What the hill?

Hills....the mere thought sends shivers down many a runner's back. With names like Heartbreak, Cemetery, Parachute-and probably much more colorful one's on your own running routes that this family friendly site can't quote-there's no wonder so many runners view hills the same way most kids view Brussel sprouts. Sure, we all had the weird friend who actually liked Brussel sprouts and we all know a runner who loves hills. But what about the rest of us? Why should we actually seek out something that scares us?

Well, simply put, hills make us better runners. Our muscles get stronger, our form becomes more efficient and we become more resistant to injury. Legendary New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard believed that a six week hill training phase was essential for all his athletes, whether they ran the 800 or the marathon. Modern day Kenyan athletes run hills often, developing the aerobic and neuromuscular abilities required to excel at a world class level. On a personal note, I noticed that once I moved to Roxborough-Gaelic for "Oh crap another stinking hill"-I was quickly able to transition from maintenance training to actually being in race shape. I attribute this in no small part to the fact that every one of my runs finishes with approximately a half mile uphill. Followed by a brief session of me cursing the neighborhood.

What are some basic hill workouts that runners, whether road racers, trail runners, or track speedsters, can benefit from?

1. Find a hilly loop and use it for one of your regular runs. Push up the hills, making sure to continue your push at the crest of the hill.
2. A favorite of mine is to do hill repeats of 30-60 seconds, jogging back down to the start after each. Start with about four, and build up to 10-12.
3. Once I'm in pretty decent shape, but not quite ready to move to the track, or not able to get to a track, I do the following. Run 30 seconds uphill at 800 pace, turn around and jog back down for thirty seconds. I repeat this four times. After each set, I jog all the way down to the start. You will need a pretty long hill for this one. I generally run two to three sets.
4. Elite coaches Brad Hudson and Renato Canova include hill sprints in their training programs. These are done after a "regular run" and usually start with one rep of seven seconds and build up, adding one per week til they reach 8-10. Take a recovery of two-three minutes in between each repeat.

So next time you're out on a run and you encounter your favorite incline, instead of letting negative thoughts flood your mind, think of how much benefit you're getting out of it. You may even start to tell yourself "The hill is my friend."