Hill Workouts: Short Hill Reps
With this summer’s Great Hill Quest well underway, hills and hill workouts have been a focal point of summer running here in Craftsbury. There are many ways to run hill workouts, with the structure of each workout determined by the duration of the repetition, the grade of the climb, the direction of travel (up or down), the intensity of the effort, and the total volume of work. This spring we discussed two staples of hill work: hill sprints and long hill reps. This month, we’re honing in on speed and power as we cover short hill reps and their place in a runner’s training plan.
What: Short hill reps are perhaps the most common and classic style of hill workout. Short, fast, and run on hills of a moderate grade, short hill reps are typically 30-60 seconds in duration and run at a hard, high intensity.* In terms of effort and pace, they may be run at 3k-10k pace or effort depending on the duration and intent of the workout. The recovery is typically prescribed as an easy jog back down to the bottom of the hill for the start of the next rep, but if the reps are short enough you may take a little more time at the bottom of the hill before starting the next rep.
Why: These short, fast reps harness speed and strength. Reps on the shorter end, closer to 30 seconds, also tap into power. Short hill reps improve our speed and muscular endurance, help us practice running with a higher cadence, strengthen muscles key to staying injury-free, and, of course, boost our aerobic fitness. As with every style of hill workout, short hill reps also provide the foundational benefit of running hard with proper form. You can’t run effectively or efficiently uphill without good form - the added resistance of the hill’s grade forces you to run upright with a slight forward lean, roll off the forefoot, propel yourself with a strong knee and arm drive, and recruit your glutes for power.
When: With their focus on speed and power, short hill reps are most effective when run in the mid to later phases of a training cycle. Short hill reps are a high-end of VO2 Max workout and are therefore most productive in the specific phase of training as you are beginning to dial in towards peak race shape. If you are not targeting a specific race season or following a periodizied training cycle, short hill reps are a great workout to regularly mix in to your intensity training.
If you’re look for a fun, tough, and efficient hill workout, short hill reps are the workout for you. Here are some tips for incorporating short hill reps into your training:
Vary the grade of the hill. These reps are short enough that you can run them effectively on a variety of hills. The steepness of the hill will change the workout stimulus a bit - a steeper grade is more of a strength and power workout while a more gradual grade becomes more of a speed-focused workout. This variety is good for you and your training.
Mix it up. In addition to switching up the grade of the hill, there is a lot of flexibility in how you can structure a short hill workout depending on what you want to work on. To improve your anaerobic capacity, you can target high-end, near-maximal effort for each rep as long as you give yourself enough recovery in between. To focus on aerobic capacity, you can make the effort of each rep less intense and give yourself shorter rest.
Go by perceived effort. This is about strength and speed up a hill - the pace itself doesn’t matter. Rather than look at you watch for pace, time yourself each rep and see if you can run close to the same time for each repetition. Focus on maintaining a high intensity for the duration of each hill.
Start out gradually. One of the great things about short hill reps is that you can easily adjust the workout to fit your training. For example, if you need more rest after the downhill jog, simply take more rest. As you do these workouts more, you may find that you no longer need that additional rest between reps. You may also start out on a more gradual hill and later feel ready a steeper hill. Start where you are, and build from there.
Workout suggestion: Progressive short hill reps. Run 2-4 sets of 60” / 45” / 30” with jog down recovery between each rep. Run the 60” uphill reps around 5k effort, and then increase the effort for the 45” and 30” uphill reps. (60” = 60 seconds).
*Note: Some coaches assign hill reps of anywhere from 30-90 seconds in duration, while I refer to hill reps over 1 minute in length and in the 1-2 minute range as “standard reps”.