The hills are killing me

Cali Girl

Barefooters
May 12, 2010
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I've recently moved and where I live now is very hilly. I can't leave my house and run without either going uphill or down hill. Right now I am only able to do 2 miles and not even straight. I have to stop and walk on some of the uphill parts.

I'm not sure if I should just keep up with what I am doing or if I would benefit from finding a flat place to run at least one day a week? Thoughts?

I found a running group here who meet once a week for a run but I'm not sure if they are BF friendly or not so a bit hesitant to show up. Oh and I found an affordable yoga place close by. I'm excited. lol
 
Keep up what you are doing

Keep up what you are doing and don't give up! Living in a hilly area is a blessing in disguise when it comes to running. You will never have to worry about doing speed work, running hills takes care of that. Your cardio and stamina will see improvement as well.

I live in a hilly area as well, I love hill running. I pass people like they are standing still in races when it comes to up hill running.

Take this a great challenge to master the art of barefoot hill running.

Without hills and running on straights all the time would bore the heck of out me.
 
I live where you can't go for

I live where you can't go for more than a half mile without a big hill. It bothered me at first, but since I've been running there for two years now they don't cause me any problems.

Here's what I found that works to overcome hill fatigue...it's one of the best tips I have. Try attacking the hills and bounding up them instead of just trying to survive them and run slow. You do a couple of things when you do this. First, you decrease the amount of time that you're on the hill. You might be more winded at the top, but you've actually used a lot less effort to get over it than just running normally. You also do more to strengthen your muscles, so the next time you take the hill it will be easier.
 
Hills, the other speedwork. I

Hills, the other speedwork. I have a love hate relationship with hills but I do all my interval training on them. Anytime I can run a hill I will and like saypay said, bust up the hill and chill a little at the top if you need to. Ove time you will get better and soon they are the norm
 
Growwing up in the mountians,

Growwing up in the mountians, I learned that running hills everyday till it was a norm made me much faster when I ran on the flats. It will take awhile to get used to it but once you do you'll notice a big change in your speed when you run on the flats.
 
I agree with everything

I agree with everything everyone here has said. I love hills now. Take advantage of this situation, Cali. Find enjoyment in the challenge. It feels wonderful when you get to the top and say, "That beeatch is mine."
 
Thank you all. I will

Thank you all. I will definitely put a little more behind the uphill run. I've been doing them at my same slow pace and by the time I get up to the top I feel like death. lol
 
It looks like a lot of us

It looks like a lot of us live by hills. I have some doozies around my place too. I also agree with everybody else - hills will definitely make you a better runner. At first I hated the hills by my house. Like TJ said though - the first time I did "the big one" I had a huge sense of accomplishment. I don't know about "bounding up it" though - it's quite a distance to "bound" even if it was flat.

Wasn't it Anne somebody-or-other in "Born to Run" who had the strategy of powering up hills during ultra runs and then using the downhill side to "rest" the muscles she used when going up?

Once you run the hills for while, you'll find a flat run pretty boring.
 
 I can't wait...itching

I can't wait...itching itching itching...another two weeks maybe until I can run the mountain again :)....I LOVE running up the mountain! :-D



OK OK....I won't run up the mountain in two weeks...I'll take it slow and make sure I'm healed first!!! ;-)
 
Joe, I'm not sure who in BTR

Joe, I'm not sure who in BTR bombed the hills, but I think it was the brujita like you said.

My strategy in races is always to charge the hills and bomb the downhills. Hurts like hell now that I'm barefoot, but I also pass a ton of people.
 
Even some of the world's best

Even some of the world's best mountain runners walk some of the up hills! I used to do quite a lot of Fell races ("Fell" is the English for "Mountain"!) and most runners walked at some time or other. No shame in walking......

I can remember watching a video of one of the World Mountain Running Championships from a few years ago. The two leaders were side by side nearing the summit, one walking the other running, both doing the same speed!

I often wear an HRM and find that I can get my HR steady at around 80-85% whilst walking up some of the steeper sections of my regular routes. When I leave my house I can either turn south to run across flat fields or turn north into the hills, my first mile climbs 1000ft.......I always turn north
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Stick with the hills, you'll grow to love them
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