Try to do all your long runs on similar terrain to the race you are training for.

Hills are what get me too! Slows my average pace by at least a whole minute. I'm forced to run them more now because of where I moved (I live on top of a big hill). In the beginning, I tried to run down the big hill, around, and then back up it. That was too much at once. Now I'm essentially running around the top of the hill. I descend a bit, and then go back up, descend, and then back up. Lots of practice and repetition. In the beginning my pace was super slow going up, but it's faster now. I've been running the hills 1-2x/week for about a month now. I've shaved maybe 15 seconds per mile off my pace (progress is slow in that area), but I'm definitely more confident and I don't feel like I'm done by the time I reach the top anymore. Best of luck!

Thank you for posting this! I'm incorporating much more hills based on the responses!! Happy training!

I do hill sprints (sprint intervals on a short VERY steep hill) weekly, and then long hill runs pretty regularly, at least once per month on roads, and then I run on trails weekly as my second long run.

There is a park behind my house that has a track around it, and even that has hills. Can't get away from them here, so I run them everyday

It depends on what you mean.

There is hill training, which is to build strength and is usually done before the base phase of a 4 phase training program. You would probably only do this once a week as it takes time to recover. This is typically the "run up, walk down" type of hill training.

Then, there is incorporating hilly routes into your regular routine. I try to do all my easy runs and long runs on routes that have hills. I know this has benefited me tremendously on race day. The only time I seek out flat areas to run is if I am doing very specific pace work.

Best of luck. Have a great time!

I run hills every time I run, but that's because any time I from my house I'm on a hill.

Hills everyday. Literally. I like running hilly courses even for easy runs. But dynamic speed days, I hit hills at race pace! Happy Running!

Noob question: what would be considered a 'big hill'?

I've been running for about 4 months, but everything on the treadmill thus far.

With the weather finally turned I figured I would start running outside. Visiting my parents for the holidays and there is a 10km route that I mapped out.



I used to rip this route on a mountain bike in my younger days, no idea what'd be like to run it.

Ignore my post above, i went ahead and made a MMR account and it looks like my route is a piece of pie

Climb Information
Climb Start End Length Start Elev End Elev Avg Grade
Cat 5 1.01 km 2.18 km 1.17 km 198 m 243 m 3.8%

What incline on a treadmill do you think is good for simulating hills? I am training for the seattle marathon and im expecting lots of hills... I can only run on pavement once a week due to my schedule.

For you flat-landers, a friend of mine use to go run a parking garage to get hill work in. Whenever I feel bad for myself as I'm running up a hill I imagine how much it must suck to run in a parking garage and push harder.

I live in a very hilly neighborhood. So going for a run always involves hills. One in particular I use when I'm actually doing specific "hill work", or "hill repeats". It's perfect for repeats.

All my races this year are flat. So, in an effort to train as I race and race as I train, I have to drive to a local park that's good and flat to get in my long runs. But for standard runs, yeah it's the hills.

When you do hills endlessly, they just become part of your everyday workout life. I'm so much more comfortable and confident on hills than people who're faster and more talented than me, just because I run so many of them. At my last marathon, I passed tons of people the last 6-10 miles, who were wilting on the hills. I don't feel like I have an "edge" when I'm racing hills, but when the race mimics my normal running routes, I definitely feel more comfortable and competitive.