Hate hills? Here’s an easy hill workout

Are you stuck in the winter blues with your training? Not every run or workout can be a home run, but some days you have to pat yourself on the back for just getting out the door. If your spring race is approaching and you’ve been struggling with workouts, here is a confidence booster to get your training back on track.

Workout

Half-hills: 10 to 20 reps of 15 to 30 seconds on hills, with slow jog-down rest

Instead of going to the top of your hill, try doing 10 to 20 hill strides halfway up, and slow-jog back down. The purpose of a workout like this is to practise your form and cadence while facing resistance (the hill). Although this workout won’t be as physically taxing on your body as going to the top would be, it’s an easy way to improve your strength and speed if you’ve been in a rut or just getting back into training. 

Ideally, you want to do this workout on a hill between 150 and 400 metres in length and leave your water bottle at the halfway point as a marker. If you don’t have something you can use as a marker, use short, 15- to 30-second intervals as a reference. 

The pace for each of these half-hills should be done at your 5K goal pace or faster, since the goal of the workout is to practise your turnover, with resistance. 

Aim for between 10 and 20 reps, and make sure you aren’t pushing hard on the jog down. This workout can be as hard as you make it, but focus on keeping your body upright and relaxed when climbing.