Wednesday 9 September 2009

Hill reps - not quite Scafell Pike

My local steepest hill is good and steep for about 190 feet of ascent in about 250 metres. I guess this makes it about 1 in 4. I did ten reps of it tonight. Including the hill to get to it and to get back, that's about 2500 feet of ascent in about 4 miles. My target training goal (Scafell Pike) is 300o feet in 4. 5 miles. Maybe I should do 15 reps next time.

My trace shows it was getting harder after the first four or five reps (red line = heart rate), so I hope it's good training. Although some people swear by hill reps, I think a lot of the really top runners don't use them. Also they're pretty dull. I was hoping to have the company of Max (our dog), but he's getting old enough and wise enough to wait at the mid-point.

2 comments:

  1. ha ha - my dog dave waits a the bottom now when he recognises the hill rep hill although I must admit have neglected such sessions for quite a while. I think the jury is out on how effectie they are. I think rest and carbs helped my run up to the ben and plenty of long days out climbing for continuous period ala yewbarrow as opposed to a quick 2 min blast up the back of winter hill??

    Well done though - see you at Scarfell pike - make sure you come an say hello

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  2. Cheers Emmilou

    Yes, although everyone says hill reps are great, very few people seem to be able to demonstrate the results.

    I really need some bigger hills near me. Scafell would be handy! The maximum I can do in one go is about 1200 feet.

    I'll try to find you to say hi at Scafell. I'll be the only one in a Fat Boys vest (mainly black, but with 'FAT' and 'BOYS' written down the sides)

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