How to run hills in a race.

I have always dreaded hills. I started running when I lived in Baton Rouge, LA and continued while living in Houston, TX. One of the things that these two cities have in common besides humidity is that that neither of them have really huge hills. So, until moving to Atlanta, I haven't really had to deal with any large hills. Now that I am here and racing in this town, it is probably a good idea to get some hill training in so I don't suck wind during the races.

Today's workout was great. I warmed up with 1.5 miles which lead me directly to one of the crazy steep hills that surrounds where we live. After a quick stretch I ran 8 x 400 meters up the hill and cooled down by jogging back down. My pace up the hill was about 1:45 to 1:50. This was a tough workout and I was happy to see it end. One thing I didn't count on was that my cool down had a couple of steep hills. So, I added about another half mile of hills to that workout!

Next week I have more hill training. Those hills will be twice as long but less steep. How do you run hills in a race? You train on hills before the race. I guess it is that simple.