Guide to hill training
About the Author
Sarah McCormack is an international mountain runner and professional running coach at Missing Link Coaching, our official Dragon’s Back Race coaching provider.
Sarah McCormack is an expert at tackling hills ©Sportograf
Hill training
Whether you’re a beginner looking to make big improvements or a seasoned off-road runner looking for a competitive edge, hill training is an integral part of preparing for trail and mountain events. It’s fair to say that they’re one of the reasons off-road running is so interesting - everyone has different strengths and weaknesses on uneven terrain, with the best runners being those who can excel on any gradient and level of technicality. The possibilities for hill training are endless, from short uphill sprints to long uphill tempos to training on a loop with alternating climbs and descents. So how to make the most of your training time?
Firstly, it’s important to mention that there is no substitute for running on bigger hills. While it’s not always possible to do this frequently if you live somewhere quite flat, driving out to hilly areas when you get a chance is by far the best way to improve. Here we’ll provide our favourite uphill sessions for when you have big hills available, and for when you don’t.
When there are so many different types of hill training available, it can be hard to pick which session to do, and at what point in your training cycle to do it. In general, it’s best to do the most specific training (training that most closely replicates the demands of your race) nearest to the event - allowing for a taper, of course! If you’re unsure about how to structure your training, or would just like the simplicity of having a training plan designed specifically for you, have a look at our Dragon’s Back Race 2023 coaching group!
Getting your legs ready for the big climbs is a huge part of the challenge ©No Limits Photography
When big hills aren’t available
Sprints
Sprints on a small hill are very useful for developing running-specific leg strength, and are a great addition to your early-season training. For a Dragon’s Back Race build-up, these can be really useful to include in the winter months.
A session of 10-second uphill sprints will:
Recruit fast twitch muscle fibres, increasing your power and resistance to fatigue
Improve elastic energy storage and running efficiency by reducing ground contact time
Allow you to develop a kick for the end of a race
Six to ten reps of sprints is plenty. You need to leave a lot of recovery between each sprint (at least 2 mins) to allow each rep to be absolutely maximal.
Pre-fatigued reps
Doing some harder running on the flat before you start your uphill effort is a good way to generate fatigue if you only have a small incline. For instance, if your hill only takes about a minute to run up, start your rep 400-800m away from the hill so that you have a good section of fast, flat running to fatigue the legs before you hit the incline. Alternatively, do a 15-20 min tempo run on the flat followed by some 1-minute uphill reps.
Treadmill running
Although it doesn’t sound terribly inspiring, a treadmill can be very useful for getting some long sustained climbs if big hills aren’t readily available. Doing one or two runs at an incline on the treadmill each week would be highly beneficial when combined with a longer run on bigger hills at the weekend.
Circuit run
This is another great way to get some uphill training from your legs in a tired state. In a gym with a treadmill (or on a hill outdoors), intersperse uphill running with leg and full body exercises such as squat jumps, lunge walks, skipping rope, press ups, plank, burpees, etc.
This will allow you to create local muscular fatigue in the leg muscles and stimulate greater muscle fibre recruitment. This is particularly good for strength endurance training in the winter, before a summer or autumn target race.
The Dragon’s Back Race has its fair share of mammoth climbs ©No Limits Photography
Sessions for big hills
Longer reps
Once you have a good base in place (e.g. hill sprints, short hill reps, sustained climbs at an easier intensity) you can begin doing 20 to 40 minutes of total of higher intensity uphill running, in the form of long reps or an uphill tempo at close to threshold effort. Think of starting with some 3-4 minute reps, and building the rep duration over a number of weeks to a few 6-8 min reps before adding in a 15-20 minute uphill tempo (you could build this up to a 30- or 40- minute effort later in the season). The possibilities are endless, for instance you could mix short and long reps, or add in some short uphill sprints after your tempo run.
Up and down reps
Reps that incorporate both a hard climb and fast descent will also be a good training stimulus for the need to descend on tired legs during a race. For these sessions, you could find a hill which allows you to run hard uphill for 3-5 minutes, followed by a fast descent back to your starting point, and a rest at the bottom. You could also train your descending skills by including some fast 45-60s surges on the downhill after a long uphill tempo, or just running at threshold effort for 15-30 mins on an undulating route with lots of climbs and descents.
Hill fartleks
This type of training involves a hilly or mountainous route, where you run the climbs slightly harder (or a lot harder) than the flat sections & descents. For Dragon’s Back Race training, this can be a good session to do over the summer. The race itself will be a low-intensity, aerobic effort, so keeping these uphill efforts at moderate pace (e.g. 3-4 hour race pace) will be good strength endurance preparation, and will help you avoid training too much at high intensity, as you approach the target race.
Long runs
And of course, let’s not forget the good old-fashioned long run on hilly terrain. When training for something like the Dragon’s Back Race, this is going to be the most important specific preparation within your training cycle. As the race approaches, you’ll want to reduce the frequency of higher-intensity sessions, in order to set aside time (and energy) to get out in the hills for some long runs and route recces (check out RAW Adventure - official Dragon’s Back Race recce provider) at easy pace. There’s no substitute for just spending a long time on your feet in mountainous terrain.
A mixture of long climbs and short intervals is great training ©No Limits Photography
Our golden rules of hill training
Be specific - look at the length, gradient and overall amount of climbing in your target event and aim to replicate this in your training sessions
Train your weaknesses - particularly in the off-season and early season, aim to get out on terrain where you usually lose places in races, whether that’s a steep climb or a fast, gradual descent
Create a logical progression in your training - for instance, if you struggle on long climbs, start with short hill reps to start, and build up the duration of your hill reps over a number of weeks
If structured training interests you, and you’d like to be part of a group of Dragon’s Back Race athletes supported by coaches and sports science specialists, consider joining our official Dragon’s Back Race coaching group for 2023.