F3 Greenwood

Up Hill Battle: A Blood and Guts Training Blast

It’s that time again. Time for your weekly Blood and Guts Training pre-blast. This week we’re going to talk about the benefits of hill training. But before we get started, let’s recap the last few weeks.

In case you’ve been living under a rock or you’re new to F3 Greenwood, we will be hosting a goal challenge event titled the Blood and Guts Run on Wednesday, Oct. 31. For the event, you’ll submit your goal pace for either a 5k or 5-mile distance. Then you’ll train to get faster and show up on race day to crush your goal.

Plus, you don’t have to come up with a training plan. Your run AOQ’s have put one together for you and it follows this basic schedule:

  • Sunday: Distance Run (Starbucks)
  • Monday: Recovery Run (Fountain)
  • Wednesday: Speed Work (Starbucks)
  • Friday: Hill Work (Fountain)

Specialized workouts are shared the day before for preparation purposes. And pre-blasts highlighting different training topics are shared each week. So, keep your eyes peeled for those custom workouts/pre-blasts, post at running AO’s and get faster. For now, let’s talk about hills.

There are plenty of hills on my normal route. What is hill training?

Last week we talked about “speed work,” but the overall goal of B&G training is to help you increase speed. So, in certain ways a lot of the topics we will cover can fall into that “speed work” category. Hill training is one of those topics. But don’t fret, we’re going to talk about the benefits of running slow at a later date.

Basically, hill workouts help you build strength, endurance and coordination. If you do a quick search online, you’ll find all types of complicated plans that involve understanding the percentage of the grade for a hill you are running. You’ll also see workouts that require 30, 60 or 90-second intervals of running uphill combined with some magic grade formula for maximum benefit. All of this is well and good (and useful), but we are going to focus on a few basics. Specifically, sprinting up and down hills.

To keep it simple, let’s just say that Uphill Repeats (running fast uphill) will activate the full range of muscle fibers needed for various running scenarios. This will, in turn, help you with stride length and speed by strengthening your leg muscles and forcing you to use your full range of motion. Some say this workout also improves anaerobic fitness.

Downhill Repeats (running fast downhill) serve a slightly different purpose. If you ever feel awkward running down a steep hill, this will help you manage the increased stride rate with more coordination. This increased efficiency will help you with your overall speed, but it might also help you avoid injuries.

How do I put this into practice?

Post tomorrow at the Fountain and give the following interval workout a spin.

(Pace: Fast=5K, Slow=Recovery)

  • Warm-up
    • Run slow from the fountain to Cambridge Ave.
    • Turn Left onto Cambridge and run slow toward the bridge
  • Round 01 – Uphill Sprints
    • At the bottom of the Hill (Grove St. Intersection) run fast up the hill
    • Once you’ve cleared the bridge, turn around and run slow down the other side
    • Turn left on the Charles St. and run fast up the hill
    • Turn around at Montague Ave. and run slow down the hill
    • Turn left onto Cambridge and run fast up the hill
    • Stop at the top of the hill and take a 1-2 minute breather
  • Round 02 – Downhill Sprints
    • Run fast to Grove St. intersection at the bottom of the hill on Cambridge
    • At the bottom of the Hill (Grove St. Intersection) run slow up the hill
    • Once you’ve cleared the bridge, turn around and run fast down the other side
    • Turn left on the Charles St. and run slow up the hill
    • Turn around at Montague Ave. and run fast down the hill
    • Turn left onto Cambridge and run slow up the hill
    • Stop at the top of the hill and take a 1-2 minute breather
  • Repeat alternating rounds of uphill and downhill sprinting until time is up
  • Cool down with a slow run back to the fountain

What is my 5K pace?

Use the following chart to determine your pace. If you don’t have a way to track your pace while running, just focus on running faster on the fast segments and slow otherwise.

Bottom line: Do you have the guts to push yourself uphill? Put yourself to the test in the Gloom and find out.