Try extended hills to prepare for race day

Hill repeats are a great way to build strength and power to help you tackle a hilly race course or to have more power on the flats. The problem with most hill workouts, however, is that you stop running when you reach the top of the hill. This extended hill workout will help you practice cresting the top of a hill and finding your pace again the way your would in a race situation.

Extended hills for race-day simulation

To perform this workout, you need a moderate hill that takes you about one minute to run up, but that has space for you to continue running for another 30 seconds to one minute once you’ve reached the top. The idea is to control your effort as you work up the hill, then to maintain that effort once you reach the top, so that you speed up as your legs and lungs readjust to the flat ground.

Your cooldown for each interval is simply an easy jog back to your starting point. Each interval should be run at a hard enough intensity that you feel fatigued by the time you reach the top of the hill, but you’re able to pick up the pace on the flat and recover fully by the time you reach the bottom.

The workout

Warm-up: 15-20 minute easy jog (ideally with a few small, gentle hills to get your legs prepared for the workout)

Workout: 6-10 x hill + flat (beginners can start with 6 and work their way up as they gain fitness)

Cooldown: 10-15 minutes easy jog, followed by light stretching