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Whats the correct way to run downhill? (Read 1137 times)


Go Pre!

    Perpendicular is pretty much the same as and 'feels' like leaning forward. On another note....some days I find Iget going too fast down hill and am afraid to try slowing down for fear of injuring me bones! Thoughts? Dave
      should I continuously do it during training?
      Usually I would say that doing something different in training than you do in racing can lead to problems down the road for you. May end up doing something without thinking that you didn't mean to because you're so used to it. With that in mind, I would say stick with it in training too--unless you really need the break at that point in your run anyway.


      ~J

        ...I have experimented with leaning back and forward more, forward feels more comfortable, except it does increase the speed at which i decend the hill and does make me feel a little out of control on the steeper hills. ... Here is another question to go with the original now that I have some answers. I wear a Heart Monitor and have noticed that when I lean forward and accelerate down the hills my heart rate goes up, not as much as running up the hills, but it does go up because of the effort put into acceperating down the hill. So this question is, should I be accelerating down the hills or "cruising" so to speak? I ask because when I was new to this I used downhills as a break, especially after an up hill climb. I would use the downhill to allow my heart rate to come back down a bit. Now on my tempo runs and races lately, I have used the downhills as a place to bank time or pick up a couple seconds. I know this is fine for races, but should I continuously do it during training? .
        The easy way to think about the forward / backward is to just keep perpendicular to the slope - increase the normal force to get more friction. Try going down an icy hill and you will learn very quickly to keep weight perpendicular to slope. http://www.skyrunner.com/story/ups_downs.htm Regarding efforts. If you can keep your effort up going down hill and you're on a tempo run or other run where you want constant effort, then let 'er rip. In training, I seldom do that on anything steeper than 10%. (save the kami-kaze stuff for races) Many of my trail hills are too steep (truly a controlled fall coming down 30% slopes) to keep up the effort safely. There may be times where you work the uphills and recover on the downs, and other days or parts of the same run where you go easy on ups and push the downs. It's all dependent on goal of workout, what you can handle safely, and your recovery rates.
        "So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog


        Prince of Fatness

          I mentioned earlier in this thread that I focus on turnover and avoiding braking. I never really considered the leaning forward aspect of it. Well tonight I went out and thought I would give this leaning thing a try. I must say I like it. Yes, I did speed up quite bit, but I was able to keep it under control. I still focused on turnover and not over striding. One thing I noticed is that despite going faster I felt like my legs took less of a beating than when I was leaning back a bit. This is very interesting. Thanks for the tip.

          Not at it at all. 

            As several others said, when running downhill, stay perpendicular to the surface on which you are running (which will mean leaning downhill), let your turnover rate increase, and just let gravity power you down the hill. That works until the incline reaches about 85 degrees. Smile For detailed comments, see "Hill Running" at http://mysite.verizon.net/jim2wr/id18.html
              If it is steep... lean forward, lift arms a bit, and swim ever so slightly... free speed.
              Runners around the state are getting better today ...are you one of them? TRAIN HARD
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