Today was scheduled for a simple 3 mile tempo run at 7:52. But I had other ideas, especially with my lack of leg workouts in the last two weeks and my 5K this weekend: hill repeats. Don’t know what a hill repeat is? Simple.
- Pick a decent hill.
- Run up the hill.
- Jog back down the hill.
- Repeat steps 1 through 3.
Hill repeats are classic running workouts. If you’re training for a hilly race, obviously hills should be a big part of your training. However, hill repeats have benefits even on the flat races. If you don’t like to hit the weight room — or, like me, have difficulty working gym time into your schedule — a hill workout constitutes a great workout for improving leg strength as it’s related to running. It has the added benefit of being a serious cardiovascular workout as well.
I admit I haven’t done many traditional hill repeats, but that’s changing as it’s vital to both get faster and — duh — get used to hills. In accordance with my other dictate about increasing my foot turnover I started off with the 175 BPM Podrunner track going. I did okay at 172 and figured this would be a good jump. I warmed up pretty fast at an average 7:42 pace — more about that later — and maintained that on my first hill repeat. The hill I was targeting is right near my usual lake lap, so I warmed up around the lake which brought me to the beginning of the incline. The hill is right at 1/4 mile to the apex which is a good distance for a medium hill repeat; the elevation change is about 100 feet for about a 7.5% grade. I managed 4 repeats before my form started breaking down, with splits of 1:58, 1:54, 1:58 and 2:03.
Overall, a fun and challenging workout.
Thoughts on foot turnover
175 is fast. I believe that’s as fast as I’m going to try to push it except for maybe mile time trials. My warm-up at 175 SPM was quite fast as it’s really tough for me to go slower than about 7:45 with that turnover. It’s far easier maintaining closer to 7:00 pace at that turnover rate… which is great if I’m shooting for that pace but I’m not even at that pace for 5Ks yet. I’ll almost certainly try for the Second Empire Classic this weekend, but we’ll see. I don’t think I’m going to go higher for right now until 175 doesn’t feel like so much of a stretch.
They say that 180 is where the elite athletes are which I believe. I suppose there’s another side to that coin: unless you’re turning 4:00 and 5:00 miles like elite athletes it’s a bit harder to hit that turnover rate. For my near-term marathon and half-marathon paces even 175 is likely high. Or it could simply be that I’m not used to it yet. It’s interesting trying it, though, and seeing how my body and paces react.
Next stop: The 10th Annual Second Empire Classic 5K! Race report on Sunday or Monday. With hopefully good news… though the weather outlook is deteriorating rapidly. The high is currently up to 93 degrees. It was 89 yesterday. At this rate by the time Sunday dawns it’ll be 105.
