IMUSA next year and not many hills around southern virginia to train on. Has anyone utilzed parking garages to do any hill training? I was leaving the local mall this weekend and thought about it as something I could do off hours at an office complex or wherever. Thoughts???
How long are the climbs at the race? I found that rolling terrain and hills up to 0.5 mi didn’t do squat for training for long climbs.
Not sure if the question is about bike or run. If it is bike, then just crank up the resistence on the trainer and away you go. If it is for the run, the longest hill in LP are barely a quarter mile in length, but they can get steep. Treadmill will work the uphill, but not the downhill. The parking garage just may be an option for the downhill training.
I have a similar problem living in southwestern ontario and i have used the parking garage at our local mall for running. the number one problem i faced was with the tight turns (ours is a tight rectangle) my inside knee started to get a bit sore but besides that it worked pretty well. I thought about using it for cycling but with the minimal incline, short length (800m to the top) and tight turns with polished concrete surface i decided it wasnt worth trying.
Not much choice in Houston either. Hotel parking garage at 5:30 AM. Run to the garage is about 2 miles. Garage is .5 miile up…run it 5-6 times and then 2 miles back to the car. Not ideal but the traffic in the hotel garage at 5:30 isn’t that bad.
treadmill?
Sorry, meant more towards riding, but I guess also running too.
I have a nice bridge with a sidewalk I use for running hills - it goes over a river and is broader (and steeper) than your typical highway overpass.
When did you move??
When did you move??
First of April - Va Beach/Williamsburg area.
For cycling, it isn’t necessary to ride hills to train for a hilly course… Just ride at your target power/effort level to simulate climbing. If you’re in the VAB area, our near omnipresent wind doubles nicely as a hill substitute. If you want the neuromuscular effect of lower cadence that many typically use when climbing, choose a gear that gives you a cadence of ~75rpm at your target power/effort.
For the most part, power is power to your legs. There is a slight neuromuscular difference wrt cadence, but that is minor compared to power/effort.
For running, you can hit Mount Trashmore or the trails in First Landing State Park. Come on over to Final Kick on a Saturday Morning. There are a few Fk folks heading up to Placid next year including the store owner.
Sorry, meant more towards riding, but I guess also running too.
Unless its closed during the weekend or something, I’m not sure you could trust that someone wouldn’t come flying around a corner and slam you into a car or the concrete. Prob not a good idea.
-Physiojoe
For cycling, it isn’t necessary to ride hills to train for a hilly course… Just ride at your target power/effort level to simulate climbing. If you’re in the VAB area, our near omnipresent wind doubles nicely as a hill substitute. If you want the neuromuscular effect of lower cadence that many typically use when climbing, choose a gear that gives you a cadence of ~75rpm at your target power/effort.
For the most part, power is power to your legs. There is a slight neuromuscular difference wrt cadence, but that is minor compared to power/effort.
For running, you can hit Mount Trashmore or the trails in First Landing State Park. Come on over to Final Kick on a Saturday Morning. There are a few Fk folks heading up to Placid next year including the store owner.
That makes sense too…I would love to come and workout with the Final Kick group as I’m getting really tired of the solo efforts. Get’s really boring. Problem is that I actually live out in Carrollton/Smithfield right now in Eagle Harbor and to go all the way to Final Kick (45 mins), ride for 2-3 hours and drive back (another 45 mins) my day is gone. And that’s assuming no tunnel incidents to delay there and back. Until I can move on the southside, that’s just not feasible with a baby due in October!
That makes sense too…I would love to come and workout with the Final Kick group as I’m getting really tired of the solo efforts. Get’s really boring. Problem is that I actually live out in Carrollton/Smithfield right now in Eagle Harbor and to go all the way to Final Kick (45 mins), ride for 2-3 hours and drive back (another 45 mins) my day is gone. And that’s assuming no tunnel incidents to delay there and back. Until I can move on the southside, that’s just not feasible with a baby due in October!
It is a long haul. When I started training with FK, we had a girl who would drive down from Nassawadox 4-5 times/week to work out with us. A few years back when I was training for long course tri, I spent most of the summer driving to Williamsburg every 3 of 4 Sundays June-August, then had to fight Outer Banks traffic on the way home. It killed the day.
You may have some better long ride loops out in your neck of the woods than we have at the beach. Think about advertising some of your rides on the Final Kick forum. You may get some takers. PM me here if you have trouble getting an account - I’ll make sure you get activated quickly.