How to prepare for a hilly race

Training for a hilly race course

If you are preparing for a hilly half marathon (or any distance), incorporating elevation into your training is essential. Hills build strength, improve running economy, and prepare both your legs and lungs for the unique demands of climbing and descending. Training only on flat routes may leave you underprepared for the sustained climbs and rolling terrain you’ll face on race day.

The current Femmi Focuses (plans) are set up for you to build both your fitness and conditioning to running to help you achieve your goals, including the distances you’re aiming for. So have confidence that our plans will prepare you for the distance. But in order to prepare for the elevation of your particular race, it is important to incorporate hill training into your plan. 

Here is how we suggest to do this in Femmi:

1. Hill Strides
   • Once a week, we will give you ‘strides’ to execute alongside a steady paced run. As you are preparing to run elevation, aim to do most, if not all, of these strides on hills. These strides will be short, hard efforts (10-60 seconds) uphill with full recovery jogs down. These strides will help to build leg power, speed, and confidence.
2. Long Runs on Rolling Terrain
   • Replace some flat long runs with routes that mimic race conditions. As you get closer to race day, try to map out a route that will cover approximately the same elevation as you will run on the course. While you are tackling these hills, focus on maintaining even effort rather than even pace.
3. Tempo Runs With Hills
   • During your training journey Femmi will provide you with Tempo based speed runs 1-2 times a month. Within the Tempo sessions include some gradual climbs. Aim to practice a sustained effort (10–20 minutes) on these gradual inclines. These sessions will help to simulate pushing through fatigue late in the race.
4. Downhill Running
   • Whatever goes up, must come back down. So it is important to also practice running downhill. Within both long runs and steady runs, incorporate controlled downhill segments to strengthen quads and improve turnover. Throughout a downhill run keep your stride short and cadence high to protect joints.
5. Strength Training Complement 🏋️
   • Strength Training is incredibly beneficial for building our resilience on hills. Incorporate strength work 1-2 times per week. Focus on running specific strength, including squats, lunges, and step-ups to build hill-running muscles. Strength work reduces injury risk from the added demands of elevation.

   
   

Practical Tips

When adding hill training into your plan, progress gradually by starting with one hill-focused session per week and increasing as your body adapts. Pay close attention to form - maintain an upright posture, drive your arms, and avoid overstriding to keep your movement efficient. On race day, focus on effort rather than pace when tackling climbs, conserving energy so you can take advantage of the descents and flat sections. Because hill workouts are demanding, always follow them with an easy warm down and post run stretching.

Final Thought

Training for hills requires deliberate planning. By blending hill repeats, long runs with elevation, and strength work, you’ll arrive at the start line prepared to take on every climb and descent with confidence.