s surface. Later in the day, we can watch the boat traffic, and look over the skyline.  Bridge repeats allow us to focus on form and on the goals for the workout, without worrying about changes in terrain, or the need to stop at stoplights, and so on.

Of course, we are not tied to training only where we live. We try to take trips to more mountainous regions whenever possible. We were able to visit Vermont on a monthly basis from March until October (with April the only exception–mud season!). These trips gave us ready access to challenging terrain. Toward the end of October, I had an invigorating 18 mile run that traversed about 3000 feet in elevation–all during a torential rain storm. It was AWESOME! These trips to higher elevation provide great practice with both ascent and descent. For those of you who are regular elevation runners, you know that the descent can prove to be more challenging than the ascent.

Right now, my hill training is basic. I’ve been working on my downhill running, and I think it has helped improve my quad strength – and my measly calves are coming along too. First, I run up the bridge (or hill) at an easy pace. Then, I pick up my pace as I start the downhill, hitting a maximum speed by the time I reach the bottom. I know this approach goes against some of the conventional wisdom regarding downhills and the need to take it easy to avoid burning out the quads. And, this is true–if you don’t train the downhills in this manner. I believe the body can be trained to run the downhills aggressively through moderate increases in speed and elevation. Of course, when hammering the downhill, you need to be mindful of what’s up ahead, and keep your feet as light and fast as possible. Don’t “stick” your heel on the downhill–you will get hurt. As Chris McDougall writes in Born to Run, “Easy, Light, Smooth, Fast.” That’s my downhill mantra.

Even if you don’t plan to race hills, hill training has many, many benefits for cardiovascular fitness, force, and strength. Olympic great Frank Shorter once said that “hill training is speed work in disguise.” This assessment rings true for me. While your pace may not be fast as it would during flat-land speed repeats, your effort is on par with speedwork exercises–if not more so! My husband aggressively pursued hill training throughout the summer and early fall. When we ran the Philadelphia Marathon on November 22, he shaved an amazing 19 minutes from his previous PR–from a 3:44 to a 3:25! While hill training is not the only reason for this increase in speed and stamina, I think (as does he) it was an important factor, combined with speed work and long runs, in improving both his strength AND speed.

While the effort is comparable to speed work, so is the stress on your body. Therefore, proper recovery following hill training is important. I treat hill days as “hard” days in my training plan. I have found that hill training seems to aggravate my lower back more so than other types of training (with the exception of time spent in aero position on the bike). So, I’ve increased my strength training for my core area, and I’m careful to stretch out my body well after hill training – especially the problem spots like hamstrings and my lower back. I also find that my upper body is much more tense after hill training, so time is well spent to loosen up the shoulders and upper back as well.

I highly recommend adding hill training to your schedule. To help you get started, Runners’ World has devoted a section of their website to hill training.

Do you have recommendations for hill training? Please leave a comment!

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