Running downhill technique

Andres Duarte

I either go to fast down or as I slow down I feel a lot of impact in my legs that I would like to avoid.

How can I go at a reasonable pace minimizing impact?

Thanks!!

Al Truscott

Three tips:

• Longer strides, maintain cadence
• Lean forward; imagine you are trying to be perpendicular to the road surface. The temptation is to lean back, trying to remain perpendicular to what would be a horizontal plane beneath you.
• Use your arms/elbows as outriggers to help balance the unsteady feeling the above two items produce.

Kane Murphy

Thanks for the question and the tips. I have the same question - living in south Louisiana the only hills we have are occasional levee crossings and highway overpasses (steepish but very short). How should one's foot land when going down hill? Same as normal? In order to keep my cadence up, I often find myself turning into a huge heel striker when coming down these hills. Is this OK to do for a little while of should I try to keep the same/normal mid-foot strike when going down the hills?
Thanks for any tips or suggestions.

Andres Duarte

Hi Al
Thank you for your answer! As Kane I live in a very flat place, Miami, but I am now in holidays in a very hilly place and realize that I really don't have a technique for doing this. When I was a kid I just let it go a went as fast as I could ??

Leaning forward the acceleration is high to a point I need to break, or should I? Energy wise is it a good idea to let it go and run very fast downhill or will that burn my legs to a point of getting a negative return?

Also as Kane asked, not sure about the landing. Do I try to break with the whole foot, the hill?

Thanks!!

Andres

Al Truscott

Part of it may be leg strength. If you are new to downhill running and/or don;t routinely lift weights for quads/glutes, you may need to take things gradual as you learn this. But once you;ve got it, the idea is to keep the perceived exertion, and heart rate, the same whether you are gong up or down hill, Stride length is the only thing which should alter, not cadence. Both up and down hill require a bit more emphasis on mid/front foot landings, rather than heel, because of the altered angle of the surface beneath the foot relative to gravity's vector.

Ralph Moore

As someone who lived in the flatland for most of my life and recently moved to hill country, I have found that (as usual) what Al said is right. I have evolved to faster cadence, longer stride, leaning forward posture, and complete forefoot strike on downhills and a shorter stride, steady cadence on the uphill sections backing off on the cadence to keep my HR from blowing up. I have tried to maintain a steady heartrate on my downhills rather than have my HR speed up or slow down. I do find that it feels like it is jamming my toes up into the front of my shoes sometimes though. It has taken me some practice to feel anywhere near comfortable with it though.

Kane Murphy

Even though this wasn't my thread, thanks for the replies. Makes sense, now just to go practice and apply.

Much appreciated.

Andres Duarte

Just came back from a run and the longer strides and inclination really worked nice!! Thanks!!