Anne and Colin talk about how stay Chatty and enjoy running up hills. They also talk about how to Sparkle to the top!
What do you do when you get to a hill?
It is important to stay Chatty and enjoy running up hills. As soon as you feel your breathing change and you can’t talk comfortably in full sentences stop and walk. There is little to be gained by pushing up to the top. Doing so will make you huffy puffy, heavy legged and tire you out. We call this going anaerobic. It will take you a long time to recover before you can enjoy any downhill on the other side. Often you will find that you can overtake someone of the same ability as you if you run up at Chatty pace and they push up to the top at huffy puffy pace. It’s much better to use the same effort uphill that you use on the flat and then you can keep going when you get to the top.
Change your idea of success
If you feel you have to push on to the top or you feel the hill has defeated you if you don’t get all the way running, change your idea of success. Make your challenge getting to the top at Chatty pace. Know that walking up the hill, if you need to, has many benefits. Firstly, you will be stimulating all the adaptions that take place at Chatty pace and secondly you will be strengthening up your leg muscles. Staying Chatty as you climb also means that you won’t lose your running form. Stay Chatty and enjoy running up hills.
How will I improve if I have to walk up hill all the time?
Have faith that you will improve over time. By staying Chatty and not tiring yourself out you will be able to do more. The more hills that you tackle at Chatty pace the fitter you will become. After six weeks you will find that you are running all the way up the hills you use to walk up. That is a great sense of achievement.
Try Sparkling up the hill
Another way to use a hill in training is to do some hill Sparkles. Use the ten seconds of stored energy in your muscles to stride part way up the hill. Walk for a bit and recover at Chatty pace for 3 minutes before doing it again. If you are faced with a very long hill you could Sparkle, rest and recover and then Sparkle again all the way to the top! That will certainly impress people! For more information on how to Sparkle up hill join our Facebook group. You can learn about how to Sparkle on the flat too here.