Hill Training

Last night's workout was hills. This is a tough one in Chicago. One might be tempted to think we ran up and down the Sears Tower, but that was not the case. If it was Monday, there must have been a threat of bad weather, so we moved indoors again.

I have used the hill program on the treadmills, but this was going to be different. Overall we had to run 5 miles , and in that 5 miles, we had to run 10 hills. These hills started at a 5% incline, and rose to a 6.5% incline. We would run a hill for 1 minute, with a 45 second recovery phase. We would run an "easy" 2 miles at the start, and then run at whatever pace, the miles we had remaining at the end.

This was tough....as all these workouts are. I remember Scott telling me this program would kick my ass, and it does. I also feel darned good afterwards.

To me, hill training is a combination of tempo runs and strength training. You are really pouring some power into your leg workouts with this kind of work. This will also help me tackle those hills during the marathon...not! :-)

After this workout...I was ready for some food. A turkey burger awaited. I skip the fries, and the restaurant I go to is great about substituting cottage cheese for them. Got to have that protein.

I can assure you a slept well when I got home.

:-)Charlie