While we're still in the middle of winter, the nice thing is the days are getting noticeably longer. It really dawned (dusked?) on me today that I finished the run with plenty of daylight left, despite the additional time taken to make a pit stop. Legs still felt a little rusty and the heart rate was a little on the high side, but all in all I felt it went really well.
Ran 15.0 miles @ 8:25/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 146/162
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid to lower 20s, partly cloudy.
Long pants, fleece jacket, short sleeved shirt, refl. vest, beanie, gloves.
4 comments:
Hi Jamie - I'm a new runner/blogger. You seem to run in a lot of hilly terrain. I wanted to ask you - what do you consider "very hilly" for your daily runs, and do you limit the number of runs you do on these types of hills?
Reason I ask is because my "regular run" has a stretch where it goes up about 230 feet over about 3/4 of a mile (not too different a grade of your recent run where you climb 150 feet in about a half mile) I'm wondering if running these hills 2 or 3 times per week is too much. (If you're interested, you can see the elevation profile of this trail under "where I run" on my blog)
Anyway - being that you have a lot of experience running in hilly terrain, I figured I'd ask your opinion - any advice greatly appreciated.
Hi Mike. Couldn't find an email on your blog, so I hope me answering here suffices.
My rating system for hills is pretty unscientific and more of a judgment call. Here are some rough guidelines though:
Mostly flat - pancake like
Slightly hilly - hills exist, but you hardly notice them.
Moderately hilly - you notice the hills, but they have little effect on the pace.
Very hilly - you can't help notice the hills, and neither can your legs.
Extremely hilly - so grueling you come close to becoming forced to walk.
Insanely hilly - so grueling even walking them is tough.
I wouldn't say you are doing your route too often, but I guess it all depends on what you're training for. There are many benefits to running hills though. I say if you're doing them relatively comfortably, keep on doing it. However, I'm somewhat haphazard in my training approaches, so I may also not be the best person to ask.
Thanks Jamie, yeah I guess I need to get an email address up there.
OK - so "very hilly" is not at the top of the list, that makes sense. The grade on my route (5.5% for the 3/4 mile stretch) seems reasonable, but it does affect the pace (and/or HR) somewhat.
I can tell the hills are helping my speed and strength, I just don't want to overdo it and come up w/ an injury.
Thanks again for the help.
I'd say you are back in the saddle. Well done!
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