How to pace hills
Hills don't have to wreck your run. The trick is to stop chasing your flat pace and run by effort instead. Here's how much slower that is, and how to use it.
Effort, not pace
Running up a hill costs more energy than running on the flat, and the steeper it is, the more. Keep your flat pace on a climb and your effort shoots up: on an easy run, you're suddenly running hard; in a race, you spend energy you'll miss later. The fix is simple: on a climb, hold the effort and let the pace go.
How much slower?
On a 5:30 per kilometre flat pace, the same effort comes out at:
| Gradient | Pace /km | Change |
|---|---|---|
| -8% | 4:42 | −14% |
| -4% | 4:58 | −10% |
| 0% | 5:30 | – |
| +2% | 5:52 | +7% |
| +4% | 6:18 | +14% |
| +6% | 6:47 | +23% |
| +8% | 7:21 | +34% |
| +10% | 7:59 | +45% |
A 5% climb, a steady suburban hill, runs about 19% slower. Downhill gives back less than the climb took, and past about 10% you don't get any quicker, because you're braking. Try your own pace in thehill pace calculator.
On easy runs
Let the pace drop on every climb, even to a walk on a steep one. The run is about time on your feet at an easy effort, and hills make it harder without you noticing. A flatter route helps on easy days: the route planner makes flat or gently rolling loops for easy and long runs.
In a hilly race
- Know the course. Open its GPX in the GPX viewer and note where the big climbs are.
- Run the climbs at your flat effort, which means slower, and don't panic about the seconds.
- Run over the top, keeping the effort for a few strides past the crest before you settle.
- Use the descents, relaxed and quick, without braking hard.
- Judge the race by the whole, not by each kilometre's split.
Hill repeats
Short, hard climbs build strength and speed with less pounding than fast running on the flat. Find a steady hill of 4 to 8% and 200 to 400 metres: run up hard but controlled, jog back down, and repeat 6 to 10 times. The route planner's hill session finds one near you.
Questions
How much slower should I run uphill?
For the same effort, about 7% slower on a 2% gradient, 19% on 5% and 34% on 8%.
Should I run hills by pace or effort?
Effort. Holding your flat pace up a hill turns an easy run into a hard one, and in a race costs you far more later than it saves on the climb.
How do I pace a hilly race?
Run the climbs at the effort you'd run the flat, which means slower, and let the descents give back some of the time. Look at the course's climbs before race day so none of them surprise you.
Are hill repeats worth doing?
Yes. Short, hard climbs build strength and speed with less pounding than fast running on the flat. A steady 4 to 8% hill of 200 to 400 metres is ideal.