Hill Repeats

Any hardcore runner who reads the title of this entry is probably already shuddering a little bit.

Hill repeats are sort of the layup practice and fumble recovery drills of running.

OK, that's a pretty weak analogy.

But they are as fundamental to being a strong distance runner as the ability to sink a simple layup is to a well-rounded basketball player, or the instinctive pounce on a loose football (performed before the brain has even comprehended that the running back dropped it) is to a defensive tackle. That is to say, hill repeats instill in the runner certain instincts and automated responses that come in very very handy.

Run any community 5K or 5-miler, and watch the majority of runners - even very fit or fast ones - slow waaay down at the first serious incline. Because hills are not particularly fun to ascend on foot, a lot of people purposely design their practice run routes to avoid them. Race organizers, however, are seldom so courteous. With the exception of the infamously-flat Chicago Marathon, most major races, from 5K on up, will have at least one difficult climb. Heartbreak Hill, which makes its sinister appearance 20 miles into the Boston Marathon, is legendary. I got to run it in mile 6 of my first half marathon and, believe me, it is not to be trifled with. My personal favorite hometown race, The 5-mile Brew Run on Cape Cod, features an uphill in mile 4 that was clearly included just to break the will and enthusiasm of anyone who thought they might P.R. (set a personal time record).

Training with hills - not just picking hilly courses, but occasionally devoting your workout to them exclusively - works pretty efficiently to equip your legs and core (and mind) to deal with looming steepness. Hill repeats, then, are exactly what they sound like. Run a few miles to loosen up, and arrive at the steepest hill in town (preferably anywhere between 1/8 and 1/4 mile. Run up and down it. Rest a minute or two and hydrate. Do it again. And again.

Obviously, this isn't much fun. Tell a fellow runner you're doing hill work, and they will surely give you one of those cringey looks of sympathy that suggests "Aw, you're a trooper." And okay, so there's not really any way to sugar coat the monotonous grind of this particular workout. One little game I enjoy is timing the first ascent/descent repeat and then trying to break that time. Which, of course, becomes progressively more difficult, since each repeat is going to be harder than the last.

But it's worth it. Aside from the mental readiness of tackling hills in races, every leg muscle gets a rigorous (and slightly different from flat running) workout. It's also basically the best calorie-burning workout ever, if you're into that.

And in certain moments, it can be really satisfying in its own right. Like any activity that's repetitive but done with purpose and a goal in mind, the monotony can sometimes give over to a transcendent at-peace-with-the-universe kind of feeling. It helps to have the ideal hill-repeat hill only a few miles away. I'm not a big trail runner, but Middlesex Fells Reservation in north Medford - a 2,500 acre refuge from city life filled with winding, uneven dirt trails - sometimes holds a simply irresistible allure. One of these trails veers sharply off of the main trail to bring the intrepid hiker up to Wright's Tower along a 1/8(ish) mile trail that's just steep enough to look foreboding.


The Wright's Tower trail; this is what you see when you're about nine-tenths of the way up.

And at the top, this view is your reward.