According to Runner’s World, hill workouts are one of the greatest ways to improve strength and speed.

If you are unfamiliar with hill workouts here are two great articles on the benefits:

Hill Training – Brian Mac, Sports Coach
Mastering Hill Workouts – Pete Magill, Running Times

Looking for a good medium hill in Charlotte to do a hill workout? My favorite for the 400m distance is located close to the Bank of America Panthers stadium on Greenleaf Ave and West 1st Street off South Cedar Street.

There is plenty of parking on either street, and the traffic flow is low in the mornings. After you warm up, I recommend starting here and running to the top of Greenleaf Ave.

Recover back down the same hill until you reach your starting point, then run the opposite direction (West 1st Street) until you reach the top. Repeat the recovery jog down, and run back up Greenleaf Ave.

Here is what the workout looks like if you are using a Garmin:

If you are using a watch, you can leave the clock running, pressing the lap button at the start and stop of each hill to gauge your splits.

Give it a try, I believe you will like the hill variation, challenge and scenery.