Hill running has a way of exposing weaknesses—but it’s also one of the fastest ways to build real running strength. This Sisyphus Session takes that challenge and turns it into a simple, progressive workout that develops power, resilience, and mental toughness. With each effort getting longer, you’ll feel the grind build—just like pushing that boulder uphill—but with the payoff of stronger, more efficient running across distances from 5km to the half marathon.
Each week I will be posting the Friday Fartlek Run Sessions that you can do to enhance your running. Fartlek is a Swedish term that runners often use and it means speed-play. See a previous post about training intensity (levels) to know how hard to work.
Sisyphus Session
- 10min WU Level II;
- 30sec Level V Up Hill, jog down RI;
- 60sec Level V Up Hill, jog down RI;
- 90sec Level V Up Hill, jog down RI;
- 2min Level V Up Hill, jog down RI;
- 10min CD Level I-II;
- 10min Stretching
The Warm Up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady but not over consuming at Level II for ten minutes. This session can be done either on the road, trail, or track.
Today’s main set is conducted on a hill that needs to be at least 500m long and is moderately steep.
Commence the main set by running up the hill strongly with good tall posture for 30 seconds at Level V. At the 30-second mark, turn around and jog back down.
The next rep run strongly up the hill for 60 seconds at Level V, prior to turning around and jogging to the base. The third rep is 90 seconds long at Level V, before jogging down and then the fourth rep is two minutes in duration at Level V before jogging down.
The Cool Down (CD) is at a low intensity, jogging for a minimum of ten minutes.
Finish with ten minutes of stretching to assist with the recovery.
Don’t focus on the pace for the Up Hill effort, just a good hard intensity equivalent to Level V.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729.
Since originally sharing this session, I’ve also included the Sisyphus Session as part of my Friday Fast Track series over on www.parkruntraining.co.nz , where the focus is specifically on helping parkrunners build speed, strength, and confidence for their weekly 5K. You can check out the updated version of this workout, along with more parkrun-specific sessions, here: [insert parkruntraining.co.nz link].
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This 8 week programme will take you through challenging sessions that will build your fitness and speed in order to run 10km faster at the end of the programme.
Designed for an intermediate runner aiming to run their 10km in the range of 35 – 50min. The primary goal of this training plan is to prepare you to RUN FASTER.
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