Hills are hard, we know, but do them right and do them regularly and they will transform your running

WORDS: TINA CHANTREY

Mention the word hill when discussing training sessions and the runners I coach all groan and squirm on the spot. They murmur: “It’s going to hurt. I won’t be able to walk tomorrow.” Yep, it’s true. Hills can feel tough. However, learning to run them with good technique and doing them frequently is a guaranteed way of becoming a faster runner.

This is due to the training effect that running up a gradient at different speeds and for different lengths of time will have on your body. Battling against the gradient, and gravity, improves your stamina, speed, power and strength.

“Hill running never gets any easier, you just learn to go faster,” says Robbie Britton, Team GB ultra-marathon runner (World Championship bronze medallist) and coach. “One important factor to think about is not speed, but efficiency. The quickest way to get up a hill isn’t always to run as fast as possible.”

This is vital to your hill training; your technique is just as important as your speed. While hills aren’t easy, they don’t need to be scary. “They’re the same challenge for everyone,” says Britton. “So if you do the hard work in the buildup to a race, then every hill becomes an opportunity to excel and take in the view around you.”

Working out why you want to do hills is also key, believes Sarah Rowell, multiple winner of the Three Peaks Race and British Fell Running Championships. This can help you work out what sessions you need in training. “What are your hill weaknesses?” she asks. “Short and steep? Long and shallow? Is it running strong over the top of a hill? What about running hard downhill?”