How should I structure my runs if I live in a particularly hilly area?

Question

I live in a particularly hilly area and have just finished c25k. I have mostly run around the neighbourhood for the past 8 weeks and as a result the vast majority of my runs have incorporated some kind of hill. For example, the elevation on my 5km route looks like this:

Today it occurred to me that it may not be a good idea to run these kinds of hills every run (in my case, 3x a week). How should I be structuring my runs? Is it okay to continue like this, or should I incorporate a flatter run into my route on a regular basis?

As an example, this is a 6.2 km route which is mostly downhill/flat for the first 4.5 km. I usually walk up the hill for the last 1.2km or so. This route is for when I want to have an easier run that's more flat or downhill.

Answer 1

Optimally, you should have a mix of flat and hilly terrain in your runs. However, if you are running on just hills, then you'll still be getting plenty of physiological benefit. Try to find more flat areas (explore new routes or drive somewhere), but don't worry if you can't change your running routes as much as you'd like. I would recommend hilly routes for around half or less of your weekly runs, so in your case, 1 or maybe 2 days out of the week.

Here are some tips for how you should do easy runs on hills:

• Don't worry about pace - focus on effort. Uphills slow you down, so it's okay if you're not going as fast.
• Do some eccentric leg exercises (squats and calf dips for example) to prevent injury from running uphill and downhill
• Don't run too fast downhill. There is a lot of force coming down on your heel (it's impossible to run on your forefoot on steep downhills), so go a little slower and run with shorter strides.