Define a hill

As part of my marathon training(first) , i am required to do hill reps, 2 mins uphill 3 rest/downhill, how do you determine what is a hill and what is a gentle slope/ Everest.

Cheers

Comments

  • Hills vary on how fit I am. If I can get up it in one go without collapsing at the top, it's slope or up flat. If I have to walk after halfway, it's a hill. If I have to walk before halfway it's a f**king big hill.

    If I get to the bottom and cry, I usually find another route. Eventually even the sobbing ones become runnable.

    Whereabouts are you? I did the Bath half last year, which to me (living in hilly Devon) was flat, with only a couple of inclines over railway lines. I passed people during the race who were complaining about the hard hills!

  • Just outside Edinburgh, so training in Devon is out of the question image. Don't get, me wrong i also mountainbike and i enjoy the climb of a hill, but just not to sure as to what sort of hill i should be looking for.
  • Difficult to put hills into categories, but I'd say it's a choice of the gradual slope that climbs for quite a while and the shorter, sharper hills that make your thighs burn and your knees turn to jelly.  I do a mix of both to cover all angles.
  • I agree with Dominic, I use a variety of different hills, some longer and less step, by then mixed with shorter sharper inclines.  It all helps to keep your training varied and challenge muscles in different ways.
  • Anybody done Snowdon Mountain Race, that 1st hill is a F***ing Big Hill!!!!
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    Mark, for genuine hill sessions I'd say it would need to be sufficiently steep to at least change your running action - as opposed to a very gentle slope which just slows you down a tad.  One of the objectives of hill training is to strengthen leg muscles that flat running doesn't quite reach, e.g. if you're forced to run up on your toes your calves will get more involved in the push-off from the ground.  On the other hand you don't want to be scrambling up a scree slope because you won't be able to manage 2 mins continuous running, so it'll be a matter of seeing what suits your fitness level.

  • Anyone who ran the Glasgow University Road Race (old course ) will know what a hill is   ( Cleveden Road) !
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