The final hill session for our month-long attack of the hills during October! It’s time to get after it with this classic hill workout!!

WHAT?

Hill Reps:
6x 60 seconds @ about mile race effort

Recovery: Light jog back down the hill after every rep.

Terrain: Mild-to-moderately steep hill.

Feels: Getting after it!

Your muscles will light up, your heart will crank, your lungs will pump, but you will feel SO alive after this workout! It’s important that you pace this session. Each rep shouldn’t be all out; you should feel like you could go 5mins non-stop at that effort level, so your first two reps should be comfortable. The last two … they’re another story!

WHY?

This session asks a lot from your muscles, which in turn asks a lot from your heart, and which of course asks a lot from your lungs. So, this one will take you to a place of intensity that is pretty special indeed!

HOW?

Therefore, it’s important to get the pacing right early on—you shouldn’t be falling apart after the first couple of reps.

The slow jog recoveries back down the hill will ensure the pinch only comes in the fifth and sixth rep. And here it’s important to draw on that mental toughness and push through!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

MAKE THE DECISION TO GET AFTER IT!

Most of your runs should be within your comfort zone. But when they’re not, you need to be ready to get after it! Here are some tips for having the courage to crush it!

The week of. Set a date for your key workout. Make plans with training buddies and set up your life around it to ensure success (i.e. allow enough time for the workout and appropriate recovery and refuelling, and remove any obstacles that might make it easy to pull out).

The day of. Treat those key workout days like a mini race day. Have your gear laid out, watch charged, breakfast planned and game face on!

The start of the workout. Like a race, you’ll also want to pace yourself. The pinch should only arrive in the last third of the workout. If you feel like barfing in the first rep, you’re doing it wrong! The getting after it occurs later.

Crunch time. Around the halfway mark in a key workout, things will start getting real. This is when you need to make that decision to get after it. You’ve set up this workout perfectly for this moment, you’ve paced it well in the first half, and now it’s time to see what you can do. You got it from here. Get after it! Crush it!