wannnnaaaBEEEEEEFasttttttttttt wrote:
Hi Im a high school girl (16 years old). My 5k PR is 19:45. That was a completely accurate 5k course. I never did hilllsss at all in XC! Literally... no repeats, no speed work, no long run with hills. I was wondering how much my 5k PR would automatically drop with hill work. Would incorporating hills twice a week be enough?
It's likely that your 5k PR will drop automatically as you get older, if you keep training.
As for hills -- it depends on what you want to accomplish with them and what the rest of your training looks like.
A good way to start would be to do a couple of your easy runs each week on a hilly course. Then do your long run on a hilly course.
The reason I suggest this over "hill workouts" is to give yourself some time to get stronger and to work on your form when working the hills. When you are not quite strong enough, you may compensate by bending forward/shoving your hips back, and then you lose much of the benefits that hills confer.