Precious Roy wrote:
Most underrated is hill training. People never do it with enough consistency to fully realize the benefits. Too many runners just do it during a "strength" phase and then lose the benefits by neglecting it during a "specific" phase.
I was going to say the same thing. I've been doing 4-5 x 60 second steep hills once a week, and, as always, I am watching and feeling myself be transformed from sorta fit into kick-ass fit. I've found that this particular workout (4-6 x 60 second steep hills) has huge bang for the buck. I always warm up with 5+ miles, the last mile of which is at marathon-to-tempo pace. The most immediate effect is on stride length and power. It's hard to describe but it's real. A week or two after hitting the first of these, and always noticeably within the month, I start to feel as though I've strapped on seven-league boots. (I'm 58). Last weekend I suddenly felt like Superman on my long run, which was easily 30-45 seconds a mile faster overall than the week before.
But, as you've noted, I mostly hit the hills in that 4-6 week strengthening period, getting ready for road races. After I start racing, I dial it back, and in summer and base training I rarely do these sort of repeats. I would say that once every two weeks, at minimum, would be a good thing.
Two years ago, after making 6 x 60 second my baseline workout (sometimes twice a week), I did 8 x 60 secs. one week before my goal race. And I ran a 20:36 5K (age 56), which was significantly better than I expected based on the (decent) times I'd been running. Best-case scenario for goal race, basically.
So yes: hills!