8 Keys to Giving Hills a Hiding...

Just like runners, run training sessions come in all shapes and sizes. So do hills. To become a better, faster and more resilient runner or triathlete, learn to use hills to your advantage - in training (and racing).

Here are my 8 keys to making hills yours...

 1) run hills -  ‘avoidance is rarely a path to success’

 2) plan them – execute a 4-8 week block of hill-related training before your race-specific phase, then only a maintenance session once every 7/10/14 days. Juxtapose your cycle and/or other (leg) training; hill running helps it

 3) run by feel and heed Mother Nature’s lessons – leave the HRM and GPS at home
  

4) prepare your body – with a 2-6 week block of strength training beforehand (2 days/week); or, if you're a seasoned runner, with twice a week for 2 weeks of easier rolling hills or 5-6x100m hill stride(r)s 

 5) prepare your mind  - ‘run over hills, not up them’. See hills as opportunity, not obstacle; as a challenge, not dread; as character and strength building, not effort

6) mix it up  - vary the hills and terrain you run.  Don’t risk getting better at running that one and only hill at the expense of becoming a stronger, more complete runner-triathlete. Use: long mountain walks; cross-country, trail and rolling hills workouts of 45-90minutes; tempo long climbs of 30-45 minutes; solid climbs in intervals of 3-5 minutes; sand-dune efforts of 20-45secs; and, hill strides (70-85%) and sprints (>85%) of 8-15 seconds. Use appropriate sessions to meet the objectives of each phase of your plan.

7) watch the gradient: above 6-8% and you begin to climb, less and you can still run with good technique and form

8) learn and refine technique for running up, over and down hills, and for how running over a hill differs from climbing a hill

     There is nothing new about running hills: champions, improvers, and beginners have and will continue to use them. 

     The trick is in getting them to work for you...