Subjective: What is hilly?
MNLittleFinn
Posts: 4,271 Member
So, after reading about people's hilly runs and feeling guilty about the fact that my runs are not, to me, hilly. I began to wonder, what is a hilly run? As an example, for the runs I do, my last 2 long runs have had min elevations of 1463 and 1486 with max elevations of 1528 and 1550, but it was pretty much all steady gain or lose, with not much rolling. My most recent 7 miler though had a min of 1440 and a max of 1522 with some nice down then up right before my tun around. Though the differences elevation change are at most about 20 feet, I don't consider the 2 6 milers hilly, and with the 7 miler only seems a little hilly. So, the question is, what makes a hilly run for you?
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At my level a 2% hill is hilly for me cause I can feel it in my legs
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So basically almost all my runs are hilly0 -
It is purely subjective, of course. What I think is hilly probably seems perfectly flat for people who run in mountainous areas.
I'm in an odd spot in Kansas which is generally flat and known as such. There is a well known hilly area called the Flint Hills, but that is quite far away. Where I live is NOT flat, not even close. In fact, from my house I can't go anywhere without having to deal with challenging hills for this area. I'm in the Kansas City area, southwest in suburbia. Kansas City is actually quite hilly, and the hills to the south of the Missouri and Kaw rivers which join at the center of the metro area are quite hilly, and surprisingly steep for anyone expecting the flatlands of Kansas.
The reason is the simply the streams converging on two converging rivers, with loads of higher flat ground to the south and west (Kansas flatland). So the rivers have carved against that higher ground for millenia causing high bluffs on the south side of the rivers. The streams washing water from the higher flat areas south and west have carved down through those bluffs as well making a tangled network of high hills for a number of miles between the river convergence and the higher flatlands.
Ok, that was longer tgan intended.
For this area the steeper hills are about 100 to 150 feet of incline over about 1/4 to 1/2 mile for the steepest grades, and some nice mile+ hills that go up a similar height at lower grades. In between those the typical hills are about 25-50 feet up every 1/2 mile.
I ran a 14 mile route yesterday that avoided the long, steep hills but was filled with the smaller rolling hills. Strava reported 753 feet of gain. A 5 mile route that I ran almost a week ago which I chose as a hilly run had 515 feet of gain over that 5 miles. A flat 5 mile route that I picked as a day after long run easy route was alongside a stream ond only had 88 feet of gain. It is the flattest route I have found so far, outside of a high school track.
The spot I live in is well in the middle of all that so it is hard to find flat routes, and any route is basically all rolling hills as described above.0 -
Where I live, it's the Tennessee Valley and the southern foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. So it's not at all uncommon to see runs that have an elevation gain of at least 400 feet. There are some runs that I do purposely on some of our mountains. If I run Madkin & Weeden mountains, that's a combined gain of over 1200 feet easily. Monte Sano trails get even worse. A few weeks ago, I ran the McKay Hallow course that was 2300 foot elevation gain.0
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I've gotten where I like the hills. But really they are small and not of any substantial distance. It's nice to work some different muscles, and change stride.0
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No need to feel guilt. I'm someone who is just increasing mileage for the moment.
I'm not focusing on hills much for now. The only exception is that I'm looking at a possible race at the end of the month that has a big climb. So now, well, climbing begins.
I used to ride a lot. And climbing was part of the miles. Hilly was anything that was not doable on the mountain bike or the road bike. Running, I'm looking forward to the miles when I can't run and have to walk - it means I've gotten my flex back and I'm sky running or hill running or getting into ultras.
Todays run had 150m of elevation, it was hilly for me. I'd like to get my weekly elevation to 10x that but don't expect that to occur for a long while.
I was recently in the Gran Canaries and saw the Transgrandcanaria Race. The 88km had 4000m of elevation and the 125km had twice that. So hilly is always going to be less than that for me. So much less. So much.0 -
I live in a fairly hilly neighborhood, so most of my long runs end up being hilly. I define hilly as any route that makes me huff and puff and curse myself for routing it that way. Usually that involves 80-100+ feet of elevation gain over 1 mile. My long runs normally have anywhere from 600-900 feet of elevation gain just running various neighborhoods, which prepares me well for rolling hill races, and makes the flat races feel super easy!
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I can pretty easily pick and choose if I want a flat route or hilly. The big hill I'm working on right now is .2 miles, 93 ft gain, 7.6% incline - according to the segment I marked on Strava.
Another stretch I consider rolling hills is .8 mile, 62 ft gain, 1.3% incline (averaging in the ups and down and flat parts I guess). But if I break that down, the biggest hill of that .8 mile segment is .3 mile, 47 ft gain, 2.5% incline. That's pretty tough too in my opinion!
Now I'm wanting to go and map out the most hilly route possible and challenge myself to run it :-D
It really is subjective because once you run a bigger hill the others seem easier and not so hilly after all......0 -
Where I'm living you can't go more than 1/2 of a mile without meeting a hill. As I live over half way up most of my have at least a 200 - 400ft climb. Even though I am quite slow this just kills my average pace. Its very scenic though and in summer drawls lots of runners and cyclist0
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I live in the bottom of a River Valley so my running options are laps along the Riverbank ( which gets boring after a while ) or head up one of the many hills in the area.
The East side has 3 main really steep switchback climbs ( 330m in 3km ) and 2 long gradual climbs( 330m in 5km) .
The West side has 3 main gradual climbs ( 320m in 5km ) so we have lots of options for How intense of a workout we want. Also in the mix is uncountable wilderness - wildlife trails and ATV trails that provide Km after Km of running options. Our local running club is actually pretty spoiled in the variety of Terrain we have available.
@Marissaxzxzxz Hills may kill your pace - but they are soo good for your leg strength, endurance and speed.0 -
I love the different answers people are giving! This was kind of my point in asking the question. What hilly is, really is subjective and hard to define, but we all "know it when we see it." Hills are killer for pace, and I always know where the hills on my runs are, when I check my HR data because I see the rise, but I know they are helping me grow stronger and faster.
I recently changed my rout, so I have less gentle rise, but reversing it, so the down hill is the gentle part, and the uphill is a half mile slog in mile 3 of my 4 mile morning run0 -
I agree with @kristinegift, any route that alters my breathing is hilly to me. If I am unable to keep my heart rate in my desired zone for the entire run, it's hilly. Of course, some routes are hillier than others. It's hard for me to avoid hills anywhere near my home and my work. If I want a nice, flat route, I usually have to stick to the bike path, so almost all of my winter runs are hilly.
FWIW, prior to my first half marathon, almost all of my runs were done in my neighborhood at the time, which was very hilly. I did not recognize the benefits I was getting until my race. So many people flew by me out of the gate, but I passed so many of them back as they were walking up the hills!0 -
I know we hate running uphill, but depending on the grade of decline, downhill can sometimes be harder than uphill. So working both directions are important. I know Boston has a huge decline right at the beginning that tears people's quads for those that are not used to it.0
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I know we hate running uphill, but depending on the grade of decline, downhill can sometimes be harder than uphill. So working both directions are important. I know Boston has a huge decline right at the beginning that tears people's quads for those that are not used to it.
That's a great point to make. Down hills can encourage faster speeds, but remaining in control is harder, because of the gravity assist. I know on my runs, I get a better workout when I hold back on the down hill sections instead of letting loose and going faster.0 -
I know we hate running uphill, but depending on the grade of decline, downhill can sometimes be harder than uphill. So working both directions are important. I know Boston has a huge decline right at the beginning that tears people's quads for those that are not used to it.
Yuppers. And there's another one just before Heartbreak Hill. Learning to flow smoothly downhill has been part of my training. In a couple weeks, I'll find out how well I've learned.
FWIW, subjective impressions of the course from people who have run it are all over the map. One buddy tells me the downhill before Heartbreak is awful. The spec sheet says it drops 97 feet in 0.75 miles. I have a hill in my neighborhood with about the same elevation change in 0.4 miles. I run it both directions. So maybe I won't notice that one in Boston. Or maybe getting there after running 15 miles makes a difference. I'll find out.
That initial downhill also gets credit for suckering people into going out too fast, which comes back to bite them later in the race. That's another thing I've tried to prepare for, and I'll find out how good the preparation is.0 -
Just another thought on hills. I can tell where the hills are on my run just by looking at my HR data, there's always a peak as I go up hills and then it drops when the hills level off and/or go downhill....obvious stuff I know, but it is fun data to watch.0
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