Residing in Colorado leaves no shortage of hills to run. Very few trails have I been on that did not include a steep incline or 2. My first 50 mile race involved starting at an elevation of 10,000 feet and climbing to 12,000 feet … 4 times!

Since then, I’ve learned a few techniques to running up hills. When tackling this terrain, I found that leaning forward at the ankles and imaging I’m giving the hill a big hug. Surprisingly, learning to lean forward at the ankles was a little trickier then I thought. I would regularly catch myself bending at the hips. That is bad. Need to keep a straight line on the spine to the heels so that efficient breathing is not interrupted.

Think of hills as bonus training.

Here’s a vlog on running hills out on the trail …