Q: “My workout for tomorrow is: ‘Heart rate in zone 1-4 on hilly course. A few seconds with heart rate in zone 5 is OK. Don’t force heart rate up–allow it to rise with hills.
Rolling hills run…keep pace/effort steady on uphills…HR no higer than top of Z4.’ What if I can’t get to a hilly course? Is there something I can do to simulate this on a flat course or do I just modify the workout to run 2 hours in zone 3….etc. etc….“

A: Coach Patrick: I feel your pain. Not having hills can be a real downer (as much as I hate them at the end of a long ride / run).  While they can suck sometimes, having them to train on can make a serious difference come race day. Well, if you can’t find a hill during the week, I strongly suggest you find one on the weekends (for that longer run, albeit at a lower intensity).  In the meantime, here’s a weekday option for you to replace that workout! Good luck!

Warm up for 15′ to 20′, building HR to top of Zone Two. Then do 5 x 5 repeats of:

> 5 x Toyota Jumps (two legged, one short distance + low, one medium + moderate height, one far + as high as possible. Then run 3′ at high tempo pace, 1′ easy.
> Repeat.

Warm down by jogging home.