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By Root 824 0

Although you won’t be able to practice running smoothly downhill, running down a few flights of stairs will beat up your quads plenty. In fact, the forced stuttering of stair running enhances the training effect just as technical trails do. Lifting is another downhill training tool of the flatland ultrarunner. The most effective methods are leg extensions in which you emphasize slowly lowering the weight back down and, similarly, emphasizing the lowering phase of squats.

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Downhill Running in Ultras

Dave Mackey

You peer off the edge of the cliff where your singletrack trail merges onto a 60-degree scree slope below. You tighten your bottle holder onto your skinny waist and launch onto the narrow trail . . . seven-minute, six-minute, five-minute miles click off during the 1,000-meter descent. You feel like a French parapenter in Chamonix . . . “Whee . . . c’est la vieeeeeee!”

And then you wake up. Oh yeah . . . you’re an ultrarunner.

Now that you’re back to reality, know that running downhill in ultras is a lot like running downhill in shorter races, but the extra distance makes for some critical differences. You may desire to fly the descents like Pierre, but to do so will mean that at mile 50 you’ll feel more like Pepe. Rein it in a notch, or a couple of notches, in the first half of your long adventure so you don’t trash the ol’ pegs. Like all pacing in ultras, if you feel you’re going too fast, you are.

When it comes to running downhill, you could say you either have it or you don’t. However, there are many tricks runners use to better their descents, whether you are a natural downhill rocket or a descending newbie. Darcy Africa, fourth overall at the Hardrock 100 in 2010, says, “Depending on the course I am training for, I may actually focus my training around my downhill running.” This certainly worked for Darcy, as she did multiple laps of her local “hill,” Mount Sanitas in Boulder, Colorado, to tune her skills for Hardrock success.

Other tricks, such as anticipation of terrain, apply generally to all downhill running, including to ultras. On technical terrain, look about 10 to 15 feet ahead of you, which equates to three to six strides. Like the engineer at the cocktail party trying to get a date, staring at your feet will mean social or, in this case, running collapse. When looking straight downward, you can’t anticipate the trail ahead and won’t be able to react to an upcoming rock or root. But on non-technical terrain, such as running down a well-groomed dirt road, you can get away with gazing 20 or more feet ahead and focus on increased forward propulsion, putting more effort into forward momentum. A smooth downhill also helps you relax your brain as running one takes less concentration than cranking the rocky stuff.

Run with short strides. This will enable better landing and cushioning on bent rather than outstretched legs. Unless you are trying to overstep a small rocky or rooty patch, overstriding accentuates forces, leading to more fatigued muscles and pounded leg joints.

Ultrarunner and Hardrock veteran Scott Jaime is a big NASCAR fan who continually repeats his mantra, “Keep the shiny side up,” when racing ultras. Now I, too, repeat, “Keep the shiny side up, keep the shiny side up, keep the shiny side up,” to myself as I descend technical terrain. This mantra keeps me focused on the following: leaning forward, picking foot placement two or three steps in advance, lifting my feet by driving my knees, and keeping my elbows nice and wide for balance.

In longer mountain races, take in the electrolytes on a regular basis. One of the first things to go when electrolytes are low is fine-motor movement and coordination. For example, I know I’m low when I start to skim the top of obstacles.

Scott also finds that when his fueling suffers in ultras, so does his downhill running. “It’s good practice to routinely get in the fluids that will ultimately determine the fate of the race. They can also help prevent taking a nasty spill on a technical descent.”

Stay balanced.