Forums > General Running > Hiil repeats
6.7 miles
5 Hill repeats .2 miles / 332 meters/2:10 /12% grade ( garmin).
I was working on form more so than speed.
How many to do?
What % of grade?
Run until the trail runs out.
2012**Run 40 miles week
50 miler**100 miler
PR 5K**10K**26.2
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
6.7 miles 5 Hill repeats .2 miles / 332 meters/2:10 /12% grade ( garmin). I was working on form more so than speed. How many to do? What % of grade? 1 Interval 0.2 mi 2:08.79-- 2:08.79 10:44 127 145 2 Interval 0.21 mi 2:21.64-- 4:30.43 11:15 127 147 3 Interval 0.2 mi 2:12.26-- 6:42.69 11:02 128 147 4 Interval 0.21 mi 2:13.03-- 8:55.72 10:34 127 147 5 Interval 0.21 mi 2:04.78-- 11:00.50 9:55 131 145 6 Interval 0.21 mi 2:09.66-- 13:10.16 10:18 129 147 7 Interval 0.21 mi 2:02.90-- 15:13.06 9:46 133 152 8 Interval 0.21 mi 2:12.45-- 17:25.51 10:31 131 153 9 Interval 0.08 mi 0:57.69-- 18:23.20 12:02 122 124 10 Interval 0:01.69-- 18:24.89 124 124
There is ABSOLUTELY NO formula any coach can give you--and if they did, they don't know what they are talking about.
You should run up, whatever the degree may be, at the speed at which you can comfortably hold good running form, until you start to breath really hard that you can't hold the good form any more.
You either jog on the top or bottom, jog down or stride down the hill fast and then take a recovery jog, whatever--it doesn't matter. But you should take long enough recovery so you can repeat the same effort, speed, form for some time. And you should continue until your legs start to get wobbly and you can no longer hold good form.
If you reach that point after, say, the second or third one, you KNOW you started out too fast or the hill too long or recovery too short. If you can continue doing it for 2 hours, well, it's either you're damn tough or you're not achieving the purpose of hill training.
If you've never done this exercise, do it for, say, 20 minutes TOTAL, including recovery and everything (except for warm-up and cool-down). Gradually, as you get fitter and stronger, lengthen the duration up to an hour. One hour of such hill training is enough for just about anyone.
In my opinion, being about to do 10 reps of 300m long uphill in 2:10 is a good start (total a shy of half an hour)....or, wait, how long was recovery? What was the total time? If you include the recovery, is it going to get up close to an hour? That might be a bit too much for a starter. 300m seems a bit long; I would shorten it, slow it down if anything, work more on knee lift. Like I said, if you hadn't done the hill correctly, 200 is more than plenty to start with. Don't be too ambitious; work your way up gradually.
Pete Magill describes long hill repeats in his running times article on 5k training:
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=19258&PageNum=4
12% seems quite steep to retain quality form.
thanks Nobby! written in a way that even someone like me can understand. ha ha have always liked the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method. no need to make it any more complicated.
+ 1. Will move to a shorter hill with less incline.
I run hill repeats on a hill about .2 mile long with about 6% grade, so maybe similar distance but less steep. The last 40-50 meters I am huffing and puffing, but not so much that I have to walk but instead can turn around jog back down, jog a bit at the bottom of the hill turn around and hit the hill again. Repeat 6-8 times for a total of 30 minutes (takes about 4 minutes for each cycle 1:40 or so running hard). I used to run this too hard and had to take a short walk break at the top before jogging back down the hill. The total workout is about an hour long with a 12-15 min warmup/cooldown.
I like this advice. For some reason 30-40 minutes of uphill work is harder for me to digest than 'an hour total time'. I actually had a second watch on to calculate the uphill time the first time I did it, but then found I was forgetting to start it again, then I figured the time it took me to go up and then just tried counting each time I got to the top of the hill, but I'd tune out and forget to count that too, so then I just used the map in here from my garmin and counted the inclines afterwards! My tuning out didn't help, but an hour total time I can do. Plus, my hill takes 2 1/2 minutes (at least the first few times), it's painful to have to pay that much attention to how many times I'm going up it.
... Plus, my hill takes 2 1/2 minutes (at least the first few times), it's painful to have to pay that much attention to how many times I'm going up it.
I'm also terrible at counting things. I go by feel and/or if my time slows significantly, which I can tell by feel long before I hit the top. When my coordination starts going, I'm done. On rare occasion, I may try again after a second wind. I just count the laps at the end when I download watch.
I sorta like shorter hill repeats -- the ones I do are closer to 100-120 yards. The key for me is to take them at a HARD sprint and hit the top winded. if I have the breath to put two words together, I'm not working hard enough.
Then the walk/jog back down is just enough time to recover before starting the next one. That's one big reason why I prefer short hill sprints over longer ones -- you can deliver more all-out effort and get just the right amount of recovery time. Longer hills make both of those things much harder to manage.
As I got better, I went looking for steeper grades, not longer ones, and then added reps. It's worked for me, but like Nobby said, the best plan is the one that works for YOU.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO formula any coach can give you--and if they did, they don't know what they are talking about. You should run up, whatever the degree may be, at the speed at which you can comfortably hold good running form, until you start to breath really hard that you can't hold the good form any more. You either jog on the top or bottom, jog down or stride down the hill fast and then take a recovery jog, whatever--it doesn't matter. But you should take long enough recovery so you can repeat the same effort, speed, form for some time. And you should continue until your legs start to get wobbly and you can no longer hold good form. If you reach that point after, say, the second or third one, you KNOW you started out too fast or the hill too long or recovery too short. If you can continue doing it for 2 hours, well, it's either you're damn tough or you're not achieving the purpose of hill training. If you've never done this exercise, do it for, say, 20 minutes TOTAL, including recovery and everything (except for warm-up and cool-down). Gradually, as you get fitter and stronger, lengthen the duration up to an hour. One hour of such hill training is enough for just about anyone. In my opinion, being about to do 10 reps of 300m long uphill in 2:10 is a good start (total a shy of half an hour)....or, wait, how long was recovery? What was the total time? If you include the recovery, is it going to get up close to an hour? That might be a bit too much for a starter. 300m seems a bit long; I would shorten it, slow it down if anything, work more on knee lift. Like I said, if you hadn't done the hill correctly, 200 is more than plenty to start with. Don't be too ambitious; work your way up gradually.
I printed this out. Thanks so much for the help. I have never done hill workouts and didn't plan to include them, but after reading all the training threads and newbie marathoner posts, I realize that they are an integral part of any marathon training plan. I'm not racing my marathon. I'll just be looking to enjoy myself as I run my first marathon with my sister and our goal time is 5 hours, but I figure the advice for those who are racing can only help a slow runner like me!
Goals for 2012:
5K <26:00 <24:00 <23:00
10K <55:00 <50:00
13.1 <2:15:00 <2:00:00 <1:50:00
26.2 FINISH <4:30:00
I'm glad to hear my comment helped you.
We're trying to put together this on-line training program with all the workout's description attached to it--including video clip and actual voice description from Arthur Lydiard. Hill is one of the trickiest ones because most people think, when we talk about "Hill Repeat", to run up the hill FAST!!! It is NOT so at all. The way we place hill training is a transition from long slow(er) volume running and get your body ready for faster, harder running. If you try to run up the hill fast, you're already trying to achieve half of the goal right from the get-go. Besides, the truth of the fact is; THE SLOWER YOU GO UP THE HILL, THE MORE RESISTANCE WILL BE FELT IN YOUR LEGS; consequently, you'll get better results.
The way I'd do it, and to make it even more easily-understood, if I'd do it on treadmill, I would start out at 4.5~5.0 miles per hour as warm-up; maybe I'll get it up to 5.5 or so for the first 10~15 minutes (for warm-up, 15 would be better but sometimes I cheat). Then I'd crank up the hill/gradient, to the point where I can comfortably "spring up" on my toes with good knee lift but I'd crank DOWN the belt speed to maybe back down to 4.5 or even slower sometimes. I'd try to hold it for, say, 2 minutes; then recovery jog for 3 minutes--5 minutes segment and repeat.
There are number of different ways to do it--once I get stronger, I might even do 5-minutes hill, 5 minutes recovery and repeat, etc. When starting out, do it 1-minute hill and 4-minute recovery. The emphasis should be good posture, good form, strong pushing with back-leg and good knee lift. The slower you go, probably the steeper you may be able to manage.
There's nothing wrong with sprinting up the hill fast; but I would prefer that come AFTER you get some level of fitness, both aerobically as well as leg-strength wise.
For marathon preparation, downhill section can be beneficial. It is one of the best eccentric exercise to teach your quads to take all the marathoning's pounding. Recovery jog should be done either top or bottom of the hill; stride down the hill fast, but in control. If you can find a hill with steeper section for uphill and gentler part for downhill, that would work best.
© 2012 RunningAHEAD.com. All rights reserved. | Privacy