However, I wouldn't say I usually learn something from reading it. This month was different. One of my goals for this marathon is to improve my hill running, and this month's RW has an article on just that with some tips that I definitely didn't know (or chose to ignore) before.
In brief, here's the "correct" way to run up a hill:
1. Drive hard with your arms - Pretend you are pulling yourself up with a rope. I'm actually pretty good about doing this.
2. Press forward with your hips - Don't bend at the waist. Wow, when I tried this it made a huge difference. It really changes your ability to keep your leg speed up. I knew you were supposed to stay upright when you ran up a hill, but the "hips forward" cue was key for me to understand how to actually do it.
3. Run with high knees - Increase your stride rate. Not bending over definitely helps with this. I'll work on incorporating fast leg turnover when I do hill repeats this training cycle.
4. Spring forward from your toes. Actually I think I'm pretty good about doing this. I'm not sure how else you would run uphill...
And once you get to the top, it's all gravy.
