Day 4: Hill Bounding Run Workout

Short, strong hill reps benefit all types of runners, from triathletes to distance runners. This hill bounding run workout is perfect for building power and perfecting stride. Bonus: The risk of injury running uphill is small, and the strength you’ll get from running fast uphill may even help prevent injuries. 

The Hill Bounding Run Workout

Warm Up

Jog easy for 10 to 15 minutes on a flat road, then do a series of drills for coordination and warming up such as high knees, butt kickers, a side-to-side shuffle. 

Main Set

Find a hill with a 4 to 5 percent grade. It can be a grass or paved road (or a treadmill if you must!). Then run 8 x 30 seconds strong uphill. 

Novice runners focus on good posture and strong drive, chin down, leaning your chest into the hill, and driving strong all the way to the end of the interval. Jog or walk to the bottom EASY for recovery.

Advanced runners can bound up the hill for as many strides as you can until your form starts to breakdown, then transition into a strong run uphill. Jog or walk to the bottom EASY for recovery.

Cool down

 Easy jog on flat road to finish up. You can include 4-8 x 10 second strides in your cool down.

How to Integrate this Hill Bounding Run Workout into a Training Plan

This hill bounding run session is best done before any speed work is built in. 

Meet Your Coach 

Marilyn Chychota is a high-performance coach who’s been in the sport since 1999. She’s worked with a broad range of triathletes, from beginners to professionals—sending athletes to world championships in iron-distance, 70.3, USAT short-course, and XTERRA. Her own athletic resume includes professional competition in three different sports: equestrian show jumping, cycling, and triathlon. Chychota became a professional triathlete in 2003, racing to podium positions at Ironman events around the world, including a win at Ironman Malaysia in 2004. For more, check out Mcc.coach.