Running Steamtown in Oct and hoping to BQ. Living in NYC, Central Park is as about as hilly as it gets. Will running there get me ready enough to take on the downhill at Steamtown or do I need to train on significantly longer descents? If anyone has executed a downhill training plan could you please share some tips? Thanks in advance.
Running Steamtown in Oct and hoping to BQ. Living in NYC, Central Park is as about as hilly as it gets. Will running there get me ready enough to take on the downhill at Steamtown or do I need to train on significantly longer descents? If anyone has executed a downhill training plan could you please share some tips? Thanks in advance.
they should make it 5 minutes harder for anyone doing 300’ drop more than boston.
You’ll be fine. 1000 feet over a marathon is nothing. Only between miles 3-6 is there any considerable drop. Just take that section easy and you’ll be just fine. Boston has a similar first half profile, so if you want more advice look at how people train for that.
In Montana we have a marathon that everyone thinks is fast because of the “Downhill”. From 11 to 19 pretty good drop. Most newbies ru it hard thinking they are gaining time. Utterly shreds their quads and its a slower marathon for most overall
run the bridges. thought that’s how everyone in NYC did their hill runs. Williamsburg was always my favorite.
Noted
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You’ll be fine. 1000 feet over a marathon is nothing. Only between miles 3-6 is there any considerable drop. Just take that section easy and you’ll be just fine. Boston has a similar first half profile, so if you want more advice look at how people train for that.
I’ll disagree, especially if you are correct in comparing it to Boston. I threw in a few continuous runs on a negative grade treadmill before I ran Boston but wish I had done much more. Trying to go downhill the second time (after the Newton hills) was awful. So in my opinion anyway you do run the risk of trashing your quads. I’m sure your size/mechanics/etc. play a large role so no one can say for sure but I would recommend trying the treadmill thing if you can
In Montana we have a marathon that everyone thinks is fast because of the “Downhill”. From 11 to 19 pretty good drop. Most newbies ru it hard thinking they are gaining time. Utterly shreds their quads and its a slower marathon for most overall
yea well most these people running are dreamers, 3:30 people thinking they are sub 3. Downhill races are a joke.
A joke? As I.said.downhill races.tear upnyour quads and.produce lower.times. unless a short run. Start.doing ultras with lots.of.desent and are even harder
A joke? As I.said.downhill races.tear upnyour quads and.produce lower.times. unless a short run. Start.doing ultras with lots.of.desent and are even harder
i have a feeling you are one of those people who only did downhill races and will defend them to death. I forgot the stat but for every 300’ drop or so in half marathon is 1-2 min faster.
Not defending them at all, just the assumption that “ALL” downhill races are faster is false. Depends on the % of drop. I have done a 20 mile race with 10,000ft of drop, …you think you can run that?
But hey, you know more than me, and its just a “joke” if i do certain races…Well, don’t really give a shit what you think of the races I do…Good day
The Montana marathon is not a “fast” courese, it has drop. Go compare the times
For the record I’m a 3:47 marathoner in my last one in NYC in 2010. That was on 3-4 days a week with my long run being about 65- 70% of miles. Since November I’ve run 6-7 days a week every week but two and my times have improved a lot. I’ve pr’d my half time by 6 minutes to a 1:30 in April. I’ve been running approx 60 mi a week the past 5-6 weeks and plan to be around 70 come August. After my half in April I got the idea to try and BQ, who wouldn’t after all the build up this year. So I picked a favorable course that’s relatively close by and I’m looking for some advice on how to approach it. Any tips you have is greatly appreciated. I hope to break 3 anyway so I can qualify by your standard
After running Boston for the first time this year (and re-qualifying for next year), afterwards I was thinking that I need to be a little more serious about adding downhill training into the prep for next time. I made a mental note after the race to add some downhill repeats at the end of some of my longer runs between miles 18-20 within the last 4-6 weeks before the race to maximize my eccentric quad strength. Central Park would probably work pretty well if you were to just do two full loops and then just do some repeats of Harlem Hill at the end and focus on race pace down it with already fatigued legs.
Hope this helps.
A lot of the “downhill battering” that people experience can be mitigated by two things: strength training and proper downhill running form. (The strength part is self-explanatory.) Watch some youtube videos of ultrarunners during long, mountain descents. They lean forward, open their gait, and run right at the limit of toppling face first down the slope. In short, they let gravity do the work of running, while they do the minimum amount of work to stay upright.
One of the best complements that I ever received came after an ultra where one of the competitors said, “I’ve never seen anyone descend hills with such disregard for their own safety.” If done properly, it should look something like that.
My God, even Shalane came out and said that in prep for this year she made it a point to absolutely crush herself repeatedly on the downhills in order to be better prepared. Now I think Boston is a bit different in that you’ve got the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill to contend with after that fast first half. I know I’ll be making an even more concerted effort to work some major downhill running into my routine in prep for next April. I’ve never ran a pure downhill mary though like the OP’s. I’ve ran a couple halves like that (Tucson) and it was a bit crushing but overall I was definitely faster than on a flat course. But again, that was only a half. Any of my friends that ran the Tucson full swore they’d never run a course like that again because it shattered them, however, they are more MOP mary runners.
My God, even Shalane came out and said that in prep for this year she made it a point to absolutely crush herself repeatedly on the downhills in order to be better prepared. Now I think Boston is a bit different in that you’ve got the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill to contend with after that fast first half. I know I’ll be making an even more concerted effort to work some major downhill running into my routine in prep for next April. I’ve never ran a pure downhill mary though like the OP’s. I’ve ran a couple halves like that (Tucson) and it was a bit crushing but overall I was definitely faster than on a flat course. But again, that was only a half. Any of my friends that ran the Tucson full swore they’d never run a course like that again because it shattered them, however, they are more MOP mary runners.
i did that race and the only thing that screwed me up is they put the 1/2 marathon marker/clock at mile 12.8 … with 1:28 on the clock I though I can cruise in an easy 1:35 to BQ… which screwed me over (3:06). I still ran this race 4 min faster than the week before at CIM (3:10, year of rain)
My God, even Shalane came out and said that in prep for this year she made it a point to absolutely crush herself repeatedly on the downhills in order to be better prepared. Now I think Boston is a bit different in that you’ve got the Newton Hills and Heartbreak Hill to contend with after that fast first half. I know I’ll be making an even more concerted effort to work some major downhill running into my routine in prep for next April. I’ve never ran a pure downhill mary though like the OP’s. I’ve ran a couple halves like that (Tucson) and it was a bit crushing but overall I was definitely faster than on a flat course. But again, that was only a half. Any of my friends that ran the Tucson full swore they’d never run a course like that again because it shattered them, however, they are more MOP mary runners.
i did that race and the only thing that screwed me up is they put the 1/2 marathon marker/clock at mile 12.8 … with 1:28 on the clock I though I can cruise in an easy 1:35 to BQ… which screwed me over (3:06). I still ran this race 4 min faster than the week before at CIM (3:10, year of rain)
Which course, Tucson? If so and it was this past year then you probably were more screwed over by the re-route of the last 4+ miles. That was a shit show!