On Monday I did my last long run on the hilly trails of Duke Forest. I ran 8 miles (tapered down from 12 miles last week).
One of the ideas that I’ve been playing with is the Chi Uphill running technique. At Bandit’s Challenge, I used this on the very last climb of the run, and it got me to the top of the hill with enough energy to sprint to a strong finish.
The concept is sort of like sidestepping up a hill on skis.
Except, in the case of running, the purpose is to spread the workload over different muscle groups. You shift your feet slightly to the left and run a few strides, then shift to the middle for a few strides, then shift right, then back to the middle. Repeat. I really do think this idea works well on steep hills.
It’s a little clunky and inefficient to keep shifting left, center, right, repeat. I am always looking for ways to improve efficiency! So, I came up with the idea of making the left/right shifts in a more gradual and continuous motion. I experimented with this idea and it worked great, and it felt somewhat like a dance. Perhaps it looked somewhat like a dance, too. I felt really strong and fairly fast going up those hills on the Duke Forest trail.
More Details of my Run, from my BT log:
Bridge Out!
I was going to do 2 loops of the 4 mile trail. But the rains we got from TS Hannah flooded the bridge, so I had to turn around at the 33 minute mark on the first lap. I only had 20 ounces of water with me, which was even a stretch for a 4 mile, 45 minute run, so I ran out. Got back to my car at 1:07, re-hydrated and went back out for 23 more minutes to get the 1:30 time on plan. I don’t feel sore or tired now. Horseflies chased me several times throughout the run. I hate horseflies!!!
Hot, Hot, Heat
I purposely went out in the heat of the day because that’s when I’ll be running for the HIM. I tried to stay in Zone 2. I worked harder going up the hills, but didn’t kill myself on them. Experimented with uphill Chi Running technique (I’m really liking that alot).
I wore a white tech fabric Tshirt for the first hour. Then I peeled it off for the last 30 minutes today. I wanted to compare what felt better: White t-shirt protecting my skin from the hot sun; or my my bare skin (of course, I was wearing my jogging bra!). The bare skin felt much cooler, so I will wear just my tri top, and skip t-shirt idea. I guess I’ll have to put sunscreen on in T2 if it’s a sunny day.
“The winner is often the one who slows down the least” – Hal Higdon
I tried to maintain good form throughout run. Despite continued hard efforts at running, I don’t think I’m any faster than last year (sigh). I do think my form and efficiency have improved, and I think that’s the ticket to not slowing down as you run longer. So, hopefully I can improve on last year’s run split.
Thanks for your post on side stepping the hills. I have no idea what sort of tricks or mental sayings I will need to call upon during the run at Duke, but this is a good one to know. Also, I LOVE your Hal Higdon quote. I think that having a successful race in a half ironman or ironman is all about not slowing down to a grinding halt.