Ran some steep hills yesterday. Have not done many hill sessions since early summer. Today my ass (ok glutes) is kinda sore when I walk. Does this mean I should be proud I did such a good workout or is this a realization that I am out of shape for hills? Does anyone else experience this?
Mike
Both. You are out of shape for hills, but have not started to fix that problem and will be faster on flats.
They become less of a pain in the ass when you realize the hugley positive impact they have on fitness and performance - if done right and kept up for an extended period of time.
**if done right and kept up for an extended period of time. **
I love how you fast and knowledgable types have to tease the rest of us. Pretty please, can you give us the whole answer?
How do you run hills right, and how long qualifies for an extended period of time?
I came to the conclusion years ago that when trying to improve your running, wether it’s just for running, but perhaps even more so for triathlon running, you can never run too many hills in training. Run them ALL the time - on long runs, as set hill repeats, on temp runs etc . . The only time you should not be running hills is on designated recovery/ easy run days OR in your final prep for a course that is flat.
I hear the Kenyans run on two types of terrain - Uphills and downhills!!
Of course, this presents a challenge if you live in a flat area. Fortunately, I have never had such a challenge.
It’s so much more fun riding up hills (especially with compact cranks) than it is running up them. But running up hills certainly helps the running fitness. I had the same feeling in the buttocks when first starting hill work outs, but you’ll soon adapt.