Friday, February 29, 2008

Hill Workout

It's been a busy week. Sunday I held a hill workout for the two Programs I coach. Only two runners showed up and they didn't run many repeats before they left to go on a long flat run.

(Left: One half of a boomerang.) Running up the steep part of Highland Avenue and then down short, steep Mt. Daniel (pictured) is 0.3 mile. Each really steep part is about 500 feet long. Because the hill repeat involves a right turn (left turn coming back), I call that way of running the hill a boomerang. The other way to run the hill is to just continue straight on Highland, down a gentler slope 0.4 mile to the bottom. Those repeats up and over Highland are half a mile long, with a short steep climb or descent on one side and a long gradual climb or decline on the other.

My six miles of hills in one hour left me sore for days. Because of the extreme slope, I was almost as slow going down each steep part (sixty seconds) as running up it (70 seconds). I need to do hills because Bex has assigned me leg six at the Lake Tahoe relay in June. It's five and a half miles of flat running followed by a five miles of hills. The last mile is a run up a mountain pass while gaining 500 feet in elevation. Leg two has a 700 climb, but that elevation gain is spread out over 3.5 miles. Hmm, I wonder what leg Bex has me penciled in for next year? (Right: My former running buddy Bex.)

Doing my first track workout in several weeks on Wednesday (8X400 at 1:45, 7:02 pace) didn't help my aches and pains. I worked out some soreness yesterday by going back to Yoga after a two-month layoff. This class is held at the community center, a mile from my house. I jogged there in 7:54 and then when I was all loose and relaxed from yoga, I ran the mile back home in 6:56. It was my first sub-7 mile in awhile.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your leg on the relay sounds pretty hard! I'm sure you'll do great though. Lake Tahoe will be beautiful.

Ellie Hamilton said...

What a hill workout and what a relay! You've got your work cut out for you!

Nice last mile... I haven't run under a 7 minute mile for 20 years :-)

Thanks for checking out my blog and for relating... y'all come back, y'hear?

DawnB said...

we know we need then (hills) but who wants to do them! that is alot hills!! Hope you have recovered by now. :)

Petraruns said...

you worked yourself hard there! But a 7 minute mile is extremely impressive..

Would you recommend the Yoga? Do you feel it helps your running / prevents injury / helps the brain / stretches the body? Any thoughts welcome..

David said...

Was it about that petite woman that makes her such a taskmaster? and we somehow comply?

Good hills to you.

I never knew yoga could make you so fast!

Sunshine said...

Impressive!! Hill workouts are a little bit tricky on a flat indoor track.
Good luck getting ready for June. You go!!

akshaye said...

That does sound like a hard workout. I really hate the downhill parts also.. although easier they just bust your legs.

ShirleyPerly said...

Sounds like you're doing some solid prep work for that Tahoe relay. Enjoy the beautiful views and good luck handling the altitude as well!

Nancy said...

Sounds like you were rough on them! :D

I just did some hills on my street. It is over 50 degrees and the kids were itching to get out. We did a few, but you can imagine the quality with a 3 and 5 year old in tow. They are "sooo tired" :D Now, I'm itching for more.

Rainmaker said...

Nice sub-7 on the way home!

I ran with a DC RR person on Thursday, he mentioned the Weds track workout as well. I might just showup one of these weeks.