Hill workouts to quickly regain fitness

Go to a hill and run up it. And if you're feeling frisky, run down too.

I’d be more worried about getting reinjured jumping into 3 hard workouts a week back to back like that coming off a month layoff.

Two workouts + a hill workout + a long run after coming back from injury sounds like entering the danger zone for reinjury.

Maybe consider short hill strides after easy runs a la Brad Hudson?

Hudson: "Sprint for 8-12 seconds at maximum intensity up a hill that is at least at an 8% grade. The goal is to recruit 100% of your muscle fibers by running at 100%. Take at least 90 seconds of recovery. You can do these on an easy day after a run. Hill sprints help develop leg speed and strength to prevent injuries and prepare the body for more high intensity training."

If you've been down due to injury I would follow the advice of previous posters. Come back slowly, or you risk re-injuring yourself.

2 weeks of steady running & a long run

2 weeks of steady running plus a day with some hill reps, and a day with some strides & a long run

2 weeks of 1 session of hill reps 1 tempo session and long run

back to "normal" work load.

Yes it's long and yes conservative, but less risk of reinjury.

I think the best way to regain fitness for 1500-5000 is to hit one solid slightly faster than tempo effort.

Maybe for 800 it could be 1 mile at 3200 pace? I’ve always “rust busted” with a 3 miler at 10k effort as my first workout back. It’s painful but shocks my system into training mode.

My first workout (admittedly in summer) ends up being 3 miles in 17:00. Two months later, I’m typically able to do 5 in 5:20.

Sure, add more workouts. I predict another IT band injury in a month.