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Most runners who have qualified for the Boston Marathon tend to approach the race in one of two ways: a victory lap to celebrate the feat of qualifying for this milestone race or another personal record attempt. And that goes for any marathon you trained for months to run.
No matter your specific goals, for it to be an enjoyable day, you have to physically prepare for the course. And when it’s an undulating one like Boston, that means you need to incorporate a fair amount of hill training into your schedule.
“It’s not that the hills [in Boston] are so hard, it is more where the most significant hills are located in the race (like miles 16 to 21 for the infamous Newton Hills),” says Natalie Mitchell, an RRCA-certified running coach in Los Angeles currently training for her third Boston Marathon. In other words, you have to prepare your legs in training to run well before the hills, conquer the inclines, and stay strong to the finish.
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If you live somewhere that has mostly flat terrain, that can pose a challenge for your training, unless you have access to a treadmill and can tackle treadmill incline workouts. The treadmill allows you to get creative with a variety of workouts that simulate Boston’s course or any hilly 26.2-mile race.
While many coaches often discourage doing too much training on the treadmill (a controlled environment may not prepare you enough for whatever weather gets thrown your way on race day), hill workouts provide the perfect way to make the treadmill work in your favor.
Also, the benefits of hill running include recruiting more muscle fibers from the glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves, all of which have to produce more power to move you uphill, says Athena Farias, a five-time Boston qualifier, RRCA-certified coach and NASM-certified personal trainer based in San Antonio, Texas. It also requires a more upright posture and a shorter stride length than running on a flat surface, which can help reduce that impact, she adds.
To gain these advantages and help you nail your hilly race, we got coach-recommended strategies to efficiently tackle hill training on the treadmill—particularly for those with Boston on deck—as well as specific treadmill incline workouts to incorporate into your buildup.
Zero in on the downhills, not just uphills
While Boston is officially billed as a net downhill course, most people would not say that it’s a fast course. In fact, the downhills are often what cost many people their races.
Often times, runners get carried away while coasting downhill in the first six miles—and that comes at a cost later on in the race when you need to crest the highest inclines. For example, when you reach the Newton hills, which includes Heartbreak Hill (about a ½-mile incline), you’re going to be suffering if you shredded your quad muscles in those early miles, says Farias. As always, you want to start out conservatively, rather than going out too fast, she says.
To train your quads to stay happy through the end of the race, focus on running controlled and consciously—not bombing downhill in your training. Some treadmills, such as those by NordicTrack and Technogym, have a decline capability, going down to -2 or -3 percent, but if yours doesn’t, 0 percent is the next best thing, Farias says. (Experts typically recommend you have the treadmill set to 1 percent to simulate any changes in terrain that you’d experience on an outdoor run).
If you really want to master the decline, you can also place wooden planks under the back of the treadmill (just be careful and make sure it’s sturdy!).
Ease into hill training before trying out race paces
Whether you’re outdoors or on a treadmill, start with easy runs on a hilly route before jumping into intervals, if you’re not used to running on an incline. This is especially important on a treadmill not only to avoid gassing out but also to avoid injury because your form might be slightly off in the beginning, particularly on the downhills, Mitchell says.
“When you are running downhill, relax the body, avoid leaning backward and [focus on landing] on the forefoot, not the heel,” she says. “You’ll benefit more from running by feel, instead of staring at your watch, and spending your energy focusing on proper form.”
Also, avoid trying to sprint up hills in most of your training and instead focus on an even effort. “[That means] whatever your effort is on the flat, that effort should be the same when you’re going uphill, and then really controlled on the downhill, where you can speed up just a little bit,” Farias adds.
“I am a big believer that hill training is speed training in disguise,” Farias adds. “It just gives you another level of intensity without having to push your body or focus so much on pace.”
Understand that you’ll run slower on the treadmill
Even though treadmill running entails running in a controlled environment, many runners find that they have to slow down their default paces just to feel more in control when gauging effort, especially on hill intervals. Farias and Mitchell both agree that that’s fine and not at all detrimental to training.
In fact, Farias often has athletes do longer downhill repeats of about 800 meters to 1 mile about 10 to 20 seconds slower than their goal marathon pace to help them reel in the tendency to want to push in the first six miles of Boston’s course.
“Short- to medium-distance hill sprints (10 to 30 seconds in duration) at a hard effort (about 7 to 9 on the rate of perceived exertion scale), but not all-out, are also an excellent way to get in a good workout and I would say that you get more bang for the buck with hill sprints than running easy all the time on hills,” Mitchell adds. “Patience is key. You will naturally get faster the more hill work you do over time.”
7 Treadmill Workouts to Prep for the Hills of Boston
Mitchell recommends the first three workouts on this list with an easy 1- to 2-mile warmup and cooldown at a 0 percent incline:
10-Second Sprints
Short hill sprints are an excellent way to get the legs moving fast and efficiently on hills, Mitchell says. Focus on good form (short, quick steps with high knees) on each rep and take time to jog slowly as a recovery to prepare for the next one.
“I recommend running the short sprints at the end of a medium run (five to eight miles depending on the experience of the runner), so that you are running on fatigued legs, which will help prepare you for the rolling hills of Boston,” Mitchell says.
- 6-8 x 10-second hill sprints at an 8% to 10% incline (11% to 14% for more advanced runners) at slightly faster than marathon pace
- Easy 1-minute jog between each rep
30-Second Sprints
“Some runners may find the pace [of these hill repeats] is equivalent to marathon pace, but it should feel faster than that,” Mitchell says. “Run by feel (staying around 7-9 on the RPE scale, a.k.a. hard to extremely hard, but not maximum effort) and be patient—30 seconds is a long time on a hill, and you want to feel recovered before the next repeat.”
- 6 x 30-second hill repeats at an 8% to 10% incline at a hard effort (slightly faster than marathon pace)
- Easy 90-second jog between each rep
Long Run Incline Build
“Physically, you should also plan for long runs that have hills in the middle of them and you can absolutely get creative with this if you live in a pancake-flat area,” Mitchell says. “One idea is to run the first half of your long run outside and then the second half on the treadmill alternating with the hill incline to mimic the Newton Hills section of the Boston Marathon.”
- In the middle (starting around mile 4) of an 8-mile run, add in a long, gradual hill by increasing the treadmill incline to 4% or 5% for 60 to 90 seconds
- Bring the incline back to 0% to run moderately for 5 minutes
- Repeat 3-4 times
Incline and Decline Workout
Farias recommends the following workout in the first two to four weeks of a 16-week training cycle, focusing on shorter blocks of uphill and downhill repeats. This will get you to tackle both the ascents and descents along the course.
- 1- to 2-mile warmup at a 2% incline
- 4-6 x 30 seconds at marathon pace, 4% incline
- 60-seconds at recovery pace between reps, -1 to -2% decline
- 1- to 2-mile cooldown, 0% to -2% decline
Once you get two to eight weeks into your hill-specific training, Farias recommends turning up the challenge:
- 1- to 2-mile warmup at a 2% incline
- 6-8 x 60-90 seconds at marathon pace, 4% to 6% incline
- 90-seconds to 3 minutes at recovery pace between reps, -3% to -5% decline
- 1- to 2-mile cooldown, 0% to -2% decline
Tempo Hill Workout
Farias also recommends completing the following workout (a continuous run at a sustained effort for the tempo run) about two months and again one month out from race day:
- 1- to 2-mile warmup
- 2 miles at tempo/threshold pace (25-30 seconds slower than 5K pace), 2% to 4% incline (increase every half-mile)
- 4-5 minutes jog recovery
- 8 x ¼ mile at a 6% to 8% incline at marathon pace (increase every quarter to half mile, for a total of 4 miles) with no rest between increases
- 3-4 minute recovery jog
- 2 miles mostly downhill (toggling down from -1% to -5% every quarter to half-mile, or kept at 0%, depending on treadmill) at tempo pace
- 1- to 2-mile cooldown
Downhill Repeats
“Running downhill allows you to pick up speed without increasing your effort level,” Farias says. “It’s also pure specificity of training for Boston since the first six miles of the race are downhill. By including downhill repeats you are strengthening your muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones, [as well as] developing mental toughness, as it requires focus and concentration to maintain your balance and control your speed.”
Here is Farias’s go-to downhill workout:
- 5 x 1-mile downhill repeats at a -3% to -5% decline (or 0% if your treadmill doesn’t have this capability) at 5K-8K pace
- 90 seconds rest between
Boston Simulation
Farias confidently tells her athletes that these challenging, Boston-specific workouts are tried and true when it comes to having a successful marathon finish.
“Being able to complete [these workouts] during the training cycle is a definite confidence booster,” she says. “In my final talks with athletes before race day, I let them know that they have done each part of the course during their training and to hone in on those training runs during low moments.”
- 2 x 5-miler (simulating miles 11-16 and 16-21 at Boston) at marathon pace or a little faster, as follows:
- First 5 miles: flat (0% to 1% incline) to mimic the middle miles of Boston course
- 5-minute walk or jog
- Second 5 miles: uphill (2% to 5% incline) to mimic the later miles of the Boston course
