Total Elevation Gain: 5,739 feet Q&A with Ian Sharman. There is no way unless I am missing something. “Critical components such as strength training, downhill running, cross-training and recovery should not only not be overlooked, but be highlighted in the training program.”, As Kopf points out, running downhill puts added stress on the body. The incline settings on your treadmill let you simulate the effort required for a change in vertical height, or elevation gain. A lot of runners take vacations, run races at altitude, or visit family and friends at cities and towns located at substantial elevations above sea level. The definition is that 100m difference in elevation are equivalent to 1 flat kilometer, at least for calculating hiking times. ... (to the tune of about 1% change in VO2 max per 1,000 feet elevation gain) in individual tolerance to high altitude. ? I’m doing the tough Mudder virtual challenge and one challenge is a total of 6,000 elevation gain. How much does elevation gain change the quality of a run? The run ish one long steady hill The elevation is all in one long steady hill and followed by a flat plateau for around 1km and then a steady downhill to the finish (start). Here is why I don't understand elevation gain and maybe it is just the route tracker feature. The upside of all of this is that downhill running will be much more strenuous on your body than flat running. The two big spikes seem like errors, but its hard to tell for sure with just the little squished graph. Eh, I'd say it depends on how often you run hills now. This can … There is a lot of science you can read on this, but here are some plain English tips for the common runner who is simply ready to enjoy a run on vacation: 1. That will be a bitch of a hill after a long gradual climb to soften you up. None of that matters. For example, if I daily run hills that have 200ft elevation gain (about 400-500 ft gain per 5-6 miles) how would that compare to 8-9 miles of flat running, at the same pace. While these might be the most extreme of the extreme, there’s one thing you can count on with ... ultras tend to have a lot more elevation change than a … Answer: 1263 ft. A hilarious rhyme I heard “Before you hit the trail, best your urine be pale.” No, the machine at my gym does not have a vertical gain stat, and that's exactly what I was trying to figure out. The raw elevation loss is -4m-2m = -6m. “Do not overthink the course profiles and elevation charts — and don’t let them scare you,” encourages Dave Ames, owner and founder of, , a worldwide run-coaching service offering online and in-person training for runners of all abilities. Find hills that closely resemble what you will be on and run them as much as possible! With a little experience, you’ll come to know how much elevation gain you can comfortably handle and what is too much. 8 Ways to Survive (and Enjoy) Running in Snow and Ice, 7 Exercises to Treat and Prevent IT Band Syndrome, 7 Effective Running Plans For Weight Loss. Check the elevation to see if you spent a lot of time heading up compared to your other runs. Ames advises you run easy mileage days on rolling terrain to prepare for races with an uphill challenge. Elevation gain: The amount of elevation gain on a hike is one factor that determines the difficulty. “Do not overthink the course profiles and elevation charts — and don’t let them scare you,” encourages Dave Ames, owner and founder of Ame For It Run Coaching, a worldwide run-coaching service offering online and in-person training for runners of all abilities. I’m doing the tough Mudder virtual challenge and one challenge is a total of 6,000 elevation gain. I increase the speed 0.1 mph. Whether you run on the road or trail, it’s likely you’ll naturally encounter hills during your training. Easiest way to calculate it is to upload the run to a site that does the calculations for you. Even if you live somewhere very flat, you may … The definition is that 100m difference in elevation are equivalent to 1 flat kilometer, at least for calculating hiking times. That’s not a lot of elevation gain, but it’s 40% of the total elevation gain for the Boston Marathon over three miles. Sometimes it looks worse than it is in reality. If so, simply jog at a slow and comfortable pace as you climb higher. Once you’ve got running form, terrain and distance down and a race is in your future, you should start to play with elevation. It’s an amount that is sure to be difficult and require a lot of work, but not so much that I can’t do it. Ames is not a fan of net downhill races personally, as he feels they are a bit enhanced and not a true test of performance. For context, that would be no more than you doing a hill rep during a repeat session in training. A lot of runners take vacations, run races at altitude, or visit family and friends at cities and towns located at substantial elevations above sea level. You're carrying a GPS device that records the elevation every 5 meters, but the signal wanders up and down a bit; it thinks that each point is 2m above or 2m below the previous one. That’s why, for a course that is a net downhill, he stresses that paying attention to your form is key. “My main issue is how they beat up the quads … I’m a big believer that running downhill too much can cause injuries,” he notes. I’ll be running exclusively for vertical gain instead of distance. Maybe it wasn’t how much he was training, but how he was training. But it also depends on the person. That’s why, for a course that is a net downhill, he stresses that paying attention to your form is key. Yours probably won't be that difficult (I also tried searching for an elevation profile but couldn't find one). I’ll be running exclusively for vertical gain instead of distance. Going up steep hills will slow my pace when I keep in the same HR zone, but in flatter terrain I can move faster. “Ideally, find a route that’s similar to the elevation profile of your goal race and train on the route as much as possible. We interviewed some of this year’s top finishers at the Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Run —an iconic ultra with 33,050 feet of climbing, extreme exposure and a 48-hour time limit—for their hard-won advice. Is anyone finding that the elevation gain is way off on the 935. An analysis of fell running records supports this 1 to 8 ratio. Drink large amounts of water! It takes approximately 8 hours to hike Clouds Rest from Tenaya Lake (several more if you start from the Valley floor). To me a lot of elevation is at least 200' per mile. 600ft in a gradual gain of 2-3% over several miles is a lot different then 600ft in a few steeper hills. According to the calculator, if you can run 9:00 per mile on flat ground, or 36 minutes for four miles, adding 500 feet of elevation gain in that same distance will slow you down to 10:23 per mile, adding a total of 5.5 minutes. Mountain running done at high elevation on alpine terrain - sky running. “A course may look scary when looking at an elevation profile but in reality may only gain or lose a few feet in elevation.”. Using a factor of 10 for the difference in elevation gives me virtual flat paces that are way beyond my abilities. This should be called the net elevation gain and mathematically is identical to the sum of the gains, 1000m in your example, minus the sum of the losses, 500m, yielding a net gain of 500m. This is because a 20-mile ride on a flat terrain is easier than a 20 mile ride with a climbing of 1000 feet. Right now I average roughly 5,000 feet of gain per week, so this challenge will require me to double that each week. The least useful – and sadly a very common – method is simply to subtract the starting elevation from the ending elevation. Ok, that last one was just to make sure you’re reading because I know run data can get overwhelming. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, http://mungerruns.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/reverse-engineering-stravas-grade.html. Let’s say you want to train at a 10% incline. Additionally, a dynamic warmup and active cooldown help safeguard against injury and, according to Kopf, help you maximize your miles on the roads and trail. While this is not always feasible (i.e. Knowing what to expect can help you come up with a strategy for conquering the hills. Kopf specifically notes that you should be incorporating regular strength training into your schedule. 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