5k Training Program

Week 2 | Day 11

Quality Run:
Hill
Repeats

Time: 25 - 50 minutes.
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
– Sir Edmund Hillary

After last week’s fartleks, surely it just couldn’t get any more fun, right? Well, maybe.

Unless you live and run only in Flatlandia, you’re going to be running on hills at some point in your running career.  Knowing how to run hills is a very useful skill to develop, and it comes with a bonus – it’s actually useful beyond the immediate benefit of getting to the top.

There’s only one small detail. Running up hills can be hard. Get-inside-your-head hard.  That’s one of the reasons people tend to not like hill running drills – because they think it’s going to really hurt. And they’d be right.

But with the right techniques, you can learn to make hills your secret weapon. Learn to use them to get stronger and even faster. Learn to use hills to your advantage.

Hill drills are your introduction to running hills. You only have to run these drills hard for 30 seconds at a time, with 60 – 75 seconds to recover.  Here are a few things your body learns running hill drills:

– How to take short, powerful strides with a faster cadence
– How to use your arms to drive your legs
– How to use body lean to get up the hill
– How to run efficiently using bigger muscle groups

Because of hills, you’ll get stronger legs, a more efficient running form, and even learn to run at a higher cadence.  All that for a strong 30-second effort.

Anybody can do anything for 30 seconds, right? Lace up your shoes and get ready to work. You can do this!

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Workout

  • Run Warmup
    Duration:

    Beginner: 5 minutes
    Intermediate: 10 minutes
    Advanced: 15 minutes

    Instructions:

    Beginner: Alternate Run 30 seconds, Walk 30 seconds
    Intermediate & Advanced: Run easy

    Effort Level:

    All Levels: Run RPE Level 3/10

  • Dynamic Warmup: Leg Swings and Arm Hugs

    20 Legs Swings each side
    10 Arm Hugs

  • Main Workout

    Duration

    Beginner: 8 Rounds
    Intermediate: 10 Rounds
    Advanced: 12 Rounds

    Instructions

    All Levels:

    Find: A short, runnable hill with a 5% to 8% grade
    Run: Run hard up that hill for 30 seconds
    Recover: Walk or jog back down in 60 – 75 seconds
    Repeat: For the number of rounds list above

    Effort Levels

    All Levels:

    Run: RPE 8/10
    Recover: RPE 1/10

  • Cooldown
    Duration:

    Beginner: 5 minutes
    Intermediate & Advanced: 10 minutes

    Instructions:

    Beginner: Alternate Run 30 seconds, Walk 30 seconds
    Intermediate & Advanced: Run easy

    Effort Levels:

    Beginner: RPE Level 2/10
    Intermediate & Advanced: RPE Level 3/10

  • Mobility: Calves

    Show your calves some love, even if you’re not a rancher