I am so excited to be back in action for this months runner’s workout round-up! I know you missed my advice last month when I was in Italy but, I feel like this is the perfect topic for me to come home to since I consider hill workouts my specialty.
Maybe it’s because I love the after effects of a hard effort. Maybe it’s because I live on a mountain or maybe it’s just because I know everyone else hates them but, I happen to love the hills. Love them. My coach has tried very hard to have me hate them, and has nearly succeeded, but when I’m on a hilly race course I’m always passing other competitors simply because, like my good friend Sarah (who is also part of this round up) I embrace the hills.
Make friends with the hills and you will achieve PRs beyond your wildest dreams. It’s a total cliche but they do, in fact, make you stronger.
I sometimes feel like I do constant hill work so I had several favorite workouts to chose from. I finally landed on this one because anyone can do it and, if you don’t live in a hilly area, you can mimic this pretty easily on a treadmill. It’s a hill fartlek workout of sorts.
And, after you do that one, you can do five more:
LAURA | THIS RUNNER’S RECIPES
ANGELA | HAPPY FIT MAMA
NELLIE | BROOKLYN ACTIVE MAMA
CARLY | FINE FIT DAY
SARAH | RUN FAR GIRL
[Tweet “#Run all the #hills and get strong like bull with these 6 #workouts!”]
Happy hill running my friends!
Speaking of hills, I will see you back here on Friday when I post my triathlon race recap from this past weekend. It was another crazy race with a completely shocking outcome…and a neck burn. You won’t want to miss it.
Do you hate the hills?
Do you only do repeats when you have a hilly race or as part of your workout?
I was a hill hater up until training for the little rock pile that I ran up last week. They are the secret to everyone’s running success!
Truth!!! I love how that race has changed your life in so many ways 🙂
Hilly runs make me feel much stronger. I like and hate them at the same time. They do make me feel stronger, which is the most important part.
Yes it is!!! Hope you are back to running them again soon my friend 🙂
Im so so so WALKING ALL THE HILLS 🙂
I had no idea when we first moved to Texas there was something called the HILL COUNTRY.
Id erroneously assumed it would all be lovely and flat flat flat.
Wait…there are hills in Texas? That is just wrong.
Here in Chicago, the only hills that we really get are going over bridges! I got my hill training in this past weekend when I returned home to Atlanta. That I could definitely feel the next day! I would love you to link up with us for Running COaches corner! This is a perfect post for that!
That is crazy about the bridges being the only hills but it sounds kind of wonderful 🙂 that and I absolutely love Chicago!
I’ll have to check out the Running Coaches Corner!! Sounds great!
Neck burn?! Oh my.
I definitely think living on a mountain and being the amazing runner your are helps a lot with embracing the hills, you have no choice!! I love your attitude–I wish I embraced them 20% of how you do!!
LOL – 20% is plenty when you live in Brooklyn! And oh my the neck burn. I just can’t even. Wait until you see it. That is a warning not to eat while reading 🙂
Neck burn?? Say what now? Back when I was in PR shape I loved hill workouts too! It feels so good to attack them and the post workout feeling of hill repeats is amazing. These days they make me a little less excited, but I can say after incorporating so many into marathon training, that making it through a workout that you know is going to be a beast is such a confidence booster.
Totally!!! And you have plenty of them in VT. I also like that hill repeats can be done, and be significant, in 20 minutes.
Neck burn happens when the velcro of your wet suit rubs your shorn neck for 30 minutes while swimming. It’s not good. Not good at all.
I love shocking outcomes! JER-RY! JER-RY! Ha ha ha. Can’t wait to read about it. I’ll admit–I skimmed right over your entire post because I can barely make it up a flight of stairs right now. I’ll come back to it when I can manage an incline without shredding every muscle fiber in my quads.
LOL!!! And I can completely understand you not even wanting to look at a hill right now! Just bask in the glory that is your speedy marathon. You have more than earned it.
I love hills!!! I miss them so much right now. Can’t wait to get back to running up some hills or up the treadmill. M not picky lol.
And can’t wait for your race report!
They are also great for stroller workouts 🙂 Thanks Danielle.
Neck burn? Ouch! From what I saw on Instagram it looked like a great race, I can’t wait to read the recap! I’ve just recently come to love hill running and am so excited to try these workouts and incorporate it more once I start marathon training. From what I’ve read about CIM, hill training makes the difference between feeling the little hills and being like, what hills?
Oh the hills always seem to make the difference!! And yes, the neck burn is quite interesting…and painful 🙂
Thanks Laura!
You know I loathe hills. But when I was training for Big Sur, I couldn’t find any hill workouts online to save my life. Fortunately, I developed PF and couldn’t run. Becky had me pull the sled and that really was a great way to prepare me for those California climbs.
I will pin this for the rare instance I need to run hills in the future!
Oh I remember the sled pulls! Total beast mode and yes, in Chicago the hills are hard to come by. Remind me to move there 🙂
Mountains are all around me – we live on a mountain too! I couldn’t get away from hills if I wanted to, but I happen to love them. Yep, they definitely make you stronger! Love all of these hill workouts!!
It sounds like we live in the same surroundings! Pretty much right out of “The Sound of Music!” LOL. I know you love the hills and it shows in your SPEED :-)))