What I truly appreciate about your videos is their simplicity. On TH-cam, there are numerous self-proclaimed running experts who can barely run a sub-3 hour marathon, yet they go on about their complicated training routines, nutrition, and so on, which appear more intricate than those of professional runners. The real secret lies in consistent training with occasional fartlek sessions or hill climbs whenever you feel like it. Sometimes, I believe people are reluctant to adopt such an approach because it seems too straightforward, and everyone is always searching for that magic training session or perfect nutrition plan.
I've definitely seen this coaching strength work to runners and cyclists. It's fairly straight forward really but you see people advertising strength programs with 15 exercises per workout, half of them are completely superfluous and every time they're advertised as the 'ultimate bulletproof workout for runners' or whatever. Run consistently, lift heavy things a couple of times a week, do a little bit of jumping, eat a balanced diet and voila, you have a training routine that'll keep you going well into your old age.
Yes there is no special workout that will make you faster. When I first started running I was overwhelmed with all the advice online so I just kept it simple and it worked quite well. The reason I started this channel was so that other people could understand that too and not waste their time.
You don’t need to be a WR holder to be a good coach and to know what you’re talking about. Stop being bitchy, go for a run so that you can get into a better mood and so that you can get more BDNF because your brain cells are clearly lazy (if present).
What a breath of fresh air! Everybody these days is going in and in about zone 2 running and running long to run faster which in my opinion is not right. What you say absolutely makes sense. First we need to increase vo2max, strengthen legs and increase mitochondria and then once we can run faster we slowly extend the distance T the lower speed. That makes much more sense then 10 years of zone 2 training that brings your time down from 28min 5k to 25m 5k
Patrick, i'm not sure if you know who Sinéad Diver is, but she startied running at age 33 and is now 46. She recently had her best marathon performence at age 45 breaking the Australian womens record with a time of 2:21:34 in Valencia. I say that because I know you still have so much more improving to do, and i'm excited to see it.
My slow zone 2 long runs start 4 km of uphill, UPHILL, U P H I L L, uphill and when it flattens I feel I can fly. Had to walk the uphills to stay below 141 BPM zone 2 but now I can slowjog all of it at 141 BPM. PROGRESS! 😊
Just forget about heart rate monitoring and haert rate zones - the improvement you; see are from regualr training. The heart is a nuscle that responds to training
If you want to find 10km hill there is one in Poland - the road that is closed to the car traffic (only pedestrians allowed and horse carriages) and leads to “Morskie Oko” in the mountains 10km in total, going only up. Fantastic venue for training. As extra bonus once you get to the top you can continue running by the lake and up the mountain until you get to “Rysy” - the scenery is breathtaking
Recover as you go back down the hill? But it's going down that's tough on the legs. My favourite circuit is triangular: uneven steps up a steep wooded hillside (one of the steps is a tree root), then down a rocky uneven shallow gradient, then back to the beginning along flat soft ground. It's the soft flat bit that provides the recovery, not the downhill. The unevenness improves proprioception; something you don't get by setting a treadmill to a gradient.
I would suggest easing into this. Remember, your feet are going to be angled upwards, thereby stretching your achilles and calves more. Great workout though, "Hills are speed work in disguise" - Frank Shorter😀.
Good post. Hills can also put extra strain on plantar tendos. As ever, best to ease into them over a few weeks of short and not too hard reps before dropping the hammer. Aso, the pressure on feet and ables goes up a fair bt once we get over 10 degrees.
Indeed, as a pretty expereicned hill runner, running reguarly on hills brings it own potential inury issues and runners should incorporate a stretching programme in to their training routine, it shoudl also be worth mentioning that running downhill can produce more injuries than running uphill
Every morning I wake up for my daily training session and ask myself, “what would Patrick Martin expect me to do?” More Hills. I guess that’s the answer! 😂 But seriously, I agree with finding a way to sprinkle them into otherwise ordinary runs. Going to help make race day seem awfully flat, quick!
I went from 50 miles a week to 85 for 20 weeks to see what would happen.y marathon time improved to 2;42, from 3: 53 in 20 weeks High mileage with lots of hills will get you good safely. I've been lazy I'm about to try and hold 90 for 6 months
30-40sec very hard will be near 200m for many runners. By jogging back down it helps the workout become a mix of Aerobic and Anaerobic as heartrate levels will naturally keep rising each rep. This combined with the 1km Steady hill session makes sense how it wouldve boosted your 10km race ability so early on + sporty background 😊. Also your lean lower bmi / bfat% is very handy for endurance running. Tall with a bmi below 22 and thin calf muscles can be very beneficial. Cheers 🎉
Great video and well explained. I joined IMRA ( Irish mountain running) this year and about to complete my 3rd half marathon over the hills at roughly 1000m gain on each event. My running has transformed up another level this year and have broken all PB's from 5k's to half marathons knocking minutes off my times. I run with a club 4 days a week and people have asked what I've done this year to improve so much. I genuinely can only put it down to mountain running. Running consistently on the flat will make you a better runner for sure but add hills and it makes you both mentally and physically stronger 💪
I used to do 12 seconds flat out uphill 10 times repeat on every 3rd minute my 23.04 5k parkrun is still the fastest Vm 75 after 9 years at my local parkrun did this nearly every day also competed in 100s and 200s track races such fun marathon kill Knees
At the age of 51 I started doing some longish hills sessions, and despite being out of the game for 15 months due to plantar fas., I've been able to do some new PB's this year, less than a year back in the runningshoes. This I partly blame the hillworkouts! But I find it interesting how you point out the value with 30-40 sec steep hill sessions. This is just in line with what the Ingebrigtsen-brothers practice, and they are Fast😅. What incline do you consider "steep"?
That's brilliant. I think a 15% gradient would be steep. But I don't want to make it complicated, most people don't have a choice of steep hills near them so anything that feels steep is good.
Thanks, tried this today, finishing just before a severe lightning and thunder event took place. 10*30ish sec. To say the last 5 sec felt sluggish is just an understatement😅.
As a hill runner I would suggest not incorpating hills into every run especially for novice runners but doing some timed runs on flat roads or on the track so a runner can be aware of their. Ideally do a weekly speed repeat session on a running track or on a flat raod or parth. Because I had ficussed for several years on log dostance trail and mountain, my pace deteriorated considerably and I had to return to doing speed sessions and fast 5 km roads races to recover my speed. Ideally do one speed repeat session on a flat track or road and oe speed repeat session on a hill. Fast road runners usuallyperform very well if they start doing trail running/races as they have the speed that long term trail runners may not have.
I absolutely hate the fact that we must run hills its so tiring and takes me out for 2 days i have to rest up. I prefer running down and speed walking up i dont feel dead the next day lol
It’s something I know I should do but don’t very often. I always do a speed session and a long run and should always do this too! I normally do around 2000meters a month in my normal runs
Chapeau! i also used to run uphill. i loved it. I did not have smart watches and i was much younger focusing mostly on the emotional and psychological benefits rather than timing. It has given me much confidence in tackling a lot of things in life because I noticed that my physique would recover while keeping the same pace when going into level ground or downhill.
I ran a half marathon last week in 1:43:18. This was my first race ever. The last 4km were uphill (about 2.4%) and I got outkicked by at least 100 runners because I had to slow down a lot on the hills. I have a hill next to me, but unlike what you said in the video, I tried to always avoid it, but now I have to muster the courage to incorporate it into my runs or even do repeats as you suggested. You mentioned in the video that you had been running only 1 to 2 years before you ran the marathon in approx. 2h 20min. This is a ridiculous time. Did you start running from scratch (like couch to 5k) or did you have a good running base from other sports or maybe you were a runner in your younger days? I'm really curious to know.
The algorithm does work! It recommended this video to me and am now working through your catalogue. Congrats on the success you've had so far. More good things to come. 👌
That is really good advice but like with strides (long) hill sprints are demanding and you should start with only a few reps like 3*20 seconds or 4*15 seconds if you do it once a week. You can increase either length or the number of repetitions from week to week.
Patrick - how did you schedule your hill running - did you alternate short and long repeats into long runs; double sessions; alternating long and short every other week ?
I enjoy the fact that you have demonstrable empirical evidence to back yourself up . That you are almost heretic in what you are saying and almost exasperated in the way you perseverate on the importance of consistancy, hills and simplicity. Like teaching a child to tie shoe laces .
Hi Patrick, thank you for sharing the secret. I'm trying to implement both of your hill workouts into my training. I understand the short hill sprint, but i find it difficult to choose the right intensity for the long hill runs. In terms of HR, would you say the long hill steady run is closer to about 85-90% of MAX HR or lower?
Please just ignore heart rate when it comes to hill training runs - your heart is a muscle that will quickly adapt to hill running. Dont run each hill repeat at 100% of effort you are capable of as you will quickly tire.Run at arounf 85 to 95 % of the max effort you are capable of on the day - the intensity you are aiming for one of hard work but one that allows you to complete the full number of reapts you have scheduled - from 6 to 10 reps would be the usual but I personally found the full ten reps is best in terms of improved running performance.
Hey Patrick! Thanks for this video. I have a question: I am following Garmin coach plan and it has some hard days (interval, sprints etc) and then some easy days (easy run, long easy run). I don’t have any hill-runs so want to add them. What would you recommend: should I do hill runs after the hard days so that the easy days remain easy? Or, should I do hill-runs on the easy days after my easy runs (which would sort of mean that I don’t have any solely easy day in the schedule)? Thanks! :)
If it was me I would probably try to either substitute something I was going to do on a hard day for a hill run or if I could, mix hills in on a harder day. If I was doing 2 or 3 hard sessions a week I would want my easy days to be easy only so I could recover to be able to run hard again when I needed to.
My father used to run a hilly dirt road 6 days a week for about 18 years. The result: about 100 podium finishes on local races from 5K up to the half marathon.
I'm new to your channel and I just subscribed. I'm going to incorporate more hills, in my running, because I remember when I used to do that, I was a stronger runner. Thank you!
That's interesting, I think I've had something similar. When I used to do a lot of hill sprints I always found it hard to sleep afterwards, especially if I did them in the evening. No idea why!
What I truly appreciate about your videos is their simplicity. On TH-cam, there are numerous self-proclaimed running experts who can barely run a sub-3 hour marathon, yet they go on about their complicated training routines, nutrition, and so on, which appear more intricate than those of professional runners. The real secret lies in consistent training with occasional fartlek sessions or hill climbs whenever you feel like it. Sometimes, I believe people are reluctant to adopt such an approach because it seems too straightforward, and everyone is always searching for that magic training session or perfect nutrition plan.
I like this comment. What you say really rings true
I've definitely seen this coaching strength work to runners and cyclists. It's fairly straight forward really but you see people advertising strength programs with 15 exercises per workout, half of them are completely superfluous and every time they're advertised as the 'ultimate bulletproof workout for runners' or whatever. Run consistently, lift heavy things a couple of times a week, do a little bit of jumping, eat a balanced diet and voila, you have a training routine that'll keep you going well into your old age.
Yes there is no special workout that will make you faster. When I first started running I was overwhelmed with all the advice online so I just kept it simple and it worked quite well. The reason I started this channel was so that other people could understand that too and not waste their time.
You don’t need to be a WR holder to be a good coach and to know what you’re talking about. Stop being bitchy, go for a run so that you can get into a better mood and so that you can get more BDNF because your brain cells are clearly lazy (if present).
I have to laugh at people who go on ad nausem about heart rate runnign and zones but whose times are pretty slow...
It really makes a difference and improves stamina 😎👌
What a breath of fresh air! Everybody these days is going in and in about zone 2 running and running long to run faster which in my opinion is not right. What you say absolutely makes sense. First we need to increase vo2max, strengthen legs and increase mitochondria and then once we can run faster we slowly extend the distance T the lower speed. That makes much more sense then 10 years of zone 2 training that brings your time down from 28min 5k to 25m 5k
Hills pay the bills!
Patrick, i'm not sure if you know who Sinéad Diver is, but she startied running at age 33 and is now 46. She recently had her best marathon performence at age 45 breaking the Australian womens record with a time of 2:21:34 in Valencia. I say that because I know you still have so much more improving to do, and i'm excited to see it.
Yes I listened to a podcast with her before I had even run a marathon. She's very inspiring with those unbelievable times, quite incredible.
My slow zone 2 long runs start 4 km of uphill, UPHILL, U P H I L L, uphill and when it flattens I feel I can fly. Had to walk the uphills to stay below 141 BPM zone 2 but now I can slowjog all of it at 141 BPM. PROGRESS! 😊
Just forget about heart rate monitoring and haert rate zones - the improvement you; see are from regualr training. The heart is a nuscle that responds to training
If you want to find 10km hill there is one in Poland - the road that is closed to the car traffic (only pedestrians allowed and horse carriages) and leads to “Morskie Oko” in the mountains 10km in total, going only up. Fantastic venue for training. As extra bonus once you get to the top you can continue running by the lake and up the mountain until you get to “Rysy” - the scenery is breathtaking
Recover as you go back down the hill? But it's going down that's tough on the legs. My favourite circuit is triangular: uneven steps up a steep wooded hillside (one of the steps is a tree root), then down a rocky uneven shallow gradient, then back to the beginning along flat soft ground. It's the soft flat bit that provides the recovery, not the downhill. The unevenness improves proprioception; something you don't get by setting a treadmill to a gradient.
Because of my age I run slow, but putting hills in my run feels like I am doing something too strengthen my hole Boady.
I would suggest easing into this. Remember, your feet are going to be angled upwards, thereby stretching your achilles and calves more. Great workout though, "Hills are speed work in disguise" - Frank Shorter😀.
Good post. Hills can also put extra strain on plantar tendos. As ever, best to ease into them over a few weeks of short and not too hard reps before dropping the hammer. Aso, the pressure on feet and ables goes up a fair bt once we get over 10 degrees.
Indeed, as a pretty expereicned hill runner, running reguarly on hills brings it own potential inury issues and runners should incorporate a stretching programme in to their training routine, it shoudl also be worth mentioning that running downhill can produce more injuries than running uphill
Great video, no BS, no sales, just straight information. Very appreciated 👍
Every morning I wake up for my daily training session and ask myself, “what would Patrick Martin expect me to do?” More Hills. I guess that’s the answer! 😂
But seriously, I agree with finding a way to sprinkle them into otherwise ordinary runs. Going to help make race day seem awfully flat, quick!
WWPD????
Haha 😄 yes that's exactly it, sprinkle them into every day runs and you'll feel the difference.
I went from 50 miles a week to 85 for 20 weeks to see what would happen.y marathon time improved to 2;42, from 3: 53 in 20 weeks
High mileage with lots of hills will get you good safely. I've been lazy I'm about to try and hold 90 for 6 months
30-40sec very hard will be near 200m for many runners. By jogging back down it helps the workout become a mix of Aerobic and Anaerobic as heartrate levels will naturally keep rising each rep. This combined with the 1km Steady hill session makes sense how it wouldve boosted your 10km race ability so early on + sporty background 😊. Also your lean lower bmi / bfat% is very handy for endurance running. Tall with a bmi below 22 and thin calf muscles can be very beneficial. Cheers 🎉
Great video and well explained. I joined IMRA ( Irish mountain running) this year and about to complete my 3rd half marathon over the hills at roughly 1000m gain on each event. My running has transformed up another level this year and have broken all PB's from 5k's to half marathons knocking minutes off my times. I run with a club 4 days a week and people have asked what I've done this year to improve so much. I genuinely can only put it down to mountain running. Running consistently on the flat will make you a better runner for sure but add hills and it makes you both mentally and physically stronger 💪
Ah a fellow IMRA member !! I will be doing an IMRA trail race tonight and did one on Sunday !!
I used to do 12 seconds flat out uphill 10 times repeat on every 3rd minute my 23.04 5k parkrun is still the fastest Vm 75 after 9 years at my local parkrun did this nearly every day also competed in 100s and 200s track races such fun marathon kill Knees
At the age of 51 I started doing some longish hills sessions, and despite being out of the game for 15 months due to plantar fas., I've been able to do some new PB's this year, less than a year back in the runningshoes. This I partly blame the hillworkouts! But I find it interesting how you point out the value with 30-40 sec steep hill sessions. This is just in line with what the Ingebrigtsen-brothers practice, and they are Fast😅. What incline do you consider "steep"?
That's brilliant. I think a 15% gradient would be steep. But I don't want to make it complicated, most people don't have a choice of steep hills near them so anything that feels steep is good.
Thanks, tried this today, finishing just before a severe lightning and thunder event took place. 10*30ish sec. To say the last 5 sec felt sluggish is just an understatement😅.
38mins for first 10km is impressive. What did you do before running.
As a hill runner I would suggest not incorpating hills into every run especially for novice runners but doing some timed runs on flat roads or on the track so a runner can be aware of their. Ideally do a weekly speed repeat session on a running track or on a flat raod or parth. Because I had ficussed for several years on log dostance trail and mountain, my pace deteriorated considerably and I had to return to doing speed sessions and fast 5 km roads races to recover my speed. Ideally do one speed repeat session on a flat track or road and oe speed repeat session on a hill. Fast road runners usuallyperform very well if they start doing trail running/races as they have the speed that long term trail runners may not have.
I hope you get a larger following man. Your training and subsequent progress are VERY impressive.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
I absolutely hate the fact that we must run hills its so tiring and takes me out for 2 days i have to rest up. I prefer running down and speed walking up i dont feel dead the next day lol
great video, I havebeen doing these once a week and def feel stronger
I love your videos!
Keep it simple and consistent.
Thanks a lot, Patrick!
Thanks, glad you're finding them useful.
Love your approach. I'm training for 75 minute half marathon and you are spot on for incorporating hills on every single run !
Chalie spedding won bronze 1984 Olympics in the marathon after adding in more hill training
Interesting, it makes sense I think. You're training with a lot of resistance.
It’s something I know I should do but don’t very often. I always do a speed session and a long run and should always do this too! I normally do around 2000meters a month in my normal runs
BLINK!!
Great videos, thanks
Chapeau! i also used to run uphill. i loved it. I did not have smart watches and i was much younger focusing mostly on the emotional and psychological benefits rather than timing. It has given me much confidence in tackling a lot of things in life because I noticed that my physique would recover while keeping the same pace when going into level ground or downhill.
Insightful
I ran a half marathon last week in 1:43:18. This was my first race ever. The last 4km were uphill (about 2.4%) and I got outkicked by at least 100 runners because I had to slow down a lot on the hills. I have a hill next to me, but unlike what you said in the video, I tried to always avoid it, but now I have to muster the courage to incorporate it into my runs or even do repeats as you suggested. You mentioned in the video that you had been running only 1 to 2 years before you ran the marathon in approx. 2h 20min. This is a ridiculous time. Did you start running from scratch (like couch to 5k) or did you have a good running base from other sports or maybe you were a runner in your younger days? I'm really curious to know.
The algorithm does work! It recommended this video to me and am now working through your catalogue. Congrats on the success you've had so far. More good things to come. 👌
I am thankful my house gives me access to about 7 miles of hills down and back each side road on my road I live on.
That is really good advice but like with strides (long) hill sprints are demanding and you should start with only a few reps like 3*20 seconds or 4*15 seconds if you do it once a week. You can increase either length or the number of repetitions from week to week.
Patrick - how did you schedule your hill running - did you alternate short and long repeats into long runs; double sessions; alternating long and short every other week ?
I am a bg believer of short hill sprints in the base phase but mine are 8 seconds. Real sprints.
I enjoy the fact that you have demonstrable empirical evidence to back yourself up . That you are almost heretic in what you are saying and almost exasperated in the way you perseverate on the importance of consistancy, hills and simplicity. Like teaching a child to tie shoe laces .
Great explanation. Thank you
Would you recommend a 5k every day or a 10k every other day?
Thanks for sharing all these info 😅😊
Hi Patrick, thank you for sharing the secret. I'm trying to implement both of your hill workouts into my training. I understand the short hill sprint, but i find it difficult to choose the right intensity for the long hill runs. In terms of HR, would you say the long hill steady run is closer to about 85-90% of MAX HR or lower?
Please just ignore heart rate when it comes to hill training runs - your heart is a muscle that will quickly adapt to hill running. Dont run each hill repeat at 100% of effort you are capable of as you will quickly tire.Run at arounf 85 to 95 % of the max effort you are capable of on the day - the intensity you are aiming for one of hard work but one that allows you to complete the full number of reapts you have scheduled - from 6 to 10 reps would be the usual but I personally found the full ten reps is best in terms of improved running performance.
Good advice.
Just subscribed 👍✌
Thanks
Hey Patrick! Thanks for this video. I have a question: I am following Garmin coach plan and it has some hard days (interval, sprints etc) and then some easy days (easy run, long easy run). I don’t have any hill-runs so want to add them. What would you recommend: should I do hill runs after the hard days so that the easy days remain easy? Or, should I do hill-runs on the easy days after my easy runs (which would sort of mean that I don’t have any solely easy day in the schedule)?
Thanks! :)
If it was me I would probably try to either substitute something I was going to do on a hard day for a hill run or if I could, mix hills in on a harder day. If I was doing 2 or 3 hard sessions a week I would want my easy days to be easy only so I could recover to be able to run hard again when I needed to.
@@patrickmartinrunning thanks sir! :)
You definitely shouldnt be trying to do hilly runs every day, hills are very hard on your achilles tendons and they spike your HR.
My father used to run a hilly dirt road 6 days a week for about 18 years. The result: about 100 podium finishes on local races from 5K up to the half marathon.
I'm new to your channel and I just subscribed. I'm going to incorporate more hills, in my running, because I remember when I used to do that, I was a stronger runner. Thank you!
I love hills live In a super hilly area but the side effect for me is I never sleep well when I push hills hard is this normal
That's interesting, I think I've had something similar. When I used to do a lot of hill sprints I always found it hard to sleep afterwards, especially if I did them in the evening. No idea why!
Do it in the morning.