Wednesday, October 29, 2008

4 x 400 hill work - 10/29

As I mentioned in an earlier post, next year I plan on following the Galloway training program. There are a good number of aspects to it (the long run, cadence drills, form work, hills, etc) - so I've been thinking that I can take the next month or so and start integrating some of these aspects into my weekly workouts without having the stress of trying to figure out and process a lot of new things all at once.

So today was the initial trial of the hill workouts. According to the program, hill workouts are great for building leg strength, especially the calfs. The idea is that with stronger calf muscles, the ankle becomes a more efficient lever which can provide some propulsion as the toes leave the ground. The initial hill workouts are on a 5-7% grade, about 400-600 yds in length. You run up the hill at about 75%, so that you are well into the aerobic zone, but not in the anaerobic. After you reach the top, you walk down as a rest, and repeat X number of times. Fortunately, near my house is just such a hill - about 1/4 mile from bottom to top, with a minor but not insignificant incline.

Since it was my first time doing them, I figured 4 would be a good place to start. To warm things up (its getting cold out there!) I ran a mile as a warm up.

Lap 1: 2:11
Lap 2: 2:05
Lap 3: 2:06
Lap 4: 2:11

In each case, the average HR was about 158 and the ending HR was about 178. Oops - that put me in the anaerobic zone for a brief period of time, so next time I'll have to pay more attention to keep the rate a little lower. In my defense, it was dark out and I couldn't see my HR monitor that well :)

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