Edition: U.S. / Global

ON YOUR OWN: RUNNING; Conquering the Ups and Downs of Running Hills

By MARC BLOOM; Marc Bloom, former editor of The Runner magazine, writes on health, fitness and sports.
Published: April 25, 1988

SPRING is here and the hills are alive with the sounds of runners' footsteps.

But they're tentative footsteps. Most recreational runners have an unwarranted fear of hills, according to coaches and physiologists, who believe that structured hill workouts can save runners from injury and improve their racing times.

Hills hurt. They make you tired. They slow you down. They force you to push when all you may have sought was a smell-the-flowers run after a hard day at the office.

''Most runners are intimidated by hills,'' says Gordon Bakoulis of New York, a top female competitor who is preparing for the women's Olympic marathon trial this Sunday. ''Dealing with hills can be self-defeating if you have not prepared for them.''

During a workout, do you become consumed with the coming hills on your route? Are you the sort of runner who, in Central Park, would choose to run loops around the pancake-flat reservoir rather than engage the notorious 110th Street hill on the north end of the park? In races, do you give up on hills, letting the competition pass you by? If this sounds all too familiar, you are probably suffering from ''hillsaphobia.''

In runners' minds, this fear is solely an uphill battle - it is the ascent that makes us tremble, while we savor the free-and-easy comforts of downhills. Ironically, this is a grave mistake. It is the downhills that cause injury in running.

The Boston Marathon is a case in point. The world famous race is legendary for its Heartbreak Hill, actually a series of hills that fall between 17.5 and 21 miles. Tough as they are - and at that point in a marathon even your hair begins to hurt - the seductive downward slopes of the course, which has a net elevation loss, are what have given Boston a reputation as a runners ''graveyard.''

In 1982, Grete Waitz was on world record pace at Boston when she dropped out with three miles to go. She said after the race: ''I was running downhill when the pain started, and then I was looking forward to Heartbreak Hill. It was easier than I thought it would be, but afterwards there were more downhills. The pain was terrible.'' Waitz swore off Boston after that.

The bitter effects of downhills are caused by minimal recruitment of motor units, which are composed of nerves and muscle cells, according to Dr. David Martin, an exercise physiologist at Georgia State University. ''Studies have shown that during downhill running, less tissue is available to support your weight,'' Martin explains, ''and consequently the tendons take on a greater share of the burden during stress.''

Muscles and tendons function as a team. Overburdened tendons can result in tendinitis, especially Achilles' tendinitis, one of the most debilitating of running injuries.

One way to prevent this is to practice running downhill, keeping your form under control. ''Make sure you lean forward and don't arch your back,'' advises Pat Petersen of Lake Ronkonkoma, L.I., one of the nation's top marathoners. If you fight gravity, says Peterson, you'll pound your heels, putting undue pressure on your Achilles' tendons and lower back.

But the best way to combat hills - the ups and the downs - is to do specific hill training to build strength and confidence, improve form and generally expand your running competence.

Find a gentle grade of up to a half-mile in length and do repeated runs, working hard on the ascent and jogging back down. Make sure you jog a couple of miles before and after as a warmup and cool-down, and be sure to stretch well, concentrating on the hamstrings and hip flexors.

''Don't try to sprint, it'll wear you out,'' says Petersen. ''Work the hills as you would during a typical race.''

Petersen's favorite hill sessions are done on the West Drive of Central Park, where he does hill repeats of up to a mile in length, at least once a week. In preparation for yesterday's Olympic marathon trial in New Jersey, he ran the trials course, focusing on the hills, building recognition and toughness.

Hill running, whether done on the roads, dirt trails, a golf course, or even stadium steps, is an intensified form of training much like speed work on a track. Therefore, you should be rested before hill work and allow for ample recovery afterward. Start out doing it no more than once a week, and there's no shame in novice runners walking at first, to become accustomed to the stress.

Martin, distance-running director for the United States Olympic Committee's Elite Athlete Project, recommends a two-stage hill program that aims for peak fitness after eight weeks. He suggests running long, easy hills for the first four weeks, followed by shortened distances on a sharper grade.

Martin has a rule-of-thumb for rest between hill repeats: one and a half times the running time. For example, if it takes you four minutes to run up a half-mile hill, make sure you jog and walk for at least six minutes before starting the next run. Or, you could take your pulse and make sure it drops below 120 beats per minute.

Among the many benefits of hill training is that it forces you to call upon many muscle groups, thereby sharing the energy load. Your buttocks, abdomen, hips, arms and shoulders all become activated, working more as partners with your legs, as opposed to the legs-only gait of the jogger's shuffle.

The added strength and total body use can be crucial to racing success. In five-mile and 10-kilometer type events, it will forestall the inhibiting lactic acid buildup in the leg muscles. And in marathons, it will slow the depletion of energy sources that causes runners to ''hit the wall.''

''The whole idea is muscle teamwork, to achieve a synchrony with the arms and legs that's really beautiful,'' says Martin. ''If you've trained on hills, you know you've been to the promised land.''