I had been thinking about heading to Trexler Nature Preserve for a second time this week to do some hill repeats. When I saw that Quadzilla registration opened up yesterday, I was even more inspired to get out there and continue to prepare. I'm already signed up for the race and it isn't until July.
Since I haven't done hills in a long time anywhere or ever at this location, I didn't have a game plan. It was really just a matter of letting my body dictate how much it could handle and build on it for the future.
I did plan on running the very steep hill near the Environmental Center. It has a lot of stone, so I figured the grip would be good. I was correct. I figured running all the way to the top wouldn't be realistic for repeats. I struggle just to make it up there once. In the future, I do hope to do repeats the whole way up though.
I wanted to warmup for about a mile to get the legs going. There is a short loop around the Environmental Center. The map said it was .3 miles. I thought 2 loops around that would be perfect. It didn't seem like the elevation would drop too much. I've never run on this part, so I didn't know what to expect. I thought it could make a good warmup area.
I was wrong. There isn't much elevation change, but it is on the side of the hill. It is hard to get your footing. It is also grass, not trail. It wasn't tough, but not the ideal warmup area. You want to be comfortable and feel nice and easy during the warmup. I'll just run around the parking lot to warmup next time.
The weather wasn't great, but actually slightly better than it has been. The wind was still there, but it wasn't killer. The sun actually came out during the repeats and I had to take off my jacket and run in just my ColdGear top. I sort of felt overdressed, but knew I could get cold during my recovery segments, so I was happy with what I had on.
By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I was 2/3 of a mile into the run. Even though I had no plan, I really wanted to get at least 5 solid repeats in. I cruised up the hill. Throughout the repeats, I never pushed the pace too much. Even without doing that, I still struggled by the end of each segment.
The hill is basically split into 3 sections. It seems like the steepest is the top one and it gets easier and less steep as you go down. For my first repeat, I went up past the 2nd section. I just went a little past that and was breathing hard, so I decided it was time to stop and head down. At 51 seconds, this was my longest repeat of the day.
After the first repeat, I just decided that going to the end of the 2nd section would be good enough for each repeat. That was difficult as it was. Every time, I started off well, but really faded by the top. The recovery was definitely helpful though. It was tough to tell what was limiting me, my legs or my lungs. I'd probably say my legs were slowing me down, but my lungs weren't exactly having a good time. My breathing was heavy.
I just battled through several of these repeats. I was thrilled when I got through 4 and 5. I felt like I had enough in the tank for a 6th repeat. That was was definitely difficult and my legs and lungs were feeling the burn as I was nearly walking by the end.
After some recovery, I decided that I would just see if maybe I could do 2 more, but only go to the end of the 1st section this time. I knew making it to the top of the 2nd section would be tough.
These were much easier. The terrain didn't seem steep at all. The only thing that was tough is that I already had 6 solid repeats under my belt. My left calf was getting sore after a couple of these shorter ones. My right foot bothered me as well. After 2 short repeats and 8 total repeats, I decided that I had 2 more in me.
I got through those 2 and was very relieved. The shorter sections took about 18-20 seconds and the longer ones were around 43 to 45 seconds. It was a good workout. I sort of wish I would've pushed a little more during each repeat and then took advantage of the recovery time, but I was happy with how things went .
I ended with a brief cool down. At the bottom of the hill is a relatively flat trail that goes out for a bit. I thought I saw some deer on the other hill, but I think it was actually the Elk in their pen. I'm not exactly sure where that is at.
I definitely like this workout and will do it again. In the future, I might do it as a ladders segment. It would be something like, run to the top of section 1, then to the top of section 2, then to the top of section 3 (the top of the hill). After that, I'd come back down the "ladder." Run to the top of section 3, then section 2 and then section 1. That could make for 6 solid repeats. I could even add some more too if I was feeling frisky.
Last year, when I couldn't even run yet, I was hiking at Trexler. I thought that running out half a mile from the Environmental Center and then the half mile back could make for killer mile repeats. I am surely not ready for that. Maybe late spring or summer, I can attempt it. Perhaps I could go half a mile out, rest at the top of the hill for a couple minutes, then go the half mile back, rest some more and repeat. There are a lot of cool options. I need to keep working out there.
The BCR group is going to Plainfield tomorrow. It is paved and I hate that trail anyway, so I'm going to pass on it. I'd like to run 8-10 miles somewhere on Sunday morning. Maybe I can see if some of the BCR people are running anywhere. I haven't had a good long run in awhile. I hope to run 5 days next week, including a 5K race.
2 miles - 27:37 (13:49 pace)
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