Growing up in Miami, the word "hill" is practically from a foreign language. However, living and running here in southern Connecticut is a completely different story. I don't think there is any stretch of land in this area without at least some slight elevation! However, as challenging as hill running can be, those hills will definitely make you stronger. To take it one step further, try adding hill repeats into your workout mix. Note: Like any speed work, these workouts are not for the new runner. Make sure you been running regularly before incorporating into your regime!

[caption id="attachment_1192" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The perfect motivation for running hills and hill repeats! "It's a Hill".....RunnersWISDOM Wood Magnet, $3.99[/caption]

Hill repeats are fairly simple. You run up the hill hard, walk/jog down the hill to recover, and repeat. There are many different variations, but here's an example of the types of workouts I've been incorporating into my marathon training, with the help of my trusty coach, of course.

[caption id="attachment_1189" align="aligncenter" width="300"] An example of my hill repeats workout from my running log[/caption]

Yesterday, for example,  I warmed up by running easy to the area by the hill I would be using. Then I ran a moderate fast interval on flat for a  1 minute, recovered, and then used that effort to help gauge my first set of hill repeats.  This set included 1 minute moderately fast uphill, then downhill recovery, 2 minutes moderately fast, recover, 3 minutes moderately fast, recover, 2 minutes moderately fast, recover, and then finally 1 minute moderately fast, recover. Then, I did a second moderately fast interval for a 1 minute.  If this interval was much slower than my first flat interval, I knew I would be in trouble for the second set, but luckily, the paces matched up well.  I recovered for 3-4 minutes, and then it was time for the second set, which were shorter sprints. I did 30 seconds fast on a flat, to again gauge my effort level, and recovered.  The second set of hill repeats were 30 seconds fast uphill, downhill recovery, repeated 8 times. Then, I had one last 30 second sprint on flat, before it was time to cool down. Whew!

The first time I did a workout like this, it was hard ridiculously difficult.  It was mentally tough to run up and down the same hill for an hour, it was physically hard to run fast up the hill, and most of all, it was frustrating to figure out the difference between "moderate fast" and "fast" should be. By the time I got to my final sprint, it wasn't much of anything...my legs were pretty shot.

But after a few weeks of doing these type of workouts, I am slowly noticing a difference.  My efforts during the actual workout are more even and faster, and I find I am able to run uphill on a normal run a little easier. But most importantly, I am able to recognize the difference between a hard pace, and a peppy-but-nothing-I-can't-maintain-for-a-little-while, type of pace.  Teaching my body to make these kinds of distinctions has been something have been struggling with quite some time now, and I am finally starting to have a better handle on running by feel, not necessarily by GPS watch.

If you are an experienced runner looking to improve, I highly recommend adding some hill repeats to your workout schedule!