How to run a long hill during a race? (Read 833 times)

Thanks John, yes slow appears to be the way as you and Ennay have suggested, but there is a part of me that thinks I can just put in the extra effort maintain the Marathon pace up the hill and carry on the marathon pace over the crest. Then fully recover within minutes on the downward slope. By recover I don't mean slowing down I mean my breathing would return to "Normal marathon pace breathing". You and Ennay are correct I do worry what effect it will have 15 miles later.

If you can, then you're running your marathon too slowly. (yea, I know, we've all been through that stage of learning. All my races are hilly trails, and hill strategy is important.) If you're looking to buy something, say, speed, would you pay a marked up price (uphill) over retail (flat) or would you buy it on sale (downhill)? I'm a slow runner, so I invest my money (effort) in the downhills. Fast runners do also, since many hilly races are won on the downs. 6% is gentle for this study, but it shows how the energy cost increases with uphill slope and decreases with downhills. Keep in mind, these are elite mtn runners = well trained on hills. http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/93/3/1039 Also, remember that lactate is a fuel, but you do need to be able to do something about the hydrogen ions floating around..

I guess, but in the six times I've run Portland, I've always said "I think they've understated the chart". There surely feels like a long climb (not steep, but up is up) after the dip at M18 (post-bridge) up through M20-21ish, then the downhill back to the steel bridge. Yes. There is the hill in the early miles.

By the way john, get with the program , this the the Oct 19th Marathon my 1st is Sept 28th, LOL, Hope you didn't choke Dont know why that quote didnt copy... Sorry about that Backstreach - I was busy counting calories and missed the details....... But this may be even more reason to go slow because it normally takes a day per mile to recover from a properly run race, which means if you run a marathon on 9/28, you will still be in the recovery stage. So you may find then legs are not the same as you are used to. Its pretty aggressive to run two so close - tho I think you can do it...especially if you are easy on your first...

Its pretty aggressive to run two so close - tho I think you can do it...especially if you are easy on your first...

I'm going for what I think I can handle in the first. Depending on what happens in the first, the second is well a second chance. If all goes well in the first and I run sub 4hrs, I may go wall hunting in the 2nd, just because I'm a curious type of guy. If I have to take it easy in the first, I'll really take it easy and save myself for round two . I will be packing energy for both though, You all can't be wrong. Stubbornness is my major personality flaw, the I know best attitude which already has showed itself here

Hi... saw the comments on the PDX race. I'm training for my first marathon and yup, I'm going for less hilly, selecting Portland over Seattle (I am only enough of a masochist to just try to attempt 24 miles let alone take on Seattle's hilly course at the same time ). Anyhoo, as I understand it, the one massive "hill" is the bridge around mile 17 or 18. Is it as bad as I've heard or is it all about just taking her slow and steady and surviving to get through the last 10K or so? Any tips would be MOST welcome. Thanks!! Karen (aka Funfetty)

Well, we don't know what you've heard , so hard to say if it is that bad. It is definitely a challenging hill. I think so. Others sometimes say "nah". Key tip to this hill: When you get to it... and you'll know it!... you may think it ends at the top of the road as you turn onto the bridge. Nope. The hill continues to the middle section of the bridge. Keep on chugging to the middle. I've tackled this hill all kinds of ways over the years. I've walked it. I've charged it. I've taken it easy. What works best for me on this one is to keep moving, whatever it takes. Resist the temptation to stop. And I do better by jogging up it. Charging is too hard, but if I walk it, it's hard to get going again. For a few years, they set up "Checkpoint Charlie" at the bottom of this hill. A place to catch bandits. And they were aggressive about this, with course marshalls running onto the course to pull bandits. I don't dig bandits, but I also did not dig listening to course marshalls yelling at everyone and trying to zig zag out of their way. Yuck. Last year, Checkpoint Charlie was much lower-key, thankfully. NOW. After this bridge, I think that course rolls a bit with a gentle uphill to M20ish, and then a great downhill back to downtown. However, this uphill is not on the elevation chart, and as you can see from this thread, at least one other person has had a different experience on this section. Just keep going! The downhill is there. Until the very last mile, which slopes back uphill slightly. You won't care. It's gentle and you are about done anyway. And touch the Steel Bridge for luck (M24.8) as you go by. Bottom line: the St John's bridge hill is the big hill on this course. There's a smaller one early on and some roly polies along the way, but the bridge is THE thing. One thing that makes the bridge hill seem worse... the miles leading up to it (M12ish-M16ish) are horribly horribly boring and the bridge looms in the distance the whole time. But the scenery and neighborhood after the bridge are great. Yes, the Portland course is easier than the Seattle course. Seattle is flat in the middle but has hellacious hills between M18 and M24. Also, the weather at Portland is almost always perfect (it has rained during the race exactly once in 20ish years). The weather at Seattle ranges from marginally crappy to completely crappy.

Oddly enough, the Breckenridge Colorado Marathon (they call it "Marathon") really *is* about 24 miles long.

Personally, I think the biggest problem with the ramp to the St John's bridge is that you think you are at the highest point when you get to the top of the ramp, but the real highest point is halfway across the bridge. Now if you really want to talk about hills, go run the Yakima River Canyon next year. Rose Portland 2006 was my first marathon. Yakima River Canyon was the first of three so far this year.

Personally, I think the biggest problem with the ramp to the St John's bridge is that you think you are at the highest point when you get to the top of the ramp, but the real highest point is halfway across the bridge. Now if you really want to talk about hills, go run the Yakima River Canyon next year. Rose Portland 2006 was my first marathon. Yakima River Canyon was the first of three so far this year.

Yakima is a weird course because it is essentially a downhill course with three ups along the way: baby up, mama up, and papa up... 'papa up' is quite the hill - steep and long, right where you don't want it late in the race. The only thing I don't like about Yakima is that the road is slanty. Hurts my knees every year.