Day 19: Hills and Tempo Run Workout

Yes, this is a hill workout, but that doesn’t mean that the repeats have to be hard efforts. The purpose here is to build great form. Coach Rachel Joyce loves to partner this hill form work with one short piece of tempo work on the flats so that athletes can replicate the good form they feel on the hill to faster running on flat terrain. Include this one in your training plan when you need a mid-week key run session.

Hills and Tempo Run Workout

Warm up

10-15 mins starting easy and building to moderate (just above conversational effort). Finish at the bottom of a 4-6% hill.

Main Set

6×40 secs moderate hill repeats. Effort is controlled not fast (say half Ironman effort). Jog down. Focus on pushing off whole foot to help engage glutes.

6 mins tempo – 10km-10mile effort.

4 mins steady to finish bottom of hill.

4×40 second hill repeats. This time strong effort (10km effort). Jog down.

Cool down:

5-10 mins easy to finish.