Going Downhill
The art of descending in style
How to descend – fast – without trashing your quads and calves in the process
THE REAL HEARTBREAK in the Boston Marathon isn’t the infamous mile-21 climb. It’s the long downhill opening (below), which lures runners into a flying start that can wreak havoc on their legs. A descent of any duration can take its toll: one study found that the muscle damage from a fast four-mile downhill run is similar to that from mountain ultras of up to 200 miles. In both cases, running downhill requires eccentric muscle contractions as you brake with each stride: momentum forces your quads and calves to lengthen as you try to contract them. The resulting muscle damage eventually slows you down and can lead to crippling soreness. To avoid this, researchers have explored a few tactics.
BOOST YOUR CADENCE
Taking short, quick steps can reduce the impact of each stride. One study found that increasing cadence (the number of steps taken each minute) by eight per cent compared to what felt natural reduced the loss of strength caused by a 45minute downhill run. That said, some people already shorten their steps when they run downhill and shortening them further would be inefficient. To figure out what works best for you, try a range of quicker and slower strides in training, and aim to settle into a stride that minimises the feeling of braking with each step as you descend hills.
VARY YOUR FOOTSTRIKE
Which part of your foot should hit the ground first has been the topic of vigorous debate. There’s some evidence that landing on your heel is less fatiguing than on your forefoot or midfoot, thanks to the angle of the knee at the moment of contact. But a sensible approach is to vary your foot strike so you’re not always landing in the same position; the load is thus shared by different muscle groups. This is trickier on smooth road courses, but uneven trails make it easy to mix up your landings.
PRACTISE PLUMMETING
Even one experience of eccentric muscle damage can trigger the ‘repeated bout effect’, which lessens the muscle damage and strength loss of a similar exercise session for up to 10 weeks. That’s why savvy Boston-bound marathoners include plenty of downhill training. The goal is to run downhill for long enough to leave you mildly sore the next day, but not too sore to run (this may take practice). Tailor your downhill training to mimic the demands – duration, intensity steepness – you’ll face in competition. So if training for a rolling trail race with lots of ups and downs, run fartleks on a hilly course and focus on pushing the pace on the downhills as quickly as you safely can.