SCREAMING! Screaming quads that is, as this was my first hill session of the year. The premise was quite simple, a mile warm up run to a convenient 100 yard hill I'd found, do ten reps up and down it and then the mile warm down back home. It may have only been 3.41 miles in total (a relatively leisurely 36:23) but God it hurt! Easily the toughest run so far, I was absolutely shattered by the time I got back! I've been reading up on it recently and hill work is like doing speedwork, in terms of effort, although obviously not in speed. As Runners World put it; "Training on hills improves leg-muscle strength, quickens your stride, expands stride length, develops your cardiovascular system, enhances your running economy and can even protect your leg muscles against soreness. In short, hill running will make you a stronger, faster and healthier runner. What’s more, the benefits are relatively quick to take effect. In as little as six weeks of regular hill training you can expect a significant improvement in your muscle power and speed." Well that's good enough for me so I'm going to try and include some hill training every week from now on. God help my thighs! (S).
No comments:
Post a Comment