How hilly is your run??

2»

Comments

  • micknphil-marathonlads.com wrote (see)

    wishing u well with it all

    55, same age as myself,

    that photo bought back memories to me, though i left there 26 years ago

    and the Lakes i - or we love as well -

    Thanks!! Maybe we'll make the Lakes one day...

    We do about 110K over the four days. Any suggestions for an iconic Lakes route?

  • I've just played about with it looking at some of my training runs; and yes, I quite like the formula.  I think it'll come in useful when working out other training runs or seeing how difficult a hilly race will be.

    And a lot of my running is around the Wye Valley/Severn Estuary, so there's a fair few hills around here that I can't avoid.

  • Hi Ivor. I live in the South Shropshire Hills. Our village is at the foot of a 533m hill. I don't really like flat running, it feels a bit weird - just as well, really.

  • How do you people measure elevation? Or how do you get an accurate reading from a garmin? I always ignore the elevation part of my garmin as I don't beleive it at all. Recent run was 7 miles and according to garmin it had 599m (1965 feet) of ascent and roughly the same decent. This would give a Stinker rating of  280%. Except the run was mainly along a canal toe path and very very flat.

    (Looking at the elevation graph and estimating ascent as 50 m 164 feet gives a more realistiv rating of 23%)

  • Race I did last week had a stinker rating of 131%. It was hard, but not completely terrible.

    My usual long training run comes out at only 70%, which surprised me. Too much flat in between the hills I think. Might have to revise my route!

    I quite enjoy hills generally. Much more interesting to run a hilly course than a flat one.

  • MattDA wrote (see)

    Race I did last week had a stinker rating of 131%. It was hard, but not completely terrible.

    My usual long training run comes out at only 70%, which surprised me. Too much flat in between the hills I think. Might have to revise my route!

    I quite enjoy hills generally. Much more interesting to run a hilly course than a flat one.

    Thanks Matt, glad to see the STINker method is working. Even influencing your training routes?!

  • Fell Runners use a simpler formula based on climb/mile. Although it's now metric so I can't remember it exactly.



    Using your formula the Borrowdale Fell race (as an example) comes out around 410-425% depending upon the precise route taken (7000ft in 16.5miles). Most of my runs would be well over 100% and probably closer to 200% each time.
  • Yorkshire Rob wrote (see)
    Fell Runners use a simpler formula based on climb/mile. Although it's now metric so I can't remember it exactly.

    Using your formula the Borrowdale Fell race (as an example) comes out around 410-425% depending upon the precise route taken (7000ft in 16.5miles). Most of my runs would be well over 100% and probably closer to 200% each time.

    That sounds about right!! Us southerners think 100-150% is hilly but fell runners in the Lakes are up over 200%. The Borrowdale would certainly kill us all  off!!

  • Catalin Bond wrote (see)

    How do you people measure elevation? Or how do you get an accurate reading from a garmin? I always ignore the elevation part of my garmin as I don't beleive it at all. Recent run was 7 miles and according to garmin it had 599m (1965 feet) of ascent and roughly the same decent. This would give a Stinker rating of  280%. Except the run was mainly along a canal toe path and very very flat.

    (Looking at the elevation graph and estimating ascent as 50 m 164 feet gives a more realistiv rating of 23%)

    Hi Catalin

    The Garmin is usually pretty accurate - a few thoughts...

    Make sure you are looking at "elevation gain" (simple I know but hey...)
    If you finish where you start, check that "elevation gain" and "elevation loss" are the same (ish) they should be
    Any odd factors - did you lose touch with the satellite under a canal bridge (toe path run??) etc
    Finally, I run the same run a few times and  know which is the correct reading (eg 364, 366, 859, 366, 363 = one rogue reading)

    Hope these meanderings help!!

  • I ran up a hill yesterday that I used to think of as quite tough. I realised it's quite flat.

    I need to do some more hill work, get those fast hill reps in.

    Catalin - I have an altimeter. It helps that I know several points along my runs to check calibration. It usually comes in a little shy of Garmin though. A good altimeter costs about the same as a Garmin. They work on barometric pressure. I think more acurate than Garmin.

  • My group actively seek out the hills, hence our main training run is at the aptly names hills and dales.  We've even named a few: rockstar hill (steep andirocky,with 10 'rockstar' exercises required at the top, whilst waiting for the slower ones); 'mud hill' (requires all fours at the worst of times and some have been known to slide back to the bottom - several times); 'Phil's hill' (particularly steep and a real thigh burner, with plenty of gorse bushes to keep you motivated not to fall); 'log hill' (where we pick up a log each at the bottom,carry it to the top and do 10 squats before 'caber-tossing' it back to the bottom).

    Hills? I guess we love them! image

  • Neon Cockroach wrote (see)

    My group actively seek out the hills, hence our main training run is at the aptly names hills and dales.  We've even named a few: rockstar hill (steep andirocky,with 10 'rockstar' exercises required at the top, whilst waiting for the slower ones); 'mud hill' (requires all fours at the worst of times and some have been known to slide back to the bottom - several times); 'Phil's hill' (particularly steep and a real thigh burner, with plenty of gorse bushes to keep you motivated not to fall); 'log hill' (where we pick up a log each at the bottom,carry it to the top and do 10 squats before 'caber-tossing' it back to the bottom).

    Hills? I guess we love them! image

    Are they STINkers though???
    Definition of "Hilly" using the "STeepness INdex"

  • T.mouse wrote (see)

    I ran up a hill yesterday that I used to think of as quite tough. I realised it's quite flat.

    I need to do some more hill work, get those fast hill reps in.

    Catalin - I have an altimeter. It helps that I know several points along my runs to check calibration. It usually comes in a little shy of Garmin though. A good altimeter costs about the same as a Garmin. They work on barometric pressure. I think more acurate than Garmin.

    Does an altimeter log every bit of uphill eg in undulations? Garmin (I have a 110) logs every last foot of uphill even if you're going down and up/down and up...?

  • It may disappoint you slightly to learn that Garmin elevation is hugely innaccurate. Spot elevation is fairly good (ie. when you're stood still), but I've found it to be as much as 100% out on runs before. For example, a hill reps session off road last year I worked out from a map at around 2000ft total (250ft/rep x 8) and yet the Garmin read around 4200ft!
  • Yorkshire Rob wrote (see)
    It may disappoint you slightly to learn that Garmin elevation is hugely innaccurate. Spot elevation is fairly good (ie. when you're stood still), but I've found it to be as much as 100% out on runs before. For example, a hill reps session off road last year I worked out from a map at around 2000ft total (250ft/rep x 8) and yet the Garmin read around 4200ft!

    Disappointing, I agree

    Can't wait for fully accurate technology (being a bit of a statto!!)
    Further up the thread I added that if you do a run/session, say, five times over a few weeks, I've found the Garmin tends to sort itself (in other words, your reading was hopefully the blip and the other four sessions would read right!! (here's hoping anyway))

  • Ivor Reveley wrote (see)

    Like most runners, I love a hill (!!) But how hilly is "hilly"?

    To help with this mindless wondering when out on a long run, I devised the Steepness Index or STINker!! Is your run an easy stinker, hilly stinker, strenuous stinker or a severe stinker?? Let me know your thoughts.

    CLICK FOR THE HILLY INDEX

     

     

     

    The original link for those joining on page 3!!

Sign In or Register to comment.