Running in hills develops leg strength as well as the strength of the tendons and ligaments around the knee and ankle. Developing leg strength is important, as it makes for a more powerful contraction of the leg muscles to propel you forward faster. Including hills regularly, particularly early in your build up will see great dividends in the improvement of your running. This workout is great to include early in your build up to develop leg strength.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that is often used by runners and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
The inspiration for this workout comes from an article by Phil Mosley the April 2011 issue of Triathlon Plus.
Phil Mosley’s Hill Rep Run A
- 18min WU Level II;
- 4x 30sec Level V Up Hill, 30sec Level II Jog Down RI;
- 18min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a Warm Up (WU) for eighteen minutes of easy jogging at Level II.
The Main Set involves running a four, 30-second Hill Reps at Level V. Jog back downhill at Level II for 30-seconds.
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging (Level II) for at least eighteen minutes.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
Share this post so your friends can benefit as well.
Download the Garmin (.FIT) and Zwift (.ZWO) files for this workout for FREE
Get my 8 Weeks to a Faster 10km Training Plan with 25% off
This 8 week programme will take you through challenging sessions that will build your fitness and speed in order to run 10km faster at the end of the programme.
Designed for an intermediate runner aiming to run their 10km in the range of 35 – 50min. The primary goal of this training plan is to prepare you to RUN FASTER.
8 weeks long this programme can start anytime, this plan progresses through phases to build you to your peak performance. Each week includes 4 runs as well as a flexibility session. This programme includes a 10km time trial in the 9th week so you can see how much you have improved. Although not necessary, I recommend using a heart rate monitor in conjunction with a GPS watch (such as a Garmin).
Prior to using this plan, you should be able to run comfortably for 90 minutes.
Purchase of this plan gives you access to my fortnightly coaching calls where you can ask me any training or racing related questions.
