Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice on specifics of including treadmill hill workouts. I have a 50k in May with several 400-600ft over 1.5 mile climbs. I know they are nothing compared to some races, but I want to prepare for them anyway. Locally, I only have short, 50-80ft hills and, within 1 hour drive, I only have 0.5 mile, 100-150ft hills. So, I was planning on using a treadmill to help supplement.

My questions are:

- How should the incline on the treadmill be set? The same grade % as the course or a little higher?

- Should I do most of the training at a run to build climbing muscle or should I hike them like I think I should do in the race?

- Should this be part of my long run or a medium run during the week?

Thanks for the feedback.

I don't have a wealth of experience to pass along but here is what I did last year and I thought it helped me improve some.

I set the treadmill on the same grade % as the hill I was trying to train for. I would then start off running and slow my speed as needed to get in the total distance of the hill. This meant that sometimes I was walking at the end or would walk some then go back to running. Then repeat several times in each workout.

I sometimes will do a warm up on the TM at a 1% incline (which is nothing really) and then progressively go up 1% every 1/4 mile until you can't stand it anymore.  Be sure to do a cool down (I like to do a decline -3% is the max on the TMs I use).  Build on this each week.  Some step machines are good to use too to add to your workouts.  And then walking on a TM at a high incline for a mile or two is helpful.

Many flavors possible. I'd set it for 8-10%, which is just a little steeper than the hill - or you could start at about 6-7%, which isn't that much gentler, but might be enough gentler to help you get started.

I'd probably try continuous running as far as you can the first time just to see where you stand - both for distance and effort / breathing. Kind of calibrate yourself. In my mind, running the hill builds you up more, but you'll still need the walking strength and endurance and experience transitioning from run to hike and back again, if you want to run/hike. After the first time, start switching as needed. When on a long grade, it's sometimes hard to start running again once you started walking. (Matt Carpenter suggests running or walking but don't switch. But he's Matt Carpenter, not a mortal like us.)

If you recognize early on, that you'll be hiking the whole hill, then I'd train that way, esp. if the hill is a really constant grade. I might bump the grade up a little bit to 10% or more if you plan to hike the whole thing so you're getting a little more strength workout out of it. However, going too much steeper - like to 15% or more, if your tm has it - will change your gait and may not provide benefits you want.

What I've found on real hills - even on roads - they're not usually as constant grade as they appear at first look. Turning points may be steeper than the grade in between - maybe jog the straights, walk the turns. (Or if they're true switchbacks, they may be gentler.)  If you don't get to experience real hills, you may not recognize these variations, esp. in a race, so don't worry about them.

As I get closer to race day, I transition more from training mode (trying to build whatever) to dress-rehearsal / race-specific mode where I'm trying to mimic my race strategy as much as I can.

Running the downhills is key ... that has been my undoing at least once. Also, I do think you need to get out and run some hills in the flesh, and try to run some long hills if even on the treadmill, elliptical, etc.

The mentality shift to running (or cycling) uphill for extended periods not to mention the stress it puts on different muscle groups is crucial, and takes some time to adapt to, imho.

RE: the downhills. Absolutely. It's probably worth your time occasionally to drive to some of your hills and train for the downhills. Hills have personalities that a tm can't replicate. (ah, yes, I do have lots of hills near me with different features for my training)  Depending on circumstances (definitely true in shorter races), learn to run over the top of the hill and go with the flow of gravity on the downs. This is one feature of rolling hills vs hill repeats.

In mountain races, the top runners may not be that far apart at top of the climb, and the downhill is what separates the winner from the others - or for the rest of us, it just affects our times.

Having the strength to run the downhill as well as technique definitely helps. (I'm really bad on muddy downhills punctuated by rocks here and there - not technical by any means, but a skill I just haven't improved much at.)

You have a great deal of good info here.  Given the only option being a mechanical workout, I'd use a stair stepper of the rotating stair variety for targeted hillclimbing conditioning.

 

Stadium Steps would be more preferred, with actual terrain being Ideal.

^ this if you can find one, as you get into the upper levels you are running- it's a brutal machine.  I have a lot of hills to train on, but when the temp gets too cold, it's the stairs of death

Here's what I ended up doing last night:

Treadmill Hill workout

It was pretty good. I did my recovery intervals at 0% because there was no downhill option, but it worked out well.