Few things can ruin a good run like turning a corner and facing a towering hill.
You were making good time!
Now that all comes to an end.
Hills are as much a mental challenge as a physical one.
If you fear hills, its hard to get better at running them.
Maybe you cant turn off gravity, but youcanchange the way you think.
No matter how much you slow down, remember thateveryone else is slowing down too.
Even the people that have their heads high and look like theyre breathing easy.
They are fighting to chug up the hill.
They are much slower, now, than they were on the flat a few minutes ago.
So dont be discouraged that you, too, slow down when you hit a hill.
When people start passing you, you cant wish yourself stronger.
Does that sound impossible?
Remember, youre slower on the hills.
You know this, so youreallowingyourself to go slow.
(But now that you understand this, you wont be embarrassed.)
You must go so slow that the hill no longer feels difficult.
The easiest way to do this is to listen to the rhythm of your footsteps.
When the road starts to slope upwards, keep that rhythm the same, but make your strides smaller.
It may feel like youre only moving by an inch with each step.
It only takes about ten seconds to gauge whether your steps are small enough.
If youre out of breath, give it another spin: step even smaller.
you gotta find the place where youre not working any harder than you would be on flat ground.
What if youre steppingso smallthat it would be faster to just walk?
There are two answers to this.
If youre in a race, do whatever is faster for the same effort.
On very steep hills, that might be walking.
But if youre on a training run where pace isnt super important, practice running even if youre slow.
That will build the right muscles so someday soon you will be able to run faster.
Keep up the same effort level as when you were jogging on the flat.
Dont Look Up
Now that youre locked in to the perfect pace, do not look up.
There are two reasons for this.
First, the top of the hill is an illusion.
Second, this isnt a sprint with a finish line.
You chose a pace that feels easy, so you shouldnt be longing for the stretch to end.
You dont want to sprint like the hare, because youll get tired, I said.
But before I could blurt out some advice about going slow, he explained it better than I could.
OK, not rabbit fast, he said.
you’re free to go turtle fast forever.
It doesnt matter how far away the top of the hill is.
It could be ten paces, it could be ten miles.
Youre going, and thats all that counts.
Go out and run a small hill this week.
Use these techniques and give a shot to make your climb feel easy and great.
Now, stick that happy easy hill run into yourmental highlight reel.
The next time you hit a monster hill, smile.
Even with that minimal preparation, you have a real advantage over the hill-phobes: confidence.
They fear the hill and stop, walk, feel defeated, feel that they failed.
You hit the same hill and slow down, but you are in your element.
You are not afraid to keep moving.
You respect the hill, but you conquer it.
Illustration by Angelica Alzona.
