Thursday Speed Development Session – Downhill Reps

12 October 2022 - By Karen Flowers

This Thursday we will be meeting at the bottom junction of Armond Road/ Chelmer Road for the speed development session focusing on downhill efforts with recoveries uphill.

If possible, park away from the residential area and do a warmup jog to the meeting point – Morrisons, Asda or Spa Road, but please check parking restrictions.

We will aim to get started at 7:30pm with a warmup and drills and then will jog up to the Cromwell from where we will start.

The efforts will be as follows:

2 x 15 min set of downhill at pace with walk/ jog recoveries up the hill. Recoveries should start at a walk building up to a jog.

There will be an additional 2 min recovery at the end of the first 15 mins.

Although running uphill may feel more difficult from a cardio perspective, going downhill with good form is challenging and can be a lot harder on the body.

Muscles contract in 2 ways – concentrically (muscle shortens: think rising from a squat) and eccentrically (muscle lengthens while contracting: think lowering into a squat)

“Eccentric contractions are much more costly from an energy and wear and tear perspective, running downhill requires lots of eccentric contraction, especially in the quadriceps and lower leg muscles.”

Mastering the downhill with proper form will put less stress on your legs.

Karen and I look forward to seeing you there.

Graham.