My friend/running partner who has been acting as a coach to me is having me do a few weeks of hills before we hit the track. He is a very good runner who was in an olympic development program for quite a few years.
One of the main workouts he has me doing is as follows:
Workout is done on a hill about 500 meters long that starts off with a gradual incline and becomes very steep (don't know the grade of incline). He said not to worry about speed but get my knees high, stand up straight and don't lean into the hill. Then at the top it levels out so he wants me to run hard to a telephone pole about 75 meters away. Then I jogb back to the hill and bound down the hill. At the bottom of the hill I do another short burst of speed for about 50 meters on a short flat area. Then jog back to the begininng of the hill and repeat all of this four times.
I've done one of these workouts and it is fairly tough. He said it is for building strength and building proper form. I guess my question is, does this sound effective and what are the training benefits of a workout like this vs. hill repeats where I simply run up the hill fast.
By the way I'm by no means as fast as most on these boards but rather just someone who is looking to run a 5K in the mid 18s and a sub 40 10K.
Thanks for any input.