Treadmill Hills Workout

Good morning!!

Happy Monday!  I have to confess….since becoming a stay at home mom (still working part time), I actually look forward to Mondays.  I usually work most of the weekend and it’s all a bit chaotic balancing work, workouts, family time, and chores around the house.  By Monday, things slow down and I can find my groove again.

On today’s agenda I have one training session and work at my other part time job this evening.  Somewhere in between I need to fit in my scheduled run for today, which includes hill repeats.  Sometimes with my mom duties it can be hard to get outside.  I could easily fix that by getting out early in the morning before everyone is up, but that would mean cutting my nightly ice cream and Orange is the New Black binge sessions short, and I’m just not ready to do that.  So…I end up running on the treadmill at the gym a lot while my daughter is in child watch.  The race I’m training for is super flat, and I do a lot of squats, lunges, etc. and never feel intimidated by hills, so I don’t worry about running a lot of them in training.  However, I want to try really hard to stick to the schedule this cycle, so I’m planning to do the workout on the treadmill today.  Normally, I never touch the incline.  I know a lot of people will run at a 1% incline for all of their treadmill runs, but I know it’s very unlikely I’ll ever run a course outside that has a gradual incline the whole way, so I don’t bother.  Plus, I usually have a harder time with the declines and it shredding my quads and knees.  None of the treadmills at my gym have a decline option, but that may be something to consider training on if they ever do.  So…here’s my plan:

Treadmill Hills Workout:

10-15 min warm-up, flat, easy pace (60 seconds slower than goal race pace)

90 seconds 4-5% incline

90 seconds rest (flat, easy pace)

Repeat hills x 6, followed by 10-15 min cool down-flat, easy pace

I’m hoping to maintain a good pace on the hills, but will likely slow down a bit as my legs wear out.  What I’ve learned about hills is that it’s most important to try to maintain effort, not pace.  Inevitably, you’ll slow down, but you’ll still be feeling strong after the hill.  And I always use the mantra: “Where there’s an uphill, there’s a downhill!”  It’s (almost) always true.  During my running coach certification training we were taught to maintain effort up the hill, then do three good strides once you’re over the hill.  By then you should return to your normal pace and feel like you can keep going, instead of feeling completely wasted.

What’s on your agenda today?

Do you run hills?  Indoor or Outdoor Runner?

Do you look forward to Mondays, or dread them?