Any good distance runner will tell you the importance of spending time on hills as part of your training. They are a smart and often convenient way of building strength across the body and increasing running economy (lessening the energy demand of running), as well as encouraging good stride mechanics. The impact on joints is also lessened when running uphill (though increased when running downhill).
As such, it’s no surprise that world-class athletes will often seek out extremely hilly areas such as Font Romeu in France, Iten in Kenya or Flagstaff in Arizona for prolonged training camps. As well as the aerobic benefits of training at altitude, I suspect the hills are a strong supplementary benefit to these kinds of camps.
Most commonly, I incorporate hills into Long Runs and Long Intervals. When lots of elevation is involved it’s important to run to effort or even heart rate, rather than pace. For example, you may do 6 x 1 mile on a flat promenade in 6 minutes each, but if you try to replicate the same pace around your local undulating park, you may well be struggling come the last rep or two!
I recently learned the hard way just how vital it is to stay on top of all your aspects of your training, including hills. During the latest UK lockdown, I’d done almost all of my runs on the flat seafront as it's on my doorstep, whereas in normal circumstances a good proportion of the speed sessions during this time would’ve been on the hills with my now temporarily-suspended training group. So at the end of January I headed back to the park for a fast session of 3 x 1.5K, including two very sharp inclines on each rep and a jog recovery. It’s a punishing circuit we often do x 6 with the group.
..and it was a shock to the system to say the least! My inclines were laboured rather than attacked, my breathing and coughing to the point of nearly being sick – not what you should be aiming for between reps - and I’d lost the power to really spring off the brow of the hill. My increasing splits - 5.30, 5.35, 5.43 - told their own story, particularly compared to when I’d last done the same rep, but x 6 and in a group setting, just over two months prior. On that night I’d clocked 5.52, 5.38, 5.36, 5.37, 5.35, 5.39: note the much better pacing and almost the same average split despite double the reps!
So although at the time the 3 x 1.5K in January felt disappointing and much harder than I’d expected, I came away with an invaluable lesson: if your training isn’t varied, you’re likely to be missing something. In my case, I’d spent too much time on the flat and thus my power on the hills suffered. So don’t neglect your hill training this week, and get in contact if you’d like some ideas on how to incorporate them into your plans.
Did you find this useful? What hill sessions do you do? Is there anything else you’d like to hear about? Let me know in the comments.
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