Tuesday, February 9, 2010

DOWNHILL F.L.Y.S.

Well so another week begins and so does my miniscule running schedule! Gee, I'm only running three days a week! Alas, it is my plan....36 1/2 minutes today in the bitter cold and blustery North winds. A good day to treadmill it, but I fried mine! This is constituting a 10% increase over last week.
I also did five hill repeats and because of the additional snow on the ground I was hesitant about trying my downhill training.
However, I have developed a strategy for downhill training. We know downhill running is a great time for recovery, and we know that we have to be continually braking or else we speed up. How can we use downhill running as a training element? Okay I'm still working on all the answers but I have initially developed an acronym-FLYS- forward lean- least time-yank heel-
Yes, maintain a forward lean or you begin to brake! Yes, don't allow your feet much contact time with the ground! How? Yank your heel and stretch for yards-here's what you'll see- a quicker turnover and a cry for help!!! Good luck...I'm gonna try it as soon as the snow melts!
Peace-

6 comments:

Marlene said...

I am NERVOUS running downhill and I know I hit the brakes more than I should... wasting energy! Thanks for the tips!

Keep running, buddy!

Jen said...

I love hills.. up and down.

Great tips.

Lindsay said...

no way! i savor the recovery on hill repeats. i'd walk so that i wasn't braking :) i need my rest from going up.

thanks for taking care of the m&m's for me this month - i appreciate it! sure glad they aren't going to waste!

Anonymous said...

I trained the same way over the weekend. We got a foot of snow friday night. So I did a good kick sweep of the snow out the way of my big hill. Did some hard and fast up and downs.

Beth said...

Sounds like you have a good plan! I'll keep my fingers crossed that the snow abates so you can give it a try.

Unknown said...

Don't forget to relax your upper body too! I've been working on hills too, ouch!

Sauna

      This is the most wonderful time of year! I love the heat and humidity! Yet I still get out earlier due to my advanced age! 4.4 miles! ...