Hill reps question

[daisy]

for one, I found hill reps quite hard on the body - they will accentuate and aggravate any physiological / biomechanical weaknesses or niggles you have

I'm one long biomechanical niggle on legs, Zoot!
A lot of the reading I've done on the subject suggests that hill reps can really help improve 'form' and technique and all that jazz - thats why I got interested in them in the first place tbh. But as I've gathered on here - it's not what you do, it's the way you do it that counts

Now I've really really really got to get some work done!! I had no idea that joining a forum would be so engrossing/timeconsuming/entertaining...

Laters.

[IanDarkpeak]

Now I've really really really got to get some work done!! I had no idea that joining a forum would be so engrossing/timeconsuming/entertaining...

Laters.

thats why I'm not fast, i'm a forum addict...!

[mr brightside]

I'm doing a hill-reps session once a week, as most of the training programmes out there seem to suggest BUT can't believe that doing 10x10 sec sprints up a hill with 2/3 mins recovery between each is really going to do me any good. Until I read about it I was doing my own idea which was 20 secs sprint, 20 secs recovery for about 1.5 miles - this left me well and truly paggard but seemed hard enough to qualify as a 'proper' session.

What do you real proper fell-runners do if you're doing reps? And if you do take the time to answer this query can you spell it out really slow and simple - cos I'm pretty slow and simple too!!

Don't really want to start overloading you with information at an early stage, but grassy reservoir dam embankments are an ideal gradient for bog standard hill reps. Just run whatever distance up them suits you. Most dam embankments share a uniform gradient but many have useful features like stepped profiles with flat bits interspersed between steep bits.

I like to run like the clappers up a 25m long gradient and back down with 10 good-form squats top and bottom. 15 of those are enough if you're pushing it and not stopping for rests, and excellent short race training.

Be very wary of ITB syndrome!

[daisy]

Don't really want to start overloading you with information at an early stage, but grassy reservoir dam embankments are an ideal gradient for bog standard hill reps. Just run whatever distance up them suits you. Most dam embankments share a uniform gradient but many have useful features like stepped profiles with flat bits interspersed between steep bits.

I like to run like the clappers up a 25m long gradient and back down with 10 good-form squats top and bottom. 15 of those are enough if you're pushing it and not stopping for rests, and excellent short race training.

Be very wary of ITB syndrome!

Thanks Mr B, haven't got a reservoir locally (could travel to Thirlmere I suppose?) but I do have a bitchin' steep slope on one of my fave routes that I've started using for just this excersise. It's on really soft muddy ground too - double the effort?
The dog thinks I'm mad, but hey, nothing new there...

I've been very very lucky regards running injuries. One sprained ankle from a careless foot at the end of a long run, and of course, a cracking and ongoing collection of bruises and scabs (but they're like badges of courage, right?) - apart from this all my physical problems seem to come from another source and I remain determined that running will cure everything - not cause more trouble. FIngers crossed. I'm clearly in a fate tempting kind of mood this morning...
Cheers anywya.

[Dynamo Dan]

Everyone's different but I realised this summer that I can't do hill reps all year round. There's loads of mid-week races in the Peak and I pretty much ran them all and kept up hill reps/track sessions. Needless to say come August I was very tired and not much cop....

I won't be doing any more until March now. I'm concentrating on building a big base, I'll go hill rep mad for a month or two after two-three months of base building and then the mid-week races will take over.

[daisy]

So apart from your races in the Peak what sort of running do you do? You're in M'chester so are you doing road miles too to build up the 'big base'? I guess what I'm asking is are the hills you run usually part of a race or are they a daily part of your mileage?
The thing that confused me a lot at first is the fact that I've got hills in every run I do ('I'm not gloating ;o) so I wondered a) were hill reps going to be any use and b) was I going to overdo the whole hill thing.

IF you're stuck for hills then I can see why you'd make a special effort to do them. In my case, spoilt for choice and gradient, I was wondering how best to use them to get the most return for my sweat.

I'm going to stick with one session a week devoted to good form and leg power, since most of the rest of my running is very endurance based. Cheers.

[IanDarkpeak]

The thing that confused me a lot at first is the fact that I've got hills in every run I do ('I'm not gloating ;o) so I wondered a) were hill reps going to be any use and b) was I going to overdo the whole hill thing.

IF you're stuck for hills then I can see why you'd make a special effort to do them. In my case, spoilt for choice and gradient, I was wondering how best to use them to get the most return for my sweat.

I'm going to stick with one session a week devoted to good form and leg power, since most of the rest of my running is very endurance based. Cheers.

Depends on how you run up the hills daisy, all hills have benefit and add to your performance, by doing short steep and fast reps you will be able to to run up longer less steep hills quicker, Long steady reps will help with stamina but not really speed, If you just do long road runs with hills make sure you put some sprints in or push harder on the hill, if you sit back and plod up slowly the gain will be a lot less.

[Stolly]

Daisy I have hills right outside the backdoor too and never ever ever do frigging hill reps . That said I'm not disputing that I'm sure they are brilliant training for fell races - its just that I'd much rather run 'in the hills' rather than repetitively up the same hill. If I want to do a lot of climbing I find running up one blinking great hill and/or stringing two or three hills together into a run works well and I feel less like a hamster in a hamster ball.

[DazTheSlug]

sometimes I'll do a "normal" long hilly run, but target the hills, i.e. stop at the bottom, get breath, remind myself what my PB for the climb is, start my watch, batter the climb, hopefully get close to PB, stop, gasp for breath, continue with normal run until next steep hill...
a short section of hill I might rep twice
it's also worth timing/battering some of the downhill sections now and again

[Dynamo Dan]

My mileage is pretty mixed Daisy. Each morning I'll take my dog for a 3 mile run on some flat trails along the River Mersey in South Manchester.

In the evenings I'll either run for an hour an a half - two hours on the fells near where I work in Stalybridge or I go for six or seven miles on the flat at home.

At weekends I'm going for a hilly 35 mile bike ride one day and a two-three hour fell run the other.

I run at my best aerobic effort for the day and try to get as much climbing in my runs as I can.

It seems a lot I know but I'm really trying to improve and I love running.

I've found it's intensity not quantity which gets me. My body can't handle reps and racing twice a week all summer!

*