[Today's advice is directed to our Obstacle Course racers and/or folks who (wisely) use hill work for fight conditioning.]

We've all been there, you're, oh, say around three miles in of a nine mile course, you're already gloriously wet, still keeping a good-pace with your water-logged, mud-caked shoes, and you've got a slight throb in that left knee from a bump crossing wall number four. All in all, you're feeling pretty good. You exit the wooded scrubland and get a clear view of what's next and boom! There it is-one big bad mother of a hill that goes up, up, and then up some more. Let's be honest, no matter how prepared you are there is a tiny little portion of the will that wants to curl up and lie down when you see such a hill. I mean, you haven't even taken step one on the hill and already the brain is contemplating the uphill slog to come.

            Again, we've all been there and will be there again and again because we're great big kids with an odd compulsion for punishment. So, since we're going to have to take these hills as they come we might as well have a cogent game plan to make that ascent in front of us a little less than six kinds of suck (let's cut it to four kinds of suck, at least.)

First-Do your preparation wisely. All (or at least the majority) of your race prep runs should be hills. Up hills, down hills, and then up and down them again. The more varied and punishing the slopes the better. Sticking your training runs to easy/relatively flat surfaces, or worse yet treadmills, really just doesn't cut it.

Second-Gear Down. When we're fresh, or feeling a little show-offy impulsive there may be a tendency to want to take some long antelope strides up that thing to show this hill just what we're made of. Not bad if you've got the gas in the tank, but often you get to the top of that hill and you are rewarded with a view of six more of these little Matterhorns stretching off into the distance. That little sprint burst you just revealed to the world now looks a little less, um, wise.

Instead, focus on a sure and steady pace. Shorten your stride taking three steps where usually two would do. We want to keep each step underneath our bodies so we can have better load distribution. Taking long muscular reaching strides overloads a single leg at a time and eats more energy reserves. I'm not saying you necessarily need to go slower (not a bad idea) but rather take more steps with shorter strides.

Third-Posture. Don't lean into the hill. This also loads those thighs and glutes. Keep that balance-a-book-on-top-of-your-head-finishing-school-straight-spine look and you will move more efficiently with less work.

Fourth-Practical Mantras. The mind loves a goal, it loves focus. Goal-wise, we're trying to get to the top of that hill, but the hill is also what worried our souls when we first came out of the woods so simply repeating "Hill, hill, hill" to yourself may do the job for some, for others (myself included) it makes me focus a bit too intently on exactly what was troubling me.

Others, do the "Go away" method. Thinking thoughts along the lines of "Relaxation" or "Energy" as they plod. Me? I'm not that guy. I think I sense that I'm lying to myself. Instead, I run repetitive pragmatic mantras that reinforce technique. I think "Posture, and chop." (Chop to me means taking short choppy strides up the hill to remind myself not to overreach.) I find that by focusing on how I want to attack the hill while actually attacking the hill I become so involved in minor corrections life seems a bit easier. But, maybe that's just me.

And last but not least-

Enjoy the scenery. Enjoy the camaraderie. I've not been in a race yet where the scenery wasn't something to enjoy. I've not been in a race yet where the folks around me (whether I knew them beforehand or not) were not some fellow pleasant hard-chargers. Sometimes it helps when we're in the middle of climbing hill number 379 to take in the view or commiserate with your fellow miserable brethren. And always keep in mind that once you top that hill, no matter if there is another hill to climb, every uphill gives you a nice gravity assisted descent on the other side. We've all go that to look forward to.