H.S. Coach #6487 wrote:
I wrote up what I think it's supposed to look like:
WEEK 1 6-8 X 60 meters (approx..:10 seconds). Twice a week.
WEEK 2 8-10 X 80 meters (approx..:15 seconds). Twice a week.
WEEK 3 10-12 X 100 meters (approx..:20 seconds). Twice a week.
WEEK 4 12-14 X 120 meters (approx..:25 seconds). Twice a week.
WEEK 5 14-16 X 140 meters (approx..:30 seconds). Twice a week.
This hill "workout" is supposed to build strength and it is not a demanding workout. If you progress to 15 reps and 30 sec, it starts to generate more lactate and cost more recovery, but still not a fully fledged workout.
It is to be done on easy days and not part of the workout days. I dojust 5x10s hill sprints twice a week on my recovery days since I am no elite, but that costs very little. I do 10s to be sure to give max and still not generate a lot of lactate. To build max strength in running. Great for my running form as well.
I have done it at the start of, during and after a moderate run. In the start it activates muscle to get more training from the moderate run, I have done it during, and after. After to do max work while more fatigued, do activate more hard to reach muscle fibres. During has worked not optimally since moderate running makes it impossible to go max. I have stopped doing that. I do 3 hill sprints as part of WU for a workout to activate more fast muscle fibre and get more aerobic adaptations of them in the workout.
I would say that sprints from 10-30sec with minimum 60s jog down, probably more, enables a max effort. It is not to be an aerobic workout, this is for strength.
For master runners these hill sprints are a must in my opinion.
I in addition try to do one weekly 6x30s w/4.30 jog rest, slightly inclined sprint to develop a kind of high speed endurance suitable for 5k. I do not dare to do it flat since I am 50 so a slight incline is safe, still fast. It has helped some on my kick power. I also do 40s hill reps with 80s jog down weekly, but that is a totally different experience. More lactate, submax, more like an 400-800m effort and not sprinting.
I do not do long hills, but some evidence shows that longer hills build better quad aerobic endurance (obviously). that can make the quads better at contributing in flat running. Not certain exactly how, but at least if you run hilly races it is a must, but it might be beneficial in longer distance as well
So I think combined hill work such as my example is important.
An masters primarily lose stride length due to reduced power, so the older you are, the more benefit from fast safe hill running.