Does American breakout star Josh Hoey‘s secret to success lie in his hill workouts? The Pennsylvania native took down the national indoor 1,000m record on Saturday, hurtling to a 2:14.48–just two weeks after completing a ridiculously difficult hill workout: 15 x 300m, at altitude.
Would you take on this uphill challenge for a personal best?
Hoey, paced by his brother, Jonah, crushed the previous American record by nearly two seconds at the University of Pennsylvania’s Quaker Invitational. The previous record of 2:16.16 was held by Shane Streich. Hoey’s new time places him in the #2-ranked all-time spot in the world.
The record-breaking is Hoey’s second personal best from his first two races of the indoor season; at Boston University in early December, he clocked 3:52.61 in the mile.
While finishing off an altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Ariz., in early January, the 25-year-old and his other brother, Jaxson, visited a long and gradual slope to take on a mind-boggling hill session.
The workout: 15 x 300m hills
Workout: Three sets of 5 x 300m. Interval rest: Two min jog. Set rest: Five to seven minute walk.
The workout is intended to be difficult but smooth; it should feel comfortably hard at the start. It’s a good idea to begin slower, aiming for 5,000m to 3,000m pace, and pick up the speed later if you feel good–the fatigue will settle in quickly as the workout progresses. Calculate your paces using this pace chart.
The third rep of each set should be the fastest of the set. Aim for 3,000m to 1,500m pace–it will likely feel like an all-out effort.
“Obviously, this is a really hard workout,” said Hoey’s coach, Justin Rinaldi. “So be very judicious on the first two [reps], and the last two. But don’t try to muscle anything until the third set.”
Hoey completed the easier reps in around 50 seconds, and on the faster, all-out reps, clocked 43 to 45 seconds.
The 2024 breakout season
The Adidas athlete had his breakthrough in 2024, when he clocked a 1:44.12 in the 800m final at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He claimed fourth, narrowly missing a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. Two weeks later, he improved his personal best again, running 1:43.80 at the Moore-Guldensporen meeting in Belgium. In September, Hoey made his 5th Avenue Mile debut, where he placed second to Great Britain’s Olympic medallist Josh Kerr in 3:48.9.
