This week I've had my share of hills. I've been trying to incorporate at least ONE hill even on my short bike rides. What I'm noticing is that over time, the hills are getting easier. That's a direct result of not shying away from them in the first place. And the weird thing is that now I look forward to tackling the hill when I head out on my bike. I certainly didn't expect that when I first started, I *hated* the hills.
Yesterday, our run group did hill repeats. The format for this particular workout was 1 mile warm-up, 6x60sec uphill FAST pace. Then a 1 mile cool down. I was very pleased with my performance on two accounts. First, I hit the same distance each time (.12 miles), didn't fade on the 5th or 6th one. Second, my hard pace averaged 8:30-8:35 consistently. Granted, it was only a minute each time, but that's faster than my 5K pace and hitting that pace window consistently on this workout made me happy.
How about you? Do you do incorporate hill training? And have you noticed improvement as a result?
Yesterday, our run group did hill repeats. The format for this particular workout was 1 mile warm-up, 6x60sec uphill FAST pace. Then a 1 mile cool down. I was very pleased with my performance on two accounts. First, I hit the same distance each time (.12 miles), didn't fade on the 5th or 6th one. Second, my hard pace averaged 8:30-8:35 consistently. Granted, it was only a minute each time, but that's faster than my 5K pace and hitting that pace window consistently on this workout made me happy.
How about you? Do you do incorporate hill training? And have you noticed improvement as a result?
Kinda funny that I hate hills on the bike and I am more of a biker, yet I dont mind hills on the run and I am not a good runner
ReplyDeleteYou've done so great with hills.
ReplyDeleteI hate them but I do them, begrudgingly, if I've got a hilly race coming up, but not if I don't. That needs to change.
my coach keeps telling me to get on hills both running and biking. i feel it helping mostly when i run a flat course and can go faster on the flat and it feels eaiser at the faster pace
ReplyDeleteSince I've been running trails (AKA HILLS!!!) regularly I have gotten SO MUCH STRONGER and feel way better running flat paths!
ReplyDeleteI'm gong to call you when I need you to do some hill training for me :-)
ReplyDeleteAh hills, how I hate them. I kept getting injured running hills so I cut them out. However, should I EVER in a MILLION years get to Boston, I think I'll have no choice.
ReplyDeleteBut, I don't mind them too much on the bike....now that I know how to gear! LOL
You bet! I love hills. They are my friends. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm better about purposefully doing hills on the bike than running.
ReplyDeleteI took your same decision. The hills must be part of my workouts.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great workout! I probably don't do enough hillwork, but the more that I do them, the better I feel about them.
ReplyDeleteWords of wisdom.... Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI try to incorporate hills in my long runs...I don't always enjoy them though.