I mentioned yesterday I’ve been working on hips and glutes, as well as running hills. I’m not a huge fan of hill repeats if I’m being truthful. When I lived in my old house I didn’t mind because my regular running routes were fairly flat. If there was any grade at all, it was maybe a 1% grade at most. But in my new neighborhood, every single one of my runs has hills. And not just little hills. The ones I run on day in and day out are fairly steep, rolling hills. It’s a beautiful area of my city but when I see hill repeats on my training calendar, I can’t help but sigh a deep, deep sigh.
Hill Repeats and a Heart Pumping Treadmill Workout
But let’s talk about hills for a minute. There are many purposes of hill running. Why do coaches encourage their runners to run hills in the first place? What’s the point of running hills? What systems do they train?
Why Hills?
First and foremost, coaches put hill runs on training plans to torture their runners help their runners work through a variety of issues or goals. You can use hill workouts to work on form issues since running up a hill more or less forces us to employ proper running form by lifting the knees higher than normal. Secondly, hill repeats are used to build speed, stamina, running economy, and aerobic capacity. Running up a hill takes significant amount of effort and runners can use this to their advantage as it improves endurance with relatively low musculoskeletal stress.
So while I scoff at hill work, there are definite benefits to running hills. And truly, any runner beyond the novice level should be utilizing hills in their training.
Today I’m going to give you a super easy treadmill hill workout. It’s a tricky time of year with ice, snow, rain, or general winter ickiness, and the treadmill is sometimes the best option for safety or other reasons. I know a lot of runners get bored on the treadmill. What better way to keep your mind entertained and your body working hard than by incorporating hill work on the hamster wheel?
This workout is super easy. It’s a 5 mile run with the first three miles at your easy pace and the last mile at easy (or cool-down) pace. The fourth mile is where you’ll kick it up a few notches — and then back down — and then back up again. Check it out:
Heart Pumping Treadmill Workout
- 3 mile warm-up (0% incline, easy pace)
- 200 meters at 3% incline at 5K pace
- 200 meters at 0% incline, slow jog pace (neutral)
- 200 meters at 5% incline at 5K pace
- 200 meters in neutral setting
- 200 meters at 7% incline at 10K pace
- 200 meters in neutral setting
- 200 meters at 5% incline at 5K pace
- 200 meters in neutral setting
- 1 mile cool-down (0% incline, easy pace)
Make sure when you’re doing this workout you pay attention to your pacing. If you feel 5K pace is too fast, you can adjust it a bit slower. Above all else, listen to your body. This should be a challenging workout but not so hard that you’re having trouble staying upright or on the belt. Adjust as needed.
Hills can be a useful and important tool for most runners. Running economy and form, plus strength and stamina are great things to work on for overall speed and fitness. Don’t underestimate the importance of hill repeats — even if you’re like me and sigh the deep, deep sigh… 🙂
Don’t forget to linkup with my cohosts Susie, Debbie, Lora, and me for the Running Coaches’ Corner linkup! All links are welcome — you don’t have to be a coach to join the fun.
xo
TALK TO ME!
Do you love hills or shy away from them?
Pick one: long run, track workouts, or hill repeats?
Loading InLinkz ...Also linking up with Nicole, Annmarie, Jen, and Michelle today for Wild Workout Wednesday!
