The real heartbreak in the Two Oceans Ultra isn’t the famous climb in the 28th kilometre. It’s the steady downhill on the other side of Chapman’s Peak that wreaks havoc on the legs.

The problem exists no matter how long the descent: one study found that the muscle damage from a short and fast 8km downhill run was similar to the damage seen in studies of mountain ultras of up to 320km. In both situations, running downhill requires eccentric muscle contractions as you brake with each stride: momentum forces your quads and calves to lengthen as you’re trying to contract them.

The resulting damage to muscle fibres eventually slows you down and can lead to crippling soreness. To ward off this damage, researchers have explored a few tactics.

BOOST YOUR CADENCE

Taking short, quick steps can reduce the impact of each stride. One study found that increasing cadence (the number of steps taken each minute) by 8 per cent compared to what felt natural reduced the loss of strength caused by a 45-minute downhill run. That said, some people already shorten their steps when they run downhill and shortening them further would be inefficient. To figure out what works best for you, experiment with a range of quicker and slower strides in training, and try to settle into a stride that minimises the feeling of braking with each step as you descend hills.

VARY FOOT STRIKE

Which part of your foot should hit the ground first has been the topic of vigorous debate. There’s some evidence that landing on your heel as you descend is less fatiguing than landing on your forefoot or midfoot, thanks to the angle of the knee at the moment of contact. But a more practical approach is to think about varying your foot strike so you’re not always landing in the same position, which ensures the load is shared by different muscle groups. This is harder to do on smooth road courses, but uneven trails make it easy to mix up your landings.

PRACTICE PLUMMETING

Even one experience of eccentric muscle damage is enough to trigger the ‘repeated bout effect’, which lessens the muscle damage and strength loss of a similar exercise session for up to 10 weeks. That’s why savvy runners include plenty of downhill training. The goal is to run downhill for long enough to leave you mildly sore the next day, but not so sore that you can’t run – which may take trial and error to get right.

Tailor your downhill training to mimic the demands you’ll face in competition: duration, steepness, and intensity. If you’re preparing for a rolling trail race with lots of ups and downs, run fartleks on a hilly course and focus on pushing the pace on the downhills as quickly as you safely can. If you’re preparing for Two Oceans, start a long run with 8km to 9km on a treadmill, varying the downhill incline between 2 and 4 per cent, before heading onto the roads.

READ MORE ON: downhill hill-training hills two-oceans two-oceans-ultra-marathon