Chasing your flat pace
Uphill, holding the pace of flat intervals pushes you well beyond vVO₂max, and the session is over by the third climb. Run by effort, and let the watch say whatever it says.
RunningVO2maxIntermediate 47 min
6 × 2-minute hill repeats, jogging back down
Long hill repeats: six 2-minute climbs at close to your vVO₂max effort, jogging back down between them. 12 minutes of climbing in a 47-minute session. For regular runners and trail runners who want lungs and legs in the same outing.
Session profile14 blocks
At a glance
- Duration
- 47 min
- Main target
- 82–90%vVO₂max4 Z4 · Threshold
- Time at target
- 12 min
- Estimated load
- 46
- Structure
- 6 × 2′ at 82–90% vVO₂max, 2′ recovery
- Level
- Intermediate
- Equipment
- GPS watch · Hill
The session in detail
vVO₂max
Time in zone
- Z130 min
- Z25 min
- Z412 min
What the targets mean
| Target | Zone | Time | vVO₂max 14 km/h | vVO₂max 16 km/h | vVO₂max 18 km/h |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82–90% | 4Threshold | 12 min | 5:14/km–4:46/km 383–420 m per rep | 4:34/km–4:10/km 437–480 m per rep | 4:04/km–3:42/km 492–540 m per rep |
| 55–62% | 1Recovery | 10 min | 7:48/km–6:55/km 257–289 m per rep | 6:49/km–6:03/km 293–331 m per rep | 6:04/km–5:23/km 330–372 m per rep |
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What this session is for
Running uphill at close to your vVO₂max effort pushes your heart and breathing very high, at a much lower speed than on the flat. Every stride asks you to lift your body weight: quads, glutes and calves push harder, and landing impact drops, since you come down on a slope that rises to meet you. That's the appeal of long hills: hard aerobic work and strength in your stride, in one session.
Hill training has been studied in well-trained runners: 6-week programmes improved performance, without any one format clearly beating the others. No study has tested exactly six 2-minute climbs: the format rests on coaching practice.
Who it's for
Regular runners who want stronger legs without going to the gym, and trail runners, for whom climbing is part of the race. You need a recently measured vVO₂max, and a steady hill that climbs for at least 2 minutes, steep enough to feel the gradient, gentle enough to run without your stride breaking up. If your Achilles or calves are giving you trouble, skip this one: climbing loads them heavily.
When to do it
One hill session a week is a common guideline, in place of a VO₂max session, especially in general preparation or a trail build-up, several weeks before race-pace work. Put it after an easy day or a rest day, never the day before a long run or a race. To progress, go from 4 to 8 climbs over several weeks, then stretch them towards 3 minutes.
How to do it
Warm-up
15 min10′ at 60–65% vVO₂max + 5′ at 66–72% vVO₂max
10 minutes of easy running at 60–65% of vVO₂max, then 5 minutes at 66–72%, making your way to the foot of your hill. If you can, finish with one or two short, easy climbs to get a feel for the gradient.
Main set
22 min6 × 2′ at 82–90% vVO₂max, 2′ recovery
Six 2-minute climbs at 82–90% of your vVO₂max, with 2 minutes jogging back down at 55–62% between each. On a hill, forget pace: run by effort, the effort of vVO₂max intervals on the flat. Your watch will show a slower pace, and that's intended: the 82–90% range is an estimate of what that effort gives on an average gradient. Keep your chest up, your arms working, and your steps slightly shorter and quicker than on the flat. If you're not quite at the bottom when the 2 minutes are up, start the next climb from where you are.
Cool-down
10 min10′ at 55–65% vVO₂max
10 minutes of very easy running at 55–65% of vVO₂max, on the flat if possible. Compare where each climb finished: if the last one ended well below the first, you went off too hard.
How it should feel
Your thighs burn from the first minute of the climb, and your breathing follows close behind. The last half-minute of each hill is the hardest: that's when your stride tends to collapse. The jogs down feel short. Guide: 8 out of 10.
Common mistakes
Bending at the waist
Folding your chest towards the slope shortens your stride and kills the drive from your hips. Lean slightly from the ankles, not the waist, and look at the top of the hill rather than your feet.
Bombing the descent
The way down is recovery, and a trap for your quads and shins. Jog it, with short steps, without braking on your heels: run it fast and it's the part that hurts most the next day.
Picking a hill that's too steep
On too steep a slope you end up walking, or sprinting on tiny steps: it's no longer the same session. Look for a steady climb you can run from bottom to top with a proper stride.
When to skip it
Before you start
- A recently measured vVO₂max.
- A steady hill that climbs for at least 2 minutes.
Skip it if
- You have Achilles, calf or knee pain.
- You have a recent injury or heavy fatigue.
- A long run or a race is planned for the next day.
Origin and evidence
Level of evidence
Moderate evidenceLevel 3 of 5
Arthur Lydiard made hill training a system, with a phase of hills, bounding and circuits, in his books of the 1960s and 1970s (exact dates not verified). Ferley and colleagues (J Strength Cond Res 2013 and 2014), 32 well-trained runners over 6 weeks, compared treadmill intervals on a 10% incline (30 s) with longer intervals on the flat (about 2 min 16 s): both groups improved, the flat group more on time to exhaustion, the incline group on some components of running economy. Barnes and colleagues (Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2013), 20 runners, five hill programmes over 6 weeks: 2.0% faster over 5 km on average, with no format clearly ahead. Coaching practice describes 2- to 3-minute climbs at a sustained effort on 3 to 6% gradients. The 2-minute duration, the 82–90% range (estimated for a gradient of about 5%, not measured), the warm-up and the cool-down are Wattson choices. For the same reason, the zones shown underestimate the real effort. Bottom line: moderate evidence for the principle, limited for this format.
Sources
- Ferley D.D. et al., J Strength Cond Res 2013;27(6):1549-1559
- Ferley D.D. et al., J Strength Cond Res 2014;28(5):1298-1309
- Barnes K.R. et al., Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2013;8(6):639-647
Frequently asked questions
What pace should I run hill repeats at?
Forget pace: run at the effort of vVO₂max intervals on the flat. The session gives 82–90% of your vVO₂max, or 4:34 to 4:10/km at 16 km/h, but that's an estimate for an average gradient. On a steeper hill you'll go slower for the same effort, and that's fine.
How steep should a hill be for hill repeats?
Steady, steep enough to feel the gradient, gentle enough to run from bottom to top with a proper stride, without walking. It needs to climb for at least 2 minutes. A firm surface, road or a smooth path, works better than a technical trail for this session.
Long hill repeats or hill sprints?
They're two different sessions. Long hills last 2 minutes, at close to vVO₂max effort: they work your lungs and strength. Hill sprints last a few seconds, flat out, with long recoveries: they work power. The first replaces a VO₂max session; the second usually slots into an easy run.
Should I walk or jog back down?
Jog, with short steps. The descent is an active recovery: it keeps your heart rate up enough for the next climb. Only walk if the slope is too steep to come down gently, or if your quads are complaining: a slower recovery beats a descent that pounds.
Can hill repeats replace a VO₂max session?
Yes, that's where they usually sit in the week. The effort is similar, at a lower speed and with more strength in each stride. Many runners use them in general preparation, then move back to flat intervals as the race gets closer.
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