Oddly, I guess, I enjoy doing intervals at the track. I also do intensity in swimming, which may not do much for my running speed but should at least benefit my aerobic system.
Well I wish I could incorporate something like this in my training, but we have legit hills for training like that. Therefore, I have to do what I can to train. Most of the time, it just ends up being on a treadmill doing 15% for 15 mins.
I do 3 to 5 reps of 1min uphill close to max intensity with short breaks in 3 sets with longer breaks. But I was wondering after your video of I should switch to longer reps and lower intensity? What is better to train for a first ultra?
I appear in this video - I am climbing old buck at a chatty pace at 2:25 on my enduro bike. Super small world that this would be suggested for me on youtube. I don't even normally take old buck, usually I climb the single track. Mad respect for the trail running, I think it's way harder than biking from a physical standpoint.
Love all your videos Jeff! To answer the question you asked at the end, yes, please share more training videos! As someone new to ultra running that type of content helps a lot.
Just won a trail 50k on Saturday with longest run of year of 26.2k. But I did a ton of hills and double Ingebrigtsen threshold days once a week. The double threshold days ended up being 20-22 mile days and I felt great whole 50k.
There is a nice place to do hill reps around where I live. I like to use it. It allows either a workout like this you've just shared here. Or it allows to use the hill for a warm up and then there are like 50-60 steps to the peak on the top of the hill, so sometime I just run easy to reach the steps and then do 10-15 fast runs on these steps each followed by easy run down and around the peak to the base of the stairs again. I think that's a good strength exercise with these steps (Rivington Pike Tower the place is called - UK). Thank you for the video.
My local uphills are all pretty gnarly, which only adds to the intensity. Sometimes I wish I had a smoother trail, but I'm grateful to have local trails in the first place. Thanks for the video! You all did an awesome job!
Thanks Natasha! Our trails are mostly pretty technical as well, which is what made this one so attractive. I often will run on logging roads as well. I find it helps so that I can just focus on the fitness side of it and not the technique - although there’s definitely a time and place to practice your downhill technical running!
I come from the short distance side of things, so most of my training centers around hill sprints on roads (zone 4-5), with a bit of zone 2 sprinkled in during warmups. I enjoy seeing content from individuals who enjoy the outdoors, regardless of how that's achieved. I'm beginning to cross train for an inline skating marathon in the future, which I'm excited for. All the best to you and yours, keep up the quality content.
I do once a week hill repeats and also some speed intervals. I used not to like them much, but now is a part of my weekly routine that motivates me to get better and faster. Also playing with some segments is an additional motivation too Best thing is the post workout meal no doubt ;)
I've discovered Jeff's channel about a week ago and man, I think I've watched at least a dozen videos till now. Great content with great quality that's really hard to find in nowadays RU-vid. Also, Canada is such a great country. You guys have awesome trails which are well maintained and easily accessible. I really hope I'll be able to say the same thing about my country, Romania, which has some nice wild mountains but unfortunately quite badly maintained trail systems - if any at all in some regions. Keep up the good work Jeff and happy running/trekking to all of you!
Thank you! I’ve been researching Romania for a possible trip in the future, you definitely do have some wild mountain terrain! True wilderness is hard to find these days. You should be very thankful!
Love training videos. Would love to see more videos that highlight specific training runs you love/hate, why you use different types of runs, how you schedule your blocks of running, etc.
Very nice video Jeff . Uphill training is fantastic. Usually I do 20 x 1 ' ( close to 160m ) or 10 x 2' ( close to 300m ) and return with a slow run. The uphill has a slope of 6-8% . On the uphill I run with 150-160 pulses and on the downhill with 115-130. My training is a little different. A little difficult but I like it. :) Regards from Sifnos Island-Greece
Hi! I really enjoy yor videos, and nice addition with the 360 cam! I try to mix it up a bit on my hill reps, hard up, easy down or easy (walking) up, hard down. I have a hill right next to where I live with more "natural" trails with rocks, roots and mud and it is great to try to let go down hill on those more technical trails as well!
Great job! Thank you so much! Just done 5x400 (50 hm each) plus 1x200 (30 hm) plus 1x100 (15hm) and in 15 minutes after during the stretching I see you video :))
Pushing myself on hills comes so much more naturally than on flat roads. For example I have to force myself to speed up to run at my half marathon pace (and pay attention not to slow down), but on a 8-15% hill my effort automatically becomes at least the same as in a HM. I've actually been working on running slowly on hills when I want to take an easy day.
Great workout! Hill repeats are a regular part of my routine as well. Thanks for the insight into the work that goes in before your incredible adventures.
I found you after a post on reddit that you made, and have really enjoyed watching your videos. I'll be incorporating this training method for hill strength for my upcoming ultra.
Nice Jeff, I agree with you on hill work as key training for the trails. I have a couple of dirt roads near me that I use. Both are about 1.75 miles long with 400-500 ft of vertical gain, so more of a sustained push for 13-16 minutes. I use them as key benchmarks, something that I can do several times over a training block and track time and progress on the segments. Just placed 2nd overall, 1st male at my first 50 miler in Maine, so the specificity and vert training must be doing something good!
Oregon is nice! I’ve run and raced there a few times over the years - along the Timberline, the Mtn bike trails south of Mt Hood, the PCT, the Columbia River Gorge. You’ve got a good mix of buffed out trails in there with the technical yourself! Sounds like you haven’t made it up to B.C. yet though. It’s hard to compare the Coastal Mtns to the Cascades..
Man, few things feel better to me than absolutely bombing down a serpentine downhill trail. But, I really struggle to imagine how the #1 place runner in my last half-marathon (mountain trails in NM) was setting such a disgusting pace. I think my miles were 10:30 or so and his were like 7:15. It's almost unimaginable to me to start bridging that gap, but it sounds like a dream. I think a lot of it is in my head, a lot of it is in my knees & quads, a lot of it is in stronger uphills, and a lot of it is simply that I haven't done any speed-focused training; I've always just focused on "building more endurance for more miles". I can HIT those paces, I just can't MAINTAIN them. This year I've decided to learn and add speed training and give that fucker a run for his money :)
I think you touched upon an interesting topic here: Sustainable training and injury prevention, while still working towards performance goals. I would like to see some more insight into these topics, maybe even an interview with your coach or another expert!
I'm doing 4x6, with 90 sec rests, as a veariant of the Norwegian 4x4 workout. I love the idea of hill runs, and I'm looking for a good place to start, but I'm still a good way away the kind of volume you guys are doing! What would be a kind of an intermediate version of this? If you were to fit this workout into 45-60 minutes, what would it look like? I'm doing a bunch of shorter trail runs this summer, and if I feel brave I'll sign up for my first ultra as well!
i do 30 sec repeats at maximum intensity as we dont have long hills very near but hill is pretty steep I run down at a easy pace take 2 minutes recovery then repeat
nice workout and good luck on your goal race! Do you recall the grade on that track? We got steep stuff over here and hill repeats are more like hike repeats :)))
Good video, different from previoss ones, but really interesting yes. Please do not hesitate to publish similar ones related to preparation, mid-week workout, speed and/or VO2max development for ultra-trailers...
Great video! I found your channel from your amazing Tor des Geants film and am enjoying the latest content also as I train for my first 100K (CCC!). One question - you said that 'ultra race pace' is around 60% of max effort. That can't be true for heart rate though? On uphills my easy effort would be around 80% of max heart rate (i.e. around aerobic threshold or top of Z2/bottom of Z3). Or am I getting this pacing thing all wrong?!
Thanks Jennifer! That 60% was meant more as an approximation, just as an example. Having said that, I’m not sure you’d be able to sustain that 80% for very long either, certainly not in a 100+ mile race. Heart rate is an excellent tool for training but in my experience you need to run by feel when actually racing. I’ve got some videos planned that speak more to heart rate based training.
Great channel. You did a video in nutrition thx for that I hope you will share you food and drink strategy for that 100km next week. I'm doing the QMT 50km. I will cheer for you. Merci
What's your thought on having a inactive recovery instead of an active one? If you have an active recovery your heart rate will drop enough to have an recovery, but still high enough so that you will reach preferred heart rate during the intervalls faster. In addition, keeping the blood flow up can help to "flush out" eventual acids/waste that has worked up in your muscles during the intervall. At the same time, you do have eccentric work with the hard downhill efforts. Maybe that's why you have an inactive recovery? To recover from the eccentric effort?
You’re spot on. I normally do prefer an active recovery - I find it helps to flush out the lactic acid, exactly as you say. But having had a downhill interval right after the uphill, we really needed the static rest for this one.
I've seen a lot of hill repeat programs that go real easy on the downhill.. 1min up, 2min down kind of thing. Do you see the hard down effort as more beneficial? Or just a different kind of workout? I know downhill strength is so important on mountain running and often push a good flow on my downhills
It’s just another variation - you certainly wouldn’t want to do this kind of workout too often as it’s very taxing. At other times of a training program, you may want to focus only on uphill fitness or downhill strength.
In my experience, you’re better to rely on the talk test, unless you have access to actual testing in a lab. I used to get my V02 Max and lactate threshold measured every couple of months, and it was always VERY far off of what my watch estimated.
Thanks Tomos. I do something similar each week, but you wouldn’t want to do the exact same workout each time. For example, this week I have scheduled to do shorter (3 minute) intervals at Zone 4 on a very steep hill where I’ll be hiking, but without the downhill. You would also want to progress from week to week when it comes to the length of the intervals. I would always recommend working with a coach though to help plan your workouts if you can.
Great workout, thank you for the video. On your downhills I'm assuming you are landing on the balls of your feet since you're going hard? Is that a better way to go?
Thanks Jamie! I do tend to land mid-front foot, although that’s my natural running form. But be careful with trying to modify your form - it starts at the hip and glutes and how you land is more the result of this, while your lower leg should remain relaxed. You can develop lower leg injuries when holding too much tension in your ankle and foot. One thing you could safely focus on though is to lean forward more on the downhills, and when in doubt shorten your stride and speed up your cadence.
Hello from Greece , I want to ask you if it’s ok doing those intervals to the road hill as I don’t have next to me trail hilly terrain running for 5 minutes . Thanks a lot
Question: I'm new to following a real workout plan instead of just running a bunch for training. Do you need to find the ideal hill to run hill repeats. I feel like if it's too steep there is no way I'd be able to stay in zone 3 and it would have to he long enough that I could continously run uphill for 5 minutes.
Running down the hill full speed I feel it is very likely to damage your knee. Any advice how to run fast downhill but securing my knee? You pull your knee up activly or you more fall down the hill without a high knee?
Great workout! Question about the 3' recovery part: do you "just" walk around or do you have a very light jog to keep the legs turning (even at a very slow pace)... what do you recommend? Hopefully the answer isn't "squats". ;)
For most workouts, I find a light jog helps to clear out the lactic acid a little faster. But you'll want to take it really easy to make sure you've adequately recovered for the next set.
Very late to the party, but I was wondering how steep are the hills you use for your hill repeats? The hills around my place are very steep (in the 25-30% range), which makes repeats incredibly hard.
I have a 20% hill that I use to measure my leg strength every 2month. On the top is a hut/restaurant and I scared the host today because I was breathing like a "rhino on cocaine"😂.
Your hill repeats are a lot longer than mine. I tend to do 100 to 200 meter sprints uphill on my speed work days. Also your tails are super groomed. That must be nice for downhill. All the trails around me are rocks and dirt.
