Hill training sessions (most) Mondays

During the summer months I'm hoping to make the Monday night hill training sessions a more regular event. I'd like to see more Striders take part in these, so In this post I'm hoping to explain what they are and how they might be useful to you.

Jill, Paul, Heather, Chris & Andre take to the hill with gusto.

Let me dispell one myth straight away: "I'm too slow to take part". You're not.

Working out on hills will build up speed gradually over time. Running uphill will undoubtedly be harder at first, but after a while of getting used to it you will hopefully find that your running speed on the flat has increased. It's a training technque that worked very well for Haile Gebrselassie!

A short recovery session inbetween hills

Each session usually follows the same structure:

• A warm-up
• A series of activities which will consist of short, fast sprint sessions with short recoveries and slightly longer not-quite-sprinting-but-still-quicker-than-normal with slightly longer recovery times.
•  A cool down activity and stretching 
• A relaxing drink in a nearby pub

Now, Sandbach is not known for it's hilly terrain but they are there if you look for them. Drive a few miles out and there are loads more - including Mow Cop if you fancy a real hill challenge!

The pictures and videos were taken on a recent Monday night session around Swettenham. We parked up at the Swettenham Arms where we enjoyed a relaxing drink in the evening sun afterwards and then headed off along a fantastic scenic footpath through the grounds of Davenport Hall towards our intended destination.

The idea of any speed training session is to maintain your speed throughout the session. This is done by having regular recovery breaks and by placing the emphasis on shorter bursts of high quality work as opposed to the distance runners natural training tendencey of a longer run where you would expect to fade in pace as the run progressed.

I've enclosed a couple of short video clips which I hope will demonstrate that whilst the sessions will push you out of your comfort zoine, they are well within everyone's limits.

Check the calendar on the club website for details of upcoming Monday night training sessions.

I hope to see you on a Monday night soon!

Michael