Thursday Speed Development – Downhill Efforts

6 December 2021 - By Jason Lilley

This Thursday the 9th of December 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 warm up jog to the meeting point. Maybe Morrison’s, Asda or Spa Road shops but please check parking restrictions.

After the warm up and drills we will all jog along Chelmer and up Cromwell to the top which will be the starting point. From here your efforts will be either:

Straight into the effort down Chelmer and maintaining your speed round to Gimson Close before throttling back for the recovery run along Chelmer and back up Cromwell

Or

A build-up of pace along Chelmer to the junction with Armond Road and then the effort downhill to the junction of Chelmer at the bottom where you ease up for the recovery along Chelmer and back up Cromwell.

Please split into similar pace groups and alternate between the 2 circuits. The recoveries are deliberately long, both because of the effort you will be putting in on the downhill/flat sections and because we do not want to tire you out to much prior the weekend XC 🙂

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 your body. So please take this into account and within the framework we have provided use the session to suit your own needs. Not a session that can be programmed into the watch but checking your lap times for consistency would be beneficial.

If you are interested in the anatomical reasons why it can be harder to run downhill see below.

Muscles contract in two 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. There are many technical points for running downhill which I am happy to share with you if you ask but Karen and I will just focus on 1 or 2 maximum for the evening.

Graham

Speed Development Session
    • Lisa Leader, Marshall
    • Shane Ketteridge- Marshall
    • Colsey
    • Colsey – marshal
    • Leanne Andrews Run
    • Karen Flowers, Marshall
    • Andrew Read – Marshall
    • Angela Read, Marshall
    • Sarah Naughton – Marshall
    • Céline Marshall
    • Beth Shippey- Marshall
    • Fiona Collins – Run
    • Wally-run
    • Nadia – run
    • Lucy _ run
    • Clive Smith
    • Damien and Luca Walsh (both to Marshall)
    • James Montgomery – Marshall
    • Steffan Doherty (Run)
    • Geoff Reddin run
    • Nick O’Hare
    • Dawn Shilling – Run
    • Maggie Mason Run

 

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