Organic Runner Mom

How to get faster for the marathon-Hill Workouts!

How to get faster for the marathon-hill workouts.

Are you looking for ways to boost your marathon times? Check out these 3 workouts for a faster marathon or consider adding hill workouts into the mix. Hill sprints are another element to your training that will help you to build strength and speed. According to Runner’s World, “uphill intervals’ intensity improves what’s called your lactate threshold.” What does that mean? Well, it means that, ” your body produces less muscle-burning lactic acid at the same swift pace.”

I typically run hills right outside my house. I am lucky to have a good hill near my home so during this whole quarantine craziness I am able to run right close to home. Hill running is hard but so beneficial because of how it helps with strength and running economy and your ability to run faster paces.

3 hill workouts to make you faster for the #marathon. #running #runchat

Here are some great hill sprint workouts that you should consider including into your marathon training.

Short Hill Repeats-These can vary in length from 30 seconds to 90 seconds. Warm up for a mile to a mile and a half. Find a good hill to do your repeats on. Challenge yourself to 6-10 Repeats. You will run at a 5K pace. After each repeat run easy for 2 minutes back to the start and repeat.

Ladder Repeats-Warm up for a mile to a mile and a half. Then complete a ladder of repeats: 3 x 90 seconds hills, 3 x 60 seconds hills, 3 x 45 seconds hills. You will start out at a 10K pace and as the repeats become shorter shift to a faster 5k pace. Easy running back to the start again for 2 minutes in between each repeat.

Long Hill Repeats-Warm up for a mile to a mile and a half. These repeats are longer taking 2-4 minutes to reach the top of the hill with an easy jog back to the bottom. Repeats should be done 4-6 times. Long hill repeats are better for base building so better to be done during the beginning of a training cycle. These will build endurance and strength.

Be mindful of your quads when your are jogging easy back to the starting line. The downhills can be hard on your legs especially when you are working so hard.

All hill workouts can also be done on the treadmill which is good because you can set the incline and also set your pace. Doing hill runs on the treadmill will ensure that you get a consistent workout.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Do you do hill workouts? Do you have a favorite hill workout? I’d love to hear about it!

Organic Runner Mom Blog
Facebooktwitterredditpinteresttumblrmail

10 responses

10 responses

  1. Hills are so hard, but so beneficial! I have a lot of hills near where I live but none of them are great for hill repeats. I can do some short repeats on them but they are not very steep. Still, its better than nothing! I’ve also done them on my treadmill which means I can control the incline and speed so I know I’m getting in a good workout.
    Lisa @ Mile by Mile recently posted…6 Movement Patterns Every Runner Should Be DoingMy Profile

  2. I think hill training is essential for any road race. I’ve never done a race and thought I’d invested too much in hill training. These variations are solid!

  3. When I do hills (or at least when I did), I would have to go out to a bridge that’s just about a mile long. I would either do repeats of back and forth across the whole thing, or I would choose a side and just go up, turn around at the summit and come back. One side is longer and one is steeper, so it just depended on how much I wanted to suffer.

Comments are closed.

Organic Runner Mom
Please sign up to get the latest inspiring content first!
We respect your privacy.