The Reasonable Runner

Hills: most runner’s legs ache at just the mention of them. Whether they sneak their way into your outdoor run, pop up in your run training plan, or fill you with dread as you come to the end of a race, hills can be challenging and frustrating for many runners.

While hills are certainly not my favorite part of running either, I have found that incorporating hill and incline runs into my routine is proving to be quite rewarding. If you find yourself in a running rut, and you want to mix it up, ‘peppering’ your weekly runs with some hill work may do the trick!

If you are using a treadmill, it is much easier to incorporate incline in a controlled way. Running your base pace, or your average running speed at even .5 of an incline on a treadmill will help to create some resistance and challenge while you run. To ramp this hill running up, you can adjust your incline in increments of .5-1 for 3-5 minutes blocks. You can format your entire run to gain incline throughout, or alternate between your average running speed at 0-.5 incline and the same or decreased speed at higher levels of incline. Below are a couple examples of incline runs:

5-10 minutes: run at normal/average pace at 0-.5 incline
For 2 minutes: run at normal/average pace at 1 incline
For 3 minutes: run at normal/average pace at .5 incline
For 2 minutes: drop speed .5 mph from normal/average at 1.5 incline
For 3 minutes: run at normal/average pace at 1.5 incline
For 2 minutes: run at normal/average pace at .5 incline
For 3 minutes: drop speed .5 mph from normal/average at 2-2.5 incline
For 5 minutes: run at normal/average pace at 0 incline

5-10 minutes: drop speed .5 mph from normal/average pace at 0 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at .5 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at 1 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at 1.5 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at 2 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at 2.5 incline
2 minutes: run at dropped pace at 3 incline
5-10 minutes: run at dropped pace at 0 incline

Incline not only adds ‘mini’ goals that you can accomplish within your runs, but the variety can make your runs more exciting and mentally stimulating. Hill run training also helps to target your glutes and calves, and can leave you feeling incredibly accomplished. If you are looking to spice up your running routine or training, incline may just be the pepper you need!