Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How do you make a mountain out of a mole hill?

Today, I was suppose to ride 1 hour on my bike and followed it up with a 40 minute easy (zone 1) run which should include 5 x 30 second hill climbs. The bike was no problem...jumped on Sharkie and an hour later my bike was done. My run turned into a run/jog/walk in order to keep my heart rate low and in zone 1. I don't think the brutal cold wind helped at all.

In any case, I did the best I could with the whole heart rate issue. But I have another problem. Hills. They simply don't exist around my house. It's pancake flat. Now, don't get me wrong I could probably jump in my car and drive 20 min to find some sort of a hill or something that resembles one. But there are no hills near my home where I run.

What do I do when my training plan requires me to do 5 x 30 sec hill climbs? I found a very weak-looking/wanna-be-a-hill-when-it-grows-up-someday spot on my run. I ran up it 5 times. It was pathetic. I'm not sure how or if it did anything for me.

So, tell me...are there any other options to simulate hill climbs? I was thinking of possibly running up the the stairs of a nearby high school football stand---would that work?

2 comments:

IronSnoopy said...

I was going to suggest running the stairs at the nearby high school. I also know a great hill about a 3-5 min. drive from your house. I will e-mail you.

Nice job on getting the workout in!

Calyx Meredith said...

That Zone 1 run thing! :D I think the stairs at the high school are a great substitute for hills but I'm such a newbie, I could be missing something! I think the point is to increase the intensity and stairs do that. Good luck with finding something that works for you!