Ideally, should long runs be done on hilly terrain or flat?
I feel like a hilly long run is more difficult, but if I ran on flat terrain I could hold a constant pace much better.
I guess my real question is: should the emphasis on Long Runs be pace or fatigue? Obviously you should be tired after both a hilly or flat run, but I definitely feel like I would be working harder over hills, especially if I was trying to hold a certain pace.
Thanks
I was actually thinking about the same thing on my LR today. In my college town it's essentially all flat. All our runs are done on a golf course, flat trails/roads/towpath,etc...when I go home the terrain is all hilly or rolling hills. It takes several days to adjust and at first the legs feel terrible, then you become acclimated. But I basically go through 2 stages in running at the moment. Either all flat or all hills. I wonder if this is good/bad, but I doubt ideal.
I think either way is probably fine, but I personally like some hills for variety.
Not sure if you're in high school or college with defined seasons, but my personal feeling is that if someone's doing a lot of racing, then it's probably better for long runs to be as easy on your legs as possible given the long duration. So flat would probably better. But during the base phase or early in the season, when the density of hard races and workouts isn't as high, that's probably the better time to throw in hillier long runs. Just my own opinion though.
It depends.
Coming off of a race I may seek the flats. Building up to a race with a few hills I search for climbs. If I missed a hill repeat session that week I look for rollers. If I missed a fartlek or such I may look for something flatter. If I need a change I go the the trails with hills. If I slow down and run with the wife it is most always flat.
Just because it's a 'long run' doesn't mean it can not have a specific purpose.
in order to make the long run more interesting and beneficial you should run over a mixture of both to achieve mmaximum effort.
More hills pre race is better though if possible.
Since I have begun to do the last 30% over hilly sections it has made a big difference in the last few miles of Marathons.I also find that running a little downhill when fatiqued helps with my stride.
I got injured when I tried running the whole long run on hills but I'm a bit susceptible to ITBS.
Our coach tells us that hilly long runs are good for development. He mapped out a course for us that has some BIG rollers (straight up straight down) for the first 3 miles, about a mile or two flat-down hill, another mile pretty tough uphill, flat-down hill for 2 miles, a long 5 min uphill plus another mile of rollers, a mile up hill to meadows, than a nice gradual downhill (fastest mile of the course usually run around 5:30 with the occasional sub five) then some rollers through some trails and then mostly uphill on the road back to school. Course is 14 miles with add ons on a neighboring golf course.
Not sure where you're training but if your long run is truly a long run (over 2 hours), it's really hard to not encounter some hills. The only time I've gotten a truly flat long run was on an indoor track or a block or two in from the beach and on the beach the wind kicks up and affects the effort required to maintain a certain pace.
Just run the stupid thing...
Hilly- depending upon just how long the run is, a flat course might be even more difficult because you are continuously using the same muscles and never giving them a chance to rest
Isn't that why it's better to do both?