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Half Marathon 350 feet net elevation loss

RunConquerCelebrate
RunConquerCelebrate Posts: 956 Member
edited February 7 in Social Groups
I have a question, should I be training downhill running for my half marathon. The information on their site states the following:

Half marathon runners will experience nearly 350 feet of net elevation loss in this gentle downhill route that is great for a first time half marathon.

So far my running has been on flat terrain no hills or downhills. I would have to drive to another city to go find hills that I could run down. But I was just wondering if I should add downhill training or I should not be concerned?

Replies

  • RunnerElizabeth
    RunnerElizabeth Posts: 1,091 Member
    You'll be fine training normal if you aren't close to any hills. That sounds lovely though. But if most of the downhill is in the first 6 miles, make sure to dial it back and not go out too fast. These silly new england courses I've been running generally are either rolling hills the whole way or steep hills in the second half.
  • davemunger
    davemunger Posts: 1,139 Member
    I would consider doing something to address this. It's not a huge amount of downhill over 13.1 miles but you will notice it if all you have been running is flats. One possibility is to run stairs, which is a great workout anyways. Running down the stairs will prepare you for downhill running as well. Is there a local highschool or college football stadium where you could run on the bleachers?
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    RunConquerCelebrate Posts: 956 Member
    You'll be fine training normal if you aren't close to any hills. That sounds lovely though. But if most of the downhill is in the first 6 miles, make sure to dial it back and not go out too fast. These silly new england courses I've been running generally are either rolling hills the whole way or steep hills in the second half.

    Ok I will make sure not too go out too fast. It is a nice course I ran the 10k last week so we merged with the Half Marathon and Marathon runners for the last six miles. So at least I know how half of the course looks like
  • RunConquerCelebrate
    RunConquerCelebrate Posts: 956 Member
    I would consider doing something to address this. It's not a huge amount of downhill over 13.1 miles but you will notice it if all you have been running is flats. One possibility is to run stairs, which is a great workout anyways. Running down the stairs will prepare you for downhill running as well. Is there a local highschool or college football stadium where you could run on the bleachers?

    What a great idea, there is a high school not too far from my house, I will start going there and start running on the bleachers. I just wanted to make sure that my knees were ready for downhill running.
  • davemunger
    davemunger Posts: 1,139 Member
    What a great idea, there is a high school not too far from my house, I will start going there and start running on the bleachers. I just wanted to make sure that my knees were ready for downhill running.

    What I like to do is a set of bleachers (maybe 10-20 times, depending on how tall they are), followed by a lap around the track. I repeat 2-4 times depending on where my fitness level is. You might start with two sets of 10 bleacher reps + 1 lap. Do this maybe once a week, and you could gradually build up to where you can do 3 sets of 20 reps.
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