Thursday, August 11, 2011

Hills, Speed Training, and More Hills.....Oh My

Monday, August 8th 2011: 4 miles of hills @ 9:59 minutes per mile. I found a big hill. Early in the morning. Then I ran up and down it. For four miles. I'm working on having more of a purpose for each of my runs. No more messing around if I'm really going to shoot for a marathon PR this year. I only had one chunky burp the whole time! Sweet.


Tuesday, August 9th 2011: The local high school finished construction of a brand new track which is gorgeous. My first run on the new track couldn't have been better. I did six Yasso 800's with my times being: 3:54, 3:41, 3:39, 3:43, 3:36, and I tempted vomit with my last 800 @ 3:25. It was a very happy morning and I can't wait to spend more time here!


Wednesday, August 10th 2011: 22 mile bike ride in 1 hour & 27 minutes (average 15.2 mph). I did the Sand Hollow Loop clockwise which I think is much harder. I was feeling manly though so I manned up and went clockwise.

I was averaging 16.8 mph until the last stretch of road that has some overly manly hills. It's rough because first you reach the Baby Hill (which isn't much of a baby). Then you reach the Mama Hill. And its a big mama. By the time you reach the top of the Mama Hill you are ready to lay down on the side of the road and suck your thumb.


But once you reach the top of that, you are on the highway to the danger zone (thank you Kenny Loggins and Top Gun). You reach the Papa Hill and find out how manly you really are. So I took it right into the danger zone, the big daddy hill which is named Widowmaker:


I survived the danger zone, although when all was said and done my average mph dropped from 16.8 to 15.2. It has been a great week so far, and only one more day until the Midnight Half Marathon. Stay tuned!

Do you do hill work as part of your marathon training?
Never done much myself but I'm going to add a weekly hill training to prepare for a few big upcoming marathons. I think it will really help.

10 comments:

  1. i've made it to about 3 hill workouts (the hill behind our house). but i've sorted forgotten to do hill work or speed work these last few months. i guess i better get cracking. i'm glad the track is done.

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  2. I rarely do hill work but I keep telling myself that someday I will start!!

    I am so jealous of the scenery where you live! It looks so beautiful. The gorilla is absolutely amazing.

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  3. Awesome workouts, Cory! You're a stud. I loved the gorilla picture, and the picture with the stretch of open road. Keep up the good work!

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  4. I personally LOVE hills. I run hills every week and have for nearly as long as I've been running. I think that is how I was able to be moderately fast without doing any speed work (until I started doing Yasso's a few weeks ago). So proud of you for your Yasso times!!!! Wouldn't it be amazing to run under the clock at a marathon and see 3:25? I'm excited to meet you tomorrrow!

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  5. I have no choice but to run hills where I live, but every once in a while I'll throw some purposeful hill repeats in there too. I don't love them--they're tough!) but when I finally get to run on flat ground I feel lightning fast that that's so worth it.

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  6. I wish I could I say I DON'T run hills, but, like Vanessa, I can't avoid them where I live. I'm hoping it will help on the relatively flat courses of my half-marathon in October and my marathon in December.

    How in the world do you get those jumping pictures? I love them!!

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  7. Nice workouts and your Yasso times are great! Don't you just love that feeling of death when you finish a hard 800?

    I suck at training on hills and always avoid them. There are plenty around I just need to stop being a big baby and start running them!

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  8. WOW!!!!! your speed and hill work this week was crazy awesome! i promised myself i would incorporate hills into my St. George training and I have actually ran LESS hills than before UV. oops. I really gotta get on that if I am going to survive! looking forward to meeting you in REAL LIFE this afternoon!

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  9. Awesome on all the hill work, 4 miles of up and down hills is no joke!

    That new track does sound and look great!

    And your bike ride does indeed have great scenery! I really need to visit Utah to see all of the scenery that you guys see.

    I try to incorporate hill training into my workouts at least once a week, when I get back to running I'm going to try to run hills at least 2-3 times per week, I need to get back in the groove of how I used to run pre-marathon training.

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  10. Great job on the Yassos! I have some on Tuesday and will use your for inspiration. I try to incorporate at least a few hills on all my runs this training cycle, and I do think I am stronger for it than I was last year when I was on the treadmill a lot.

    Did you see that Tim and Adam answered your question? Thanks again for posting one. :^)

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