The Sprightly Spud

Donning your trusty ASICS, you take firm hold of the kitchen worktop, and diligently practice your pre-run mobility; ten leg swings forward and back, ten side to side, followed by a rapid set of high knees and bum kicks. You are a runner. You are unstoppable.

Swooping open the front door, you make your descent onto the pavement. After pressing ‘go’ on your Garmin, clean air blooms into your nostrils, the breeze gently brushing wisps of hair from your face. Two kilometres later, the endorphins have hit, and you are floating on a cloud of athleticism, serenaded by an elite ‘90s Hip Hop’ playlist.

Your body is a vessel for sporting prowess, and a 5 min/km pace feels like a doddle. That is, until, you clap eyes on your nemesis. No, not a white van and its token cat-caller, nor an unrestrained Alsatian.

The impending doom of an incline.

You prepare for the spike in heart rate, taking long, deep breaths, and trying to avert your attention from the upcoming agony. But its no use. Before long, the burning in your quads is too great, and you’re gasping desperately for sweet oxygen. Not even the dulcet tones of Dr Dre can stop you stemming your pace to a walk.

Whilst there is no shame in slowing to a walk, do the benefits of grinding up that incline justify the pain?

1. What doesn’t challenge you doesn’t change you

Whether you call them hill reps or hell reps, running at incline could be your ticket to becoming a cardiovascular weapon.

As you will have noticed, we running uphill your heart rate rises, thanks to the increased demand for oxygen from your muscles. This has the potential to massively boost your VO2 max – the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilise while performing intense exercise. The more oxygen you can take on board, the more ATP your muscles can produce. The consequence of a higher VO2 max is more energy for your working muscles; facilitating faster performances, at a lower perceived effort, when it comes to race day.

Furthermore, when pounding up that hill, you naturally take deeper, faster breaths, strengthening your heart and lungs. Its a win-win situation.

2. Strong runners = fast runners

It will come as no surprise to anyone dabbling in the running realm that strength training is a quintessential part of ensuring longevity in your running career. Not only does putting in work in the gym help deter injuries, but it will also improve power and performance. Despite this, many runners are chronic cardio bunnies, and would consider an hour of pure resistance training a form of mental torture.

Albeit hill repetitions do not quite provide a full substitute for dedicated strength work, they may offer somewhat of a solution; dragging your bodyweight skywards requires the muscles in your quads, calfs and hip flexors to exert significantly more effort than jogging on even ground. Additionally, as you are carrying out the same kinaesthetic movement to your usual running motion, the strength gains made when hill training are easily applied to a ‘standard’ run.

Essentially, hill running is its own form of hybrid training, and you could soon be ditching the gym for the mountains.

3. Supercharge your speed

Ascending your local peak has physical effects comparable to doing a speed session on the flat. Though you may not be moving as fast as when going hell for leather on the treadmill, running at a good pace at incline exerts similar levels of stress, without the impact. As a result, you could see improvements to your times on the flat, without the risk of injury.

4. Mind over matter

It hurts. You can’t breathe. And it’s raining. Hill reps can be mighty tough.

Despite this, with determination and commitment you can get to the top. Building mental stamina is a vital tool for enabling you to push through when things get hard in a race, or even when faced with challenges in your personal life. You may even be treated to a good view at the top.

Alternatively, after a day of answering irritating emails at your desk, sending it up a steep hill can be incredibly cathartic. It also has significantly fewer negative repercussions that letting out your aggression on a human being.

5. Look like a pro, race like a pro

When tackling an incline, we are forced to focus more on running form. In order to reach the top as quickly as possible, a strong knee drive, faster cadence, and shorter strides are necessary. What’s more, for maximum efficiency and stability, one must keep a tight core, and determined forward gaze. Applying these adaptations to your general training and race technique will have you looking like a champion athlete.

Aside from improving performance on level ground, refining a technique for mountain mastery leave you significantly better prepared for any races, with many longer or trail-based events having multiple uphill sections. Practice really does make perfect, and help ease the sense of dread when a hill emerges on your race pace.

The Home Straight

Though they are challenging, adding hill repeats to your training program adds variety, and can help limit the stress placed on your lower body from pounding out endless miles on the flat. Even just running or jogging part an ascent, rather than walking it, can build mental and physical resilience, and will leave you with a sense of exhilaration and achievement when you arrive back home.