There are never any dock leaves around when you need them. For the first time in years I found myself 'running the precipice' halfway through my hill session with guts in utter turmoil . In the end, to be able to continue, I had to bow the inevitable and emulate Laetoli man. Unfortunately for the county of Cambridgeshire my workout took place on the outskirts of a reservoir, so my heartfelt apologies if your drinking water has a slighty nutty aroma for the next month or so.
The hill repeats (hill pictured) alternate on a weekly basis with the 1500m pace sessions, the effort in the last set being similar to the track session but with a more significant strength component. The session involves 3 sets of 4 * 300m on the hill with a jog down recovery. The first set focusing on form / technique, the second at medium effort with the last set done hard. Delighted with the last set, averaging 53 seconds - although it certainly helped that I was considerably lighter than for the previous (see paragraph one).
As my fitness progresses there is an interesting dynamic during workouts; my legs and breathing alternate as the workout limiter. In my previous hill session, my legs couldn't work hard enough to maximise my breathing. This time, the honours were equal - the conclusion being, as the rep times were quicker, that my leg strength and / or speed has improved. At this stage of the season the hill isn't too steep. Later on I will switch to harder repeats on a steeper hill of 80 to 120m in length.
I agree
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