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Great question! What I would like to do is take you back to (hopefully) one of my big takeaways from the Kick Off Meeting. What is the purpose of the workout? So what is the purpose of hill repeats?
The purpose of hill repeats is to ‘train’ your heart rate (getting it up on the uphills and full recovered to zone 1-2 before starting the next repeat), start building up higher threshold conditioning, develop leg strength, dial in efficient, effective running form, etc. This is what matters not whether the hill is 45 seconds or 60 seconds.
Since this is a group training program and everyone is training with different variables (current conditioning, availability to hills, etc), I take you back to what works best for you to achieve what we are hoping to achieve as the purpose of this workout.
The purpose of a medium hill (versus a short hill) is that we are trying to further develop time in your higher thresholds (zone 3-4), continue to train your HR, ensure proper running mechanics for longer, harder efforts, etc. As long as you are achieving these purposes, chose your hill accordingly. In the end, it is only YOU that you are helping…or hurting (depending on your hill repeat choice).
Good luck with this workout! Hill repeats are one of the most constructive workouts you can take on!