Another running question - hill work?

Triathlon Forum
1

I live in a hilly area, so I can’t avoid the hills whether running or biking. In fact our roadie group has a regular weekly hill ride. With the roadies, whenever they come to a hill this is were they hammer it and try to drop people.

On the bike, there’s only a few guys in the group that can beat me up the hills, but running hills seems to kill me. In running races I’ve noticed this is where I drop back. I also notice my HRM goes way up when I start running up hill. So obviously running hills is another area that needs more work.

For running training, how should I approach hills? Should I use them as fartleks sort of as we do in the roadie group. Should I run up these as fast as possible or should I instead just maintain my HRM at the same level as the run, which would mean slowing down in order to maintain the HRM level. Or should I do something in between such as not hard but fast enough to elevate the HRM above the rest of the run?

Also wondering if I should have a specific extra hilly run once a week or just run my normal routes since they’ll all have hills on them any ways.

Also wondering what % of hill work as opposed to speed work should I be considering.

Once again, thanks for your help.

2

I read somewhere that ‘hills are speedwork in disguise’ and I totally agree. Personally, I like to do a hill or speed session once a week (but probably not both). Here’s a typical hill run for me - it’s about 3 miles to my hill of choice, so that’s the warmup. The hill is part of a long, narrow neighborhood block and it’s about 1/3 mile all the way around. We’ll run to the hill and hit the uphill portion hard - not necessarily all-out, but say 85-90% (perceived effort) and then recover on the downhill portion. We’ll start with 3-4 repeats and then gradually build to 8-10 later in the season. Cool-down is an EZ run back home. Alternatively, find a hill that offers a 40-60 sec. ascent and do up-and-downs - again, recover on the downhill. Hill work is a great way to build strength and mental tenacity - I definitely recommend it.

3

As with all training, It depends on where you are and what you want to do.

If you are still building base, keep your HR the same by slowing down on the hills.

Once you’ve established you base begin incorporating hills, as you would/will speed work, either as fartleks, or specific hill workouts.

Right now, on both the bike and run, I have been doing strength/hill work one day a week, and speed work another, with longer, aerobic work on the weekends. These workouts are killer, falling off the bike, puking on the ground when you are done workouts, more strides/up-tempo work. I also try to incorporate some aerobic work with my hill/speed work with long warmups and cooldowns.

4

Looks like you have a lot of very good advice from a variety of people. If you would like a decent training plan, I have several that I have written for clients and would be happy to try and match one to your goals. Leave a message on this thread if you want it and I will get back to you.

Jim S

5

Jim,

Thanks for the offer. I’ll definately take you up on that.

6

Well, I looked over my 5k and 10k run plans and all of them were set up to get somebody to a specific goal in a specific amount of time (8wk 5k plan, 12wk 20k plan). Not really what you needed. Then I took into account that you need swim time, bike time, and recovery time too. End result is I decided to just write a new progam.

Now the distasteful part… Never start any exercise program without consulting your physician. This program is freely submitted as a guideline only. Anyone using this program assumes all risks and liabilities. Running can be hazardous to your health. Author assumes no responsibility in the event of injury or death of anyone following these guidelines.

Ok, I loosely based this on a 3 day a week program I am currently using. You pick which three days will work around everything else. Try not to be consecutive with the runs but if you have to, make sure not to bunch up with the long run. I have given you some options to pick from for Run2 and Run3 because I find people like the variety.

Run1-LSD (long slow distance) At the pace you are racing now this will be dropping back to 9.5 or 10 min miles. Yes, it will seem agonizingly slow but you need the base work. Start with 6 miles and work up to 8-9 later in the season. Your heart rate should be 70% of max for this.

Run2-What I call a “middle run” middle distance, middle pace. I would say 4 miles at a pace you can have a conversation at, relax enjoy the run. OR Option 2, Do an out and back, find a two mile run, run the 2 miles at about the pace you would do the above run (8min mile?). Then check your watch turn around and take exactly the same route home trying to run a negative split. I like to do this at the 4 mile distance training for a 5k race because, when you hit the midpoint in the 5k and kick it up the race seems to be over in no time.

Run3-Pick one from the list below: (items with a * do only once a month)

Fartlek

5kTT or race*

Hill work

Group Run (3-5 miles)

Track work*

Tempo run (3-5 miles at a specific pace slightly slower than race pace)

Out and back (like Run2 but run the first 2miles at race pace (or almost) and then try and run a negative split coming home

Hope this helps, anybody using this let me know how it works out. I would appreciate any feedback or questions.

Jim S

7

Nothing better in my humble opinion than finding a moderate, steady 20 minute or so climb that you can do on a regular basis. I say moderate because if it’s too steep, you’ll alter your stride a bit too much on the climbs and force yourself to ‘brake’ coming down. My favorite climb is a trail, so it offers some proprioceptive benefits also.

Use the climb at an aggressive pace to build strength. That should help naturally increase your stride length… Focus on maintaining a fast stride rate coming down.