Monday, March 23, 2009

Hills

I sit now at my desk, in front of my computer enjoying a cup of coffee and my regular oatmeal and raisins breakfast. I love oatmeal.

This weekend B-Rabbit and I took a little trip and visited his sister and brother in-law and also saw some of my relatives. We arrived mid-afternoon Friday and proceeded to watch basketball all night long. I started watching the Siena vs. Ohio State game, then took a little nap in the second half. It was as if I knew I would need my strength - when the game went into overtime I was full of energy!

Saturday morning I woke up and went for a cold run. The sun was out but the air was quite chilly. I ran for a warm up of about 0.7 miles then started doing some hills. When I run hills with the girls team we sprint up the hill then walk down it and rest until we are fully recovered before starting the next hill.

For running hills on my own I sprinted up the hill then proceeded to jog down. Once I reached the bottom I would rest about 2 seconds then start the hill again (this way my hip or muscles didn't tighten up). I did about 6 hills before cooling down for about 0.7 miles. I felt like I could have done more (last week I did 4 hills with slight hip pain) but I didn't want to push it.

As I was running I was wondering what you all do for hills. My hill distance was just over 0.1 mile. How far do you usually run up a hill? Do you stop at the bottom and rest or just keep going? How many repeats do you do??

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was filled with family fun! I took Sunday off because it had been about 9 consecutive days of running or "active-ness" and I felt the hip needed a break.

I mentioned in my last post that I feel there are real advantages to having a group or partner for speed workouts. Stay-tuned I plan on talking about this tomorrow with gory details from my experiences!!

Happy Monday!

18 comments:

tfh said...

Great job on the hills! It is such an effective workout and yet one I haven't done in forever. Back in cross-country we used to use two hills: one was about .5 miles of terribleness and one was much shorter but steeper. Shudder...

Marlene said...

Nice work on the hill run! I have not run an actual hill workout in months (I usually just incorporate some big ones into my regular runs), but I worked up from 4 to 9 repeats of a 400m (1/4 mile) climb, then jogged down. I prefer not to walk because my legs tighten up and it's too hard to get running again!

Nicole said...

Great job on the hill workout! Its been since high school since i've done a hill workout. We would run 2ish or so miles out to our hill destination, then do a mile or worth of hills, then run back. It was my LEAST favorite day for sure!

I can't wait to hear about your story!!

Nicole said...

Great job on the hill workout! Its been since high school since i've done a hill workout. We would run 2ish or so miles out to our hill destination, then do a mile or worth of hills, then run back. It was my LEAST favorite day for sure!

I can't wait to hear about your story!!

X-Country2 said...

Great job on the hills! I don't do specific hill workouts, but my normal route has several. I consider that enough. :o)

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

For hills I usually do a good 20 min warm up and then 7-10 hills (90 seconds each) taking about 2 min to slowly jog back to the bottom of the hill. Hill workouts are great!

Aron said...

I dont really do hill repeats ever... I just try to work in some hillier routes on some of my longer mid week runs. awesome job on your repeats!

No Longer Using said...

heh i wish i could tell you what i do for hills. i haven't done hills for a year. oops. i have been trying to incorporate more hilly routes into my mid-length runs, however, .. in which case i run the hill and just keep going. way to go!!! i think hill repeats are a great way to push past even further than your current fitness level.

The Laminator said...

Hey! Great work on the hills. I think the type of hill training you're doing is the conventional way of doing it. Another way, which I've been experimenting with recently, is using hills to build strength. Instead of me explaining it to you, I'll have one of the experts talk you through it:

http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=15400

Take a listen. Hope this helps.

Marcy said...

Yeahhh I have zero ideas because like some of the other ladies I still have yet to do hill repeats LOL

I Run for Fun said...

Great workout! I'm ashamed to say, I've never done hills. I can't avoid them forever, but for now, I'm taking the easy way out.

teacherwoman said...

Hills kick my bootay.... so I usually don't do them, unless I am using the incline on the treadmill because there are few and far between up here in Fargo, ND. Ha!

Unknown said...

I tend to actually prefer hill workouts more then the intervals. The views change more.

Brian said...

Love reading the comments here because I need to be doing some hills to prepare for my race. havent done a hill workout yet so I am preparing!

Being Robinson said...

I meant to answer your question about my hip awhile ago, but was sick and lost touch with the blahgesphere. To answer your question, well, my physical therapist never really knew exactly what was wrong with my hip. Basically it would be a sharp shooting pain when I step down. It is feeling much better, it shows up after my long runs (of 16 or more). So I'm not really sure, just know it's painful. Stretching and icing help a little, but mostly I have to wait it out. Have you had hip problems?

Ms. V. said...

Great job! Every run we have is a hill run, because we go over overpasses. (maybe that's why my behind is getting HUGE)

I try to run them, but if they are at the end of the run, it's hard...

Felice Devine said...

Yay! Love those hills! I have a route that is 4 miles of hill after hill. I love it!

I also run repeats sometimes on a .25m hill. It burns up my legs!

Marci said...

I usually do repeats on a half mile hill, but every now and then I mix it up and do short and steep, or long gradual doozies. Great work!