Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Wow, 8 hill sprints. I only ever do 3. Maybe I should start doing more.

I don't try to count when I do hill sprints. I just pick a point on the hill using some physical marker and run to it. After running the same hill a few times I know where on the hill I can get to in about 10 seconds.

That's a great idea, Carolyn. I don't suppose a 2-3 second difference matters much. Steepness seems to be the ticket. I have another steeper hill I'm planning to move to when this hill no longer seems hard. How long do you walk or jog between repeats?

Sorry, never ran that race. It's a bit far to travel for me. I did run a nice half down in Olympia at Evergreen State College last year in early Feb that was decent....a few rolling hills but nothing outrageous. A bit slick though...icy in spots.

Does your watch have a countdown timer that you could set to 10 seconds so it'd beep for you? I could *never* manage to count to 10 consistently when running fast (heck, even when running slow!) If not, I'd go with the distance/physical marker idea for consistency.

The recovery from hill sprints is usually just jogging/walking back downhill to the start area, but I think for these short ones you're supposed to "fully" recover according to Hudson (but I'm not sure....been a while since I read that section). So it probably wouldn't hurt to add some recovery in if you need it.

In any event, you'll get stronger quickly. Hill sprints became my favorite workout (not *during* them, mind you!) this season!

I just jog back down the hill between repeats. But then again, I've only been doing 3 repeats. I'd have to look back at Hudson again to refresh my memory about what he recommends.

Dale, is that the Geoduck Gallop? Looks like a nice, small race. Automatic AG award for me. Sorry, but that's how my desperate-for-accomplishment mind works. That might be a good option!

Glad to hear I'm not alone in my Counting Disability. I've got a Garmin, which could be programmed for ten second intervals. Maybe I'll do that. No timer though.

Yup, that's the race. Don't think I wasn't there hoping for an AG award too :) It's small, few spectators, only one or two aid (water) stations, and pretty sparsely attended, but.....why did I go again? Oh yeah, much closer for me than anything else! And fairly flat (some uphill and downhill, mostly gentle with only one short steep up/downhill stretch.

Yes, use the Garmin. That's exactly how I program mine....beep at me at 10 or 12 seconds or whatever, then set the recovery to the manual "press the button" thing and it works as a great reminder....if it's not buried under long sleeves so you can't hear it! Not that that has happened to me before!

The length of the repeat can vary, as well as the number of repetitions. Just run from point A to point B, as Dale and Carolyn suggested. Go by distance, but time your repetitions. This will help you evaluate if you are progressing or not overtime. The recovery needs to be long enough so you are able to hit a PR quality run on every repeat. The first couple you will be off just because it takes time to warm up. The next 4 or so will be PR quality. Once you start slowing down, even if you feel good it is time to stop.

The workout has no aerobic or anaerobic stress. So you won't feel any kind of pain you normally do when running longer distances. But it is very taxing on the nervous system and on the sprint energy (creatine phosphate). Because of the nervous system stress, I would definitely not recommend doing it more often than once a week for a woman in the master's division, I would even say if your sprint times are not improving, you may have to do it once every 10 days or so, or maybe even once every two weeks. A collegiate runner could probably handle this twice a week productively.

Make sure the hill is nasty steep, barely runnable with a normal distance effort - 10-15% grade. Do not worry if you are crawling speed wise. The goal is to make your muscles work at 100% of their explosive power, and 3-5% grade does not quite do it.

Watch out for injuries. 100% max effort up a steep grade will pull what can be pulled, crack what can be cracked, and twist what can be twisted. Pay attention to how you feel and adjust accordingly - extra stretching, maybe strengthen a trouble muscle first, run a few lesser intensity strides for warm-up, etc.

I would recommend this form of training only once you've maxed out your aerobic base, though. That is, you've reached a point where running more miles does not make you faster in your goal distances. You run the same paces at a lower heart rate, but you are unable to run faster paces at all even though your HR is still low.

Thanks for the comment, Sasha. I think my hill was about 8%, and I have a 14% hill I can move to once I know I'm not going to "pull what can be pulled."

Have you read Brad Hudson's book? He has quite a lot to say about this workout. I am following his protocols as nearly as I can.

I'm not sure I've maxed out on my aerobic base. Interesting question. I only know that I have maxed out on the time I can spend running without sacrificing more sleep. I would love to have more miles, but I'm not sure they would make me faster. Working on that.

The report from your marathon suggests the aerobic base may be far from maxed out. Also, the fact that your best time is only 4:17 points in the same direction.

However, to know for sure what is going on you need to race a range of distances from 1 mile to the half marathon. Does even have to be an official race, just measure out a course, find somebody who could pace you and yell at you when you slow down, and go for it.

What is odd is that you have been running decent mileage. So this in theory should give you a solid base.

I have rarely signed up for races less than half-m distance in the past few years because I find it so discouraging, even humiliating. The speed just isn't there. But I can trot along 20+ miles every other weekend and come home smiling. (I have never been injured; I know when I "overtrain" because I fall asleep at the dinner table. lol) I will take your advice to heart, however and try to sign up for more races during the coming months.

One of the attractions for me in the Brad Hudson book was his method for "non-linear periodization," so that I will work on all aspects of my running fitness throughout the training cycle. Since I just discovered the book and since my next marathon is in December, I'm just integrating a few of his workouts in this short time I have to prepare.

I have no structured running background from my youth, as many here do and I often wonder how much that costs me. I am HIGHLY motivated to work hard, but not very talented. Thanks again for all your comments.

That is interesting. What do you mean exactly by "the speed is not there"? What times did you get in shorter distances?

In the next few days, go to the track and see what you can do in an all out 100 meter sprint, 200 meters, and 400 meters. When you have the results, send me a message in case I forget to check your blog.

I'll do those short trials soon. It's so good of you to have a look at my training.