Some important factors about hill training

1. Incorporate long hill interval work at 80% of your max heart rate early in your base period for 6 weeks (early season)

2. Start incorporating short speed sessions when sharpening up for a race. Any speed session done on a flat surface is demanding on the ligaments and muscles and can cause an injury because the running speed is fast and the jarring on the road or track surface excessive.

3. On the contrary when running uphill fast the heart ,lungs, and leg muscles are working at their optimal and the same kind of training effect can be achieved as when doing a speed session at full blast but without the risk of an injury. Therefore it is sometimes a good idea to substitute a speed session by running a short steep hill.

4. Conditioning is for me the most important training aspect of any distance race-when preparing for a race with murderous hills like the Comrades make sure to condition your body in such a way-include hills in your training regime every two to three days and make sure you run them at all your training heart rate zones.

  • A.Long hills of 20 minutes plus at 75% of your max heart rate
  • B.Medium hills of 5minutes plus at 85% of your max heart rate.
  • C.Short hills of less than 5 minutes at 95% of your max heart rate.

5. To run a hill efficient you need to concentrate on the following:

  • A.Lean into the hill
  • B.Give short rhythmic steps
  • C.Work with your upper body and pump with the arms
  • D.Concentrate and do not look up to see where the top of the hill is-rather look down or about 10 meters in front of you.

6. Those who sweat more in peace will bleed less in war-roll up the hills.!!!

7. Always remember to warm up before and cool down afterwards