Down Hill Training for Hobble Creek

[Marion McClellan]

I ran the Provo Riverwoods 10 miler yesterday- it was great.  Anyway,  my knees were a litte sore while running the flat last 5 and a little yesterday afternoon.  This morning my the knees are great but the ankles are not very happy.  What is the best way to train for down hills, as I really want to push it for Hobble Creek (and not injur myself).  Obviously, running down hill for my long runs will help, but what are the tried and true tricks with down hills that a novice like me might not know, and what are some mistakes I might make without knowing it.

[Kory Wheatley]

I think too-much downhill is bad.  Hill repeats is a good training for the downhill, and good practice for your turn over rate.  One good training is doing 8x300 hill repeats and every third or second downhill repeat sprint down the hill to practice good turn over.

[Sasha Pachev]

You need to be patient. Downhill running ability takes some time to develop. The time varies from person to person. It took me about a year to learn to run downhill for a half-marathon without sore legs afterwards.

[Marion McClellan]

I can be very patient, I will be - I jsut don't want to make any stupid training mistakes that I could have avoided with a bit of advice form more experienced runners.

[Sasha Pachev]

One of the most helpful things I've learned in 23 years of competitive running is that the lack of ambition is a very important element in running well. This is not to be confused with the lack of work or lack of the drive to win. I suppose you can put it like this - you train, eat, and sleep like you want the stars. On race day you ask your body what it can give you, and you do not fight the answer even if it means that you get no stars that day. You simply drive your body through the race to run the best that you know your body can do, be it the stars or the dirt. While you want the stars and you are ready to jump at the chance, you fully realize that you may end up hitting the dirt, and if dirt is all you get in spite of all the work you've put into it you are thankful for the experience, you learn, and you are back to training, eating, and sleeping like you want the stars.

[Marion McClellan]

Beautifully put.

[Kim Lee]

One of the most helpful things I've learned in 23 years of competitive running is that the lack of ambition is a very important element in running well. This is not to be confused with the lack of work or lack of the drive to win. I suppose you can put it like this - you train, eat, and sleep like you want the stars. On race day you ask your body what it can give you, and you do not fight the answer even if it means that you get no stars that day. You simply drive your body through the race to run the best that you know your body can do, be it the stars or the dirt. While you want the stars and you are ready to jump at the chance, you fully realize that you may end up hitting the dirt, and if dirt is all you get in spite of all the work you've put into it you are thankful for the experience, you learn, and you are back to training, eating, and sleeping like you want the stars.

Sasha,
I have to admit that usually I'm lost when I try to follow some of your discussions....but not this one.  I love how you said this.  One of my favorite sayings has always been..."Reach for the stars.  You may not reach them, but you won't end up with a handful of dirt either."  But like you said, if you do end up in the dirt, you start reaching for the stars again.