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If we’ve learned anything from the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials and other up-and-down routes, it’s that an undulating course means you’ve got to train on hills. But that doesn’t just mean cranking the treadmill incline up or charging up hill repeats outdoors. You also have to focus on strategic downhill running.
Sure, once you’ve done the work of getting up a hill, running downhill can feel like coasting. But bombing down isn’t actually the most efficient strategy in the beginning or middle or a race. Take, for example, the Boston Marathon course: It’s net downhill, with 300 feet of elevation loss in the first four miles. Go out too fast, and your quads will likely be shot before you reach the infamous Heartbreak Hill.
Extended downhill running—like what you’ll find early on in Boston and on other downhill courses across the world—can do a number on your body, which is why it’s just important to prepare your body for a decline just as you would for an incline.
What Is Downhill Training?
This isn’t a trick question: It means training to run efficiently downhill. With downhill training, “you're spending time focusing on your technique and approach to running downhill,” says Thomas Watson, a UESCA-certified running coach and founder of the Marathon Handbook.
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Downhill running looks different than running uphill or on a flat route. “On a downhill, you should be leaning forward from the hips,” says Meghan Kennihan, a USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach. “It sounds counterintuitive because you want to lean back—but don’t. Gravity will pull you down the hill; just focus on keeping your body perpendicular to the ground and use your arms for balance.”
You should also be taking “faster steps, making your stride shorter than normal so that it never feels like your feet are getting away from you,” explains Watson. “This helps you control your descent, and the shorter strides mean you're not over-extending or stressing your muscles.”
Those kinds of form and technique adjustments take body awareness and practice, which is where the training comes in.
Why You Should Downhill Train
Any time the grade of the ground you’re running on changes, how it affects your body—especially your legs—changes, too. During your gait cycle, when your feet hit the ground, your quadriceps and calves eccentrically contract (or lengthen) and then rapidly concentrically contract (or shorten) to drive you forward.
On an uphill, your quads don’t stretch as much. But on a downhill, “these muscles have to elongate in order to manage your speed and prevent uncontrolled descent,” explains Watson. And when you’re landing with your knee almost straight, “the tension of the eccentric contraction basically pulls the muscle fibers apart, causing micro-tears,” adds Kennihan. This is why your quads take a beating on the downhills and feel sore after the run.
Running downhill still takes less energy than running uphill in the moment (obviously), but the aftermath of descending actually costs more energy in terms muscle repair. That’s why you might experience tired, heavy legs and even delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after a downhill workout. In a race as long as a marathon, there’s enough time for that soreness to hit you before the finish line. Witness the many Boston Marathon runners who crest Heartbreak Hill and plan to cruise the net-downhill final five miles—only to find their quads are shredded, and that they’re now running no faster than when going uphillefinitely not an ideal situation mid-race.
Even if you’re not preparing for a downhill running event, downhill training can make you a faster and more economical runner on the flats. “The way downhill running engages your leg muscles differently than regular running is similar to performing leg extensions in the gym, where you use upper leg strength to gradually lower a load,” says Watson. That kind of workout strengthens key muscles that also come into play on a flat route, and those stronger muscles will deliver more power, making you more economical and faster.
“Even just one downhill workout a week will allow your body to adapt to the stresses of those eccentric contractions and teach your body more efficient muscle recruitment, which will cause less connective tissue and muscle damage,” says Kennihan. Start slowly with an easy gradient until you build up confidence, then gradually take it steeper, varying your workouts with steep plunges and gentle rollers.
Try These Downhill Running Workouts
Constant Pace Hill Repeats
Find a 400-meter hill with a 6 to 8% gradient.
- 5-minute warm-up
- Start running up and down the 400 hill, keeping your pace as steady as possible (if you are struggling to keep up the pace, dial things back by walking one of the uphill sections)
- Repeat 4 times total (4 up, 4 down)
- On subsequent workouts, increase the number of repeats
- 5-minute easy cooldown
Downhill Fartleks
Find a running route that has a mixture of terrain, including a few 200- to 400-meter slopes at a 3 to 6% gradient.
- 5-minute warm-up on flat terrain at 4 or 5 effort out of 10
- Pick up the pace for a 200- to 400-meter downhill, increasing effort to between a 7 and 9 out of 10
- Recover for 2 to 3 minutes at an easy pace
- Repeat the downhills 6 to 8 times
- 5-minute cooldown
Downhill Speed Intervals
Find a hill with a 3 to 5% gradient.
- 15-minute or 1- to 2-mile warmup
- Run 0.25 mile uphill at easy, conversational pace
- Run 0.25 mile downhill at 5K pace
- 3-minute recovery
- Repeat 4 times
- 10-minute or 1-mile cooldown
Pre-Boston Purposeful Quad Crushers
Do this workout twice before running the Boston Marathon, once five weeks before race day, and then again with three weeks to go. The goal is to induce DOMS as a way to build immunity for the infamous downhills of the Boston course. Plan these workouts so that you’ll have at least three days between them and your next long run.
Find a hill with a 5 to 8% gradient.
- 15-minute or 1- to 2-mile warmup
- Run downhill fast (5K effort or quicker) for .25 to .5 mile
- Jog back up the hill
- Repeat 6-8 times
- 10-minute or 1-mile cooldown
