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Develop Power with Sprint Hills
One training area that tends to be neglected with many distance runners
is the development of power. Simply put, power is the
ability to rapidly apply force - powerful runners are able to
accelerate quickly at critical points during a race and sprint rapidly
at the end of a race. Increasing power can also improve your
running economy (i.e. better power makes running faster feel easier.)
One of the best ways to develop power is with Sprint Hills. These
are short, very fast runs of about 8 to 12 seconds up a hill with a
grade between 6 to 10 degrees. (If you need to feel what a 10
degree hill is like, get on a treadmill and crank it up to 10 degrees.)
Quaility of movement is the most important when doing Sprint
Hills. All reps should be done at full speed with a strong
driving stride. Make sure you are driving with your arms as well.
If your form falls apart before the end of a repetition, you need
to shorten the length of the hill and/or number of repetitions in your
session.
A good Sprint Hill session constists of about 8 to 12 reps. You
can
fit this session in after a 30 or 40 minutes easy run - much like you'd
fit in a set of strides.
You could do Sprints Hills once or twice a week during base
training. During other other phases of training, Sprint Hills can
be performed weekly or every 10 days.
Sprint up the hill and then walk down to recover. If you need
more recovery than the walk back down, take it. Remember, quality of
movement is the most important component. The first few times you
try this session you may want to start with fewer reps - perhaps 3 or 4
the first time. As you repeat the session, add a rep or two per
time until you reach 8 or 10.
Regularly doing Sprint Hills won't necessarily transform you from an
also ran to a champion, but this type of session can be another piece
to the puzzle. If you've been ignoring power development, now may
be time to start doing something about it.
For help with reaching your running goals check out a Run
Quick training
program. |
