Hill Reps . How much long , how much recovery ?

I generally like to start with shorter hills and increase the length over time based off your goals/race distance. So start with whatever length is manageable and increase by 50 or 100m each week as you get fitter if you need to.

I trained my daughter using an approximately 400 meter hill loop. Having the physical loop at perfect steepness going 200 up (40s) at 5k race pace and slightly longer coming down was fortunate. I styled workouts like alternating 12*200 going from 5k pace to tempo. I also did workout with 12 200s. First 4@5k pace,2nd 4@mile pace, last 4 200 pace with increasing recovery. Daughter got best 800 of her life. Then hs xc coach got her and it was all downhill. 2:22 in ninth grade.

Don’t complicate it, go find a hill and f$@k that thing up.

Do some short, do some long, alternate! Try short rest, long rest! It’s a hill, all of it will make you better

You're going to ruin her. You don't run hills at a prescribed pace, steepness. You run them at whatever feels right.

You know how you know it's the right steepness? You look at the hill and you start salivating.

You know how you know its the right length and/or pace? The hill cries "no más!"

So they aren’t supposed to hurt ? I start burning after more than 15 seconds . I thought you were supposed to do them all out

I do one or two sets of 4 x 60 secs up a steep hill, or sometimes one set of 6. The challenge for me is finding a pace where, about 2/3 of the way up, I can feel my quads starting to melt a little as my HR ascends. I'll a little--just enough to let me make it to the top, plus another 10 yards. HR at that point is around 95-98% of max, or close to where it would be at the end of a hard 5K. But I don't run the whole repeat at that intensity, obviously, because it takes a little while to get there from where I start at the bottom.

In a set of 6 repeats, the first repeat or two are a little easier, to get the legs warmed up. Then harder on 3 and 4. Repeat 5 is where I'll push it, to find my own limits. "Pushing it" often means that at that meltdown point, I just keep on. Repeat 6 is a little easier, the one-more-and-done.

I get big bang for the buck on these. I'll run 5 miles w/up with a portion of the last mile at tempo pace. Very important to warm up. Another mile or mile and a half after the hills, sometimes with some fartlek.

One other hill workout I did had immediate and striking effects. After 3 miles w/up, I did 3 x 90 seconds hard, up a medium hill, very close to 5K intensity. No slowing. Did that on a Friday. That Sunday I went out and ran 10 miles and my legs were not the same legs. Ran 15-20 secs/mile faster than usual, at the same effort. Quite striking. As though a turbo had been installed overnight.

I meant to write "I'll slow a little....."

20s or less is good for speed, could do less recovery, like 30s, but depends how intense the reps are.

You don´t train speed with short rest. Have you ever seen a sprinter taking 30s rest?

There are lots of ways to use hills. here is one that was successful for running legend Craig Virgin:

12 x 400 meter quickly up a moderate hill with slow jog back down for recovery.

It’s a workout he did regularly and credits with helping fuel his cross country toughness and success.

I didn't mean like sprint speed, if you were trying to do that I would go less than 20sec for the hill reps & a lot more rest.

Yes, this. I've always felt that when people tell you the "perfect" hill work out on the "perfect" hill with the "perfect" recovery it's based on what they have at their disposal.

Remember what Frank Shorter said- Hills are speed work in disguise.

We can never beat the road or the track. They always remain, ready for our return...

But you can get to the top of the damned hill. Mess that s..t up!!!!

Yeeeeaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No. Kids need a pace. They don't need to necessarily hit it right on, but there is a diff between 5k pace and a hill sprint.

They should NEVER be told a pace on hills. NEVER!

I found a short, moderately steep hill within a mile of the health club I use.
I do 6 hard efforts each followed by a decent recovery. Each week I add 2 reps until I get to 12, then go back to 6 and repeat the cycle.
Just a simple workout based on feel and I don’t complicate it. Throw some miles on each end of run and is a good enough workout for my level.

What would you guys consider an ultimate hill workout to prep for a cross country race where 1/3 of the 3.1 miles is at an incline? Let's just say you've found a hill with a similar gradient.

The thing is, we have probably 3 races this year that are on similarly hilly courses, so that's the best practice, and some other races with good hills, but quite a bit less than the big race.

Would you shoot for repeats of hills that are similar length to the ones in the race? Longer? Shorter? Doesn't matter?

8 x 1 minute on . Walk down .

To high school xc coach:

Dnbncbnc's answer is as good as any. Jog down slowly though.

You don't run hills for the purpose of replicating a feature on an upcoming racecourse, though. You do them for the physical benefits. Glutes, hamstrings, power, increased cadence CV and heart rate. Arm drive. Those are all benefits that will help you on flat courses and tracks as well.

Anywhere from 20s to 2:00 is good. I was a seasoned professional so one of my favorites was 8-10 x 2:15 up a big hill. Then a short 50-80m jog back down from the top and a short explosive 15-20s sprint back to the top. Then jog to the bottom of the big hill and repeat the loop. That would be way to much for anyone at the high school level, but you should get the point?

For you perhaps a 1:00 hill plus 50m hill then back down to the bottom to complete the loop?

One of my favorite workouts of all time.

The thing is you'll feel the powerful benefits the next day.