Sep 2, 2026 · 15 min · 10 segments
Downhill running creates a strange mismatch: it can feel relatively easy aerobically while placing enormous mechanical stress on your legs. Coach Cliff Pittman explains what's happening inside the…
When athletes talk about durability, what they usually mean is the ability to keep moving well late in a race.
There's aerobic durability, which is your ability to sustain output as fuel store shift and cardiovascular drift creeps in.
And then there's mechanical durability, which is your ability to keep producing force and maintaining form as your tissue accumulates damage from impact.
An athlete can have an elite engine, excellent lactate threshold, strong VO2 max, clean fueling, and still fall apart on the descents in the back half of a 100 miler.
And it's the one most training plans ignore because it doesn't show up on a graph the way the heart rate or pace does.
Downhill running failure is a mechanical durability problem, not an aerobic one.
When athletes talk about durability, what they usually mean is the ability to keep moving well late in a race.
There's aerobic durability, which is your ability to sustain output as fuel store shift and cardiovascular drift creeps in.
And then there's mechanical durability, which is your ability to keep producing force and maintaining form as your tissue accumulates damage from impact.
An athlete can have an elite engine, excellent lactate threshold, strong VO2 max, clean fueling, and still fall apart on the descents in the back half of a 100 miler.
And it's the one most training plans ignore because it doesn't show up on a graph the way the heart rate or pace does.
Downhill running failure is a mechanical durability problem, not an aerobic one.
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