Prep for a hilly race with this workout
Combine hill repeats with a race-pace tempo run to tackle a challenging course
Hills are an important part of anyone’s training regime, but they become even more crucial when you’ve got a hilly race on the calendar. If you want to be prepared to tackle hills in a race, you need to practice managing your effort up the hills so you can get back on race pace once you’ve reached the top. This workout combines hill repeats with tempo work to get you ready to do just that.
The workout
Depending on how long your warmup and cooldown are, this session can take you anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour to complete. If you’re newer to running, it’s early in your training season or you’re preparing for a shorter race (like a 5K), you can keep the workout on the shorter end. If you’re training for something longer, like a marathon, you can make this workout even longer by adding extra hill repeats or lengthening the tempo portion (either by making the tempo longer or adding an extra tempo interval).
Warmup: 15-20 minutes easy jog (if training for a marathon, consider increasing to 25-30 minutes)
Workout: 6-8 60 sec. hill repeats (use a moderate hill) with an easy jog to the bottom for rest. Take 2-3 minutes break after the last hill, then run a 10-15 minute tempo at your goal race pace.
Marathon: For those training for a marathon, aim for 10-12 repeats, followed by either 2 x 10 minutes at marathon pace or a 20-minute tempo.
Cooldown: 10-15 minutes easy jog (15-20 for marathoners)
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