Jeff Cooper is an ultrarunner and running coach for all levels of athlete. Find out more about him at 2RunForever. This month he’s sharing his tips to incorporate hill training into your race plan. 
In this article, we will review the benefits and logistics of running hills, as well as some tips for how and when to add hills to your training plan. There are several different types of hill workouts that will be described below in some detail to help you with your training.

Benefits of Hill Running

There are multiple benefits of regular hill running. Hills are a wonderful way to add some resistance to your training. When you overcome resistance to your training, your leg muscles get stronger, mostly the quadriceps and calves and the intensity of your training increases, mostly improving your heart rate efficiency. Runners have used hills for decades as a way to increase endurance, strength and speed.

A Word of Caution

Be sure to start out with just a few repeats at a moderate effort for the first couple of sessions and build from there. Attempt hill sessions only after having completed several weeks of base aerobic running. Running uphill and downhill does work your muscles and connective tissue differently than running on flat terrain. The lower leg tissue and muscle such as Achilles tendons and calf muscles, take a lot of force on the uphills while the quads, hips, glutes and knees take most of the force on the downhills. If you aim for progress over a number of weeks, you’ll be less likely to overdo your effort and therefore avoid any injury.

Workout Types and Purposes

Designing a Hill Workout

To create your hill workout when ready, you must decide on a few things: the number of repeats (hard up & downs) to complete, the effort level of the repeats, the grade of the hills you want to run, the recovery time between hills and the total length of the workout. I usually suggest 3 to 5 hill repeats of short or moderate length. Short blasts of 10-30 seconds will help you reach your maximum aerobic and anaerobic energy systems i.e. maximum heart rate (VO2MAX). The recovery duration back down the hills should be sufficient to let your heart rate and breathing return to their normal starting level for the next hill.

Do one session per week for 6 to 8 weeks. Add one or two repeats per week and look for hills that are slightly steeper and longer. Incorporate an easy, short run or cross training workout into your plan the day before and after your hill workout to allow you to be fresh for the hard hill work and to recover following the added stress on your legs and cardiovascular system. After several weeks of hill training, you should notice an improvement in all these areas.
Running Form on Hills

When running uphill, you should try to run with the same stride frequency (cadence) as on flat ground, but your stride length will be shorter and the cadence will increase. The amount of stride shortening will correspond to the increasing hill gradient. Try to “run tall” uphill by keeping your hips forward and looking ahead up the hill and not at your feet. This will help you to keep your breathing smooth and avoid premature fatigue. Aim for a strong knee lift and forceful arm pump as you run uphill. Make sure that your arms do not sway side to side across your body. On the downhills, the upper body should be very relaxed so that your shoulders and arms do not tighten up and they can help to keep you balanced. Try to run with form in which you are not braking with your quads.

Slapping is Bad: – “When running downhill, try not to let your feet slap on the ground with each foot plant. Instead, step lightly and don’t ‘reach out’ with your feet. Slapping can also be a sign of weak muscles in the shin area, in which case you need to strengthen them.” -Jeff Galloway

Hills & Stairs

Once you have completed your hill training sessions …and survived … the next step that I like to introduce into the training program are hills & stairs. While the hills are similar, the addition/ combination of stairs to the workout add a whole new dimension to your fitness levels. The mechanics in doing stairs change as the leg muscles are used a bit differently. Having to lift your legs more going up the stairs, your hip flexors, glutes, calves and quads get taken to a new level. The leg strength and cardiovascular endurance that you can develop doing stairs adds to what you had previously accomplished on just the hills alone.

My favorite workout is a 5 mile out and back, a 10 mile run that we do through a public park system. There are 6 hills that lead out of the park and 2 sets of stairs along the way. So doing this out and again back means doing12 hills, 4 sets of stairs and our “easy”10 mile run becomes a 17 mile fitness test!!

Get stronger and then go longer! Love it!!!

Pacing and Effort

The pace a runner can maintain on an uphill at a constant effort (measured by heart rate) will decrease as the gradient of the hill increases. Based on your training efficiency, you will know the proper pace that you should run a hill. The extra energy used by maintaining too fast a pace is not worth the effort and in most cases the runner will not sufficiently recover. Be very aware of signs of injuries such as illotibial band syndrome, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendonitis, which can all be brought on by excessive hill training, incorrect posture and poor form. Completing regular hill training will help you improve on both uphills and downhills, employing great power on hilly terrain.

Strength Training and Hill Running:
Running hills builds strength and this will improve your overall running form and endurance as a runner. After you have established a base, running hills to build strength is the step leading up to the next one … Speed Training i.e. getting faster! Hills are actually speed-work in disguise!!

Be sure to have fun on the hills, and enjoy the view at the top! It is one of the nice rewards of running hills!

Duncan Callahan is one of our favorite faces to see at a race. Besides being a pleasure to be around he’s an extremely talented ultrarunner, he took the first place spot in two of our races in 2014, and an inspiring coach. Currently Duncan is an Elite Team Ambassador and a member of the Altra Endurance Team. He’s also working on putting together an ultrarunning training camp in Crested Butte this July. It will highlight the stunning trails in the area and give runners a chance to train at altitude. He took a minute to talk to us about his coaching philosophy, greatest adventures, and what he likes to eat at the finish line.
How did you get into helping other runners achieve their goals?

It really stems from a passion and motivation to see others succeed. Whenever I fall into the trap of caring only about my success, things don’t go as smoothly and I become way too self-absorbed. But helping others – either through full-on coaching or just small bits of encouragement – takes the focus off of me and somehow allows for even more progress in my own pursuits.