I hate to run down hill. It's killer on my knees and my quads. But I'm planning on running the Silverman Ironman in November which features 1,600 ft or running UP and DOWN hill! OMG! What am I thinking?
Does anyone know of good resources for learning about running down hill? Any books you've read and can recommend?
Any specific training techniques I should follow?
the same way you run hill repeats uphill, do them downhill. and do them at the end of a workout, just like uphill repeats.
another thing to do is kind of mental . . . while running downhill, relax your body and concentrate on stepping forward as opposed to down. that way your stride length increases so your frequency can decrease. you can also maintain more momentum and lose less to the ground, which means that your legs are pounding less on the ground, causing less shock to your knees and quads.
Interesting that you advice longer stride length and fewer steps... that's the opposite advice of what I'm seeing on a lot of resouces.
What I have always heard and done is to keep the same pace and stay in control of your stride. Don't go faster just because you are going downhill, a good way to get an injury.
I shorten my stride ever so slightly and make an effort to maintain my pace and not get carried away speed wise and that seems to keep me from pounding the ground too much and ending up with hammered quads.
Check out the video here. It is all about leaning properly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ErXz4XFKeM
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BimUmqCwA2o
all i can add is that i think running downhill is harder than the ups. the 1st half of boston killed my quads in a way that i couldn't have imagined. like others have said shorten up and try to stay light and not pound. stay 90 degrees to the hill. hard to judge how much your pounding but try to minimize it by staying as light as you can.
good luck with your training!
This is kinda off the topic. I have read in a few mags that if you do down hill sprints, not a steep grade but slight down hill grade, it can improve speed more efficiently because it trains your muscles to move at a faster pace. I really dont know if it is true but it kinda makes sense.
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