#25 HILL TRAINING & TECHNIQUE
​WITH HANNY ALLSTON

“If there was one element I could retain in my training and I had to get rid of all the others, the one element I would retain is hills.”
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Trail runners have to accept that the ground isn’t always flat and on almost every run we will encounter some kind of hill. So, what happens now?
 
Behind every step that we take when we hit the trails or brave the bush lands is an intricate series of energy ‘ins & outs’. The alterations in surfaces and slopes change the way our muscles need to respond. Sometimes they will be contracting strongly to propel us forward and other times they will be eccentrically contracting to slow us down. Sometimes gravity will be working in our favour, and sometimes completely against us.
 
Therefore, it is important to begin thinking about the way you catch, create and utilize the energy that you have available to you. This might be the difference between having enough energy to think clearly to the end of your run, and bonking out before you have truly reached your peak performance.
 
I get a lot of questions regarding how to incorporate hill training into race preparations – especially for those looking to compete in the UTA. I hope this podcast can answer some of these questions and help to bring a greater feeling of confidence and efficiency to your running practise.
 
I have a plethora of free resources available online, so take some time to explore all the links below if this topic interests you J   

Videos
Hanny’s Federation Peak Mission - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32pgo3YRGR0
 
Podcast Recommendations
Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #19 Base Training Podcast –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/base-training.html
 
Find Your Feet Podcast Episode #15 UTMB with Brook Martin –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/brook-martin.html
 
Blog Posts
Training for Mountains without Hills- http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/training-for-mountains-without-hills
 
Uphill & Downhill Running Technique –
http://www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/uphill-downhill-running-technique
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“People say I can’t run on hills because I get knee pain, quite often it is not their knees that is the problem, but their ‘lazy’ glutes and their hip flexor firing too quickly or much, that’s causing them the problem.” 
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Main Points
  • Recap of Hanny's epic mission to Federation Peak
  • Why run hills? The importance of hill training for injury prevention
  • How hill training can actually reduce the likelihood common running injuries such as ITB syndrome and Achilles injuries.
  • Uphill and Downhill Running Techniques
  • Cadence
  • Stair Running
  • Technical Trails
  • Advice for improving our psychological approach to hills
  • Glute Activation for injury prevention – tips for strengthening our deep gluteal muscles.
  • How to start hill training
  • Hanny’s advice for hill training without hills
  • The importance of nutrition for uphill and downhill running – caffeine = life saver 

Hanny Allston
Website – www.hannyallston.com.au
Blog - www.hannyallston.com.au/blog/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/hanny.allston/
 
Hanny Allston Training Resources
Guidebook – http://www.hannyallston.com.au/trail-running-guidebook.html
UTA Training Packages - http://www.hannyallston.com.au/ultra-trail-australia.html
 
Contact Me – [email protected]
 
Find Your Feet Retail Store – www.findyourfeet.com.au