Former Bad Ass
I need suggestions. I am going to start the last 9 weeks of Hanson's Advanced plan for San Francisco. I am not sure if I am able to PR in this course but at the least I want a course PR. Hanson does not have specific hill training and I don't have anywhere to do proper hill training since my elevation gain or loss is ZERO (my closest "hill" is the McArthur or the Key Biscayne causeways 30 minutes away on weekends, 1-2 hours away during the week due to rush hour, so not very available). But I want to incorporate some hilly runs to the plan, just not the strength day, MP or LR runs (as they are already hard enough).
If I were to treat 1-2 of the Hanson's easy runs (I think Friday runs will be perfectly placed for that, being between the MP run and two days from the LR, and maybe Mondays if I take that run easier in pace, since the strength workout is Tuesday) on the TM and start at 2% incline with the hope of getting to 8% (intervals or the full run) before the race, will that help? Will that be enough? Should I even bother? These runs are between 6 and 8 miles.
Any other suggestion for those runs will be appreciated. They will have to be on the TM; there is no other choice.
Here is the course elevation.
Damaris
The days sound good. But if I were you, I'd forget the 8% incline. You risk injuring yourself because you are not used to hills. I would start with 800m intervals, maybe 4 to 6 per run. Then as the weeks go, maybe increase to 4x1600m intervals. Start at 3.5% and work up to 6.5%. That should be enough. That's how I trained for Boston. By the way, I think that inclines and descents on my TM is what brought my PF, to the point that I could not run anymore. So be very careful with a sudden increase in hill workouts.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Thanks. So, some intervals at the same easy pace but with incline as the only change, right? Then, flat as my "rest" (my TM does not have decline - I tried to get one like that but we wanted this one instead)?
What I do usually, and I have no clue if I'm doing the right thing, so be warned :-): I run the incline easy pace (or recovery pace if it's that day) and I run the flat intervals a bit faster, maybe 30 seconds faster per mile, but still in the easy pace range (bordering MP, though). The flat part feels very easy after having done the hill interval.
Hanson gives me a range so I could do the incline at the slower end and the flats at the fast one.
Yes, exactly! :-)
Not sure if there is a time of day that it would be safe to do, but I know some runners in Chicago use parking ramps as "hills" for their training.
20,000 miles behind me, the world still to see.
I think that is reasonable as long as the incline isn't too hardcore. Otherwise, as agonizingly boring as it would be on the TM, I would do the "hills" as part of the shorter long runs.
Don't know a thing about hill work, but looking forward to hearing how you like Hanson's!
My take on SF was that the challenge of the hills was not that they were so individually steep, but that the cumulative effect of them took their toll. I think any type of hill workout you incorporate will help you, but if I were being strategic about it, I would focus more on running for longer distances at slightly lower inclines than on trying to build up to intervals at higher levels.
In that regard, I don't think you need to get over 5% to duplicate the worst of what SF has to offer (incline-wise at least). I would shoot more to include a couple of 2 mile intervals at 3 to 5% incline in the middle of your MLR. You want to be comfortable running up the elevation and understand it's effect on your pacing.
Life is good.
I don't think I can do them during my MLR since the MLR is the MP run and the LR (and MLR) are on days I cannot go to downtown to run the bridges, but I think I can try on longer TM intervals on the other days as you suggested. I know you ran SF last year and PRd so I know you understand the course so I thank you for the insight!!!!