Lee, that was damn funny! there are some threads on running downhill. i love it and don't heel strike. if falling or sliding your heel coming down will usually, or hopefully, stop that from happening. remember to bend the knees.
always struggle with hills but am noticing a small improvement. i have slowed down from last year. over training, too much stress, and caffeine really messed me up. plus not running.
back to running now about 4-5 x week. do i post everyday? once a week?
had decent long run on the trails yesterday. i say they feel much better than my everyday hour runs.
Thanks for the tips, I'll keep experimenting with the input you and others have given me, although right now I'm leaning towards faster ascents and walking descents on the specifically 'hills' workouts. Still, as part of my goal to become a well-rounded runner, it would be good to get better at running descents. I'll look up the threads you mentioned later . . .
The secret with ascents is of course smaller strides/higher cadence. A German guy I hiked with in the Andes taught me this, especially helpful at higher altitudes, but the same principle applies anywhere, of keeping one's heart rate steady by maintaining the same effort level. In the Himalaya I went up to 20,000 feet with a top-200 tennis pro and a guy who had just completed the Appalachian Trail. The tennis pro puked and the AT guy got a migrane. I felt fine and could enjoy the deep-blue sky, because I took baby steps and drank a camel-load of water. I told them to do the same, but they wouldn't listen.
I like this mileage forum quite a bit. I tune in every day but others once a week or less. It helps keep me motivated when I don't feel like working out, and I enjoy hearing of others' experiences and progress. I would be great if you started contributing more regularly. I promise not to mention anything having to do with heart rate monitors. I also like my long, easy-paced aerobic runs, but I prefer to go by feel. Just a personal preference. I think everyone has to find what works best for them, because, as I've said in other places, enjoyment is key. If you enjoy what you're doing, be that wind sprints or ultras, you'll keep doing it, which makes improvement inevitable. Only pros need to worry about the most efficient methods.
I agree with you about the long runs. Those are my favorites. The hour-long weekday runs feel more like workouts, although lately I've been thinking of expanding one of them to be a lesser LSD run of about 75-90 minutes, sort of a long recovery run, and just do one run a week as a proper hills/intervals/tempo workout (I run 3 x per week--two weekday, one weekend).
@Jen, beautiful landscapes Jen. I'm envious.
I have a rule nowadays that I have to be in shape for race distance before I sign up.
Although I've never raced, and am currently prohibited from doing so by my wife, that's the way I've always thought it should be. First get comfortable at a given distance, and then seek out races for it. I signed up for a half last year, long before I could run a half distance comfortably, and it messed with my head, made me do things I proly shouldn't have been doing. I feel much better now taking each run one at a time.