General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Hills vs. flats run pacing Rss Feed  
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2005-09-12 12:26 PM

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Subject: Hills vs. flats run pacing
I enjoy running hills, but over the last few years, my training has mostly been flatland. Moving to NYC, I've had to run Central Park laps, which is mostly 6M rolling hills type of course with one big hill.

I just finished the 18M NYC marathon tune-up, and I was surprised that I was just about dead-on with my splits (48 min/45 min/ 43 min), considering I hadn't raced a hilly course before. I don't race with a watch, which made it even more of a surprise. My ultimate goal this year is to do a 3:10 in the Honolulu marathon about 3 mo's from now to hopefully qualify for Boston.

I have a few of questions for fellow triathletes and runners who read this, as I am trying to figure out the best way to do that given my race results:

1) Do you find your pace to be faster or slower on rolling hill courses?

2) Should I train MOSTLY on flat land, and run Central Park occasionally for hill training, considering that Honolulu marathon is mostly flat?

3) Lastly, what has been the most effective exercise for you to reduce your race pace?

Looking forward to responses


-Allen


2005-09-12 1:20 PM
in reply to: #244911

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Subject: RE: Hills vs. flats run pacing
Do you do fartleks or any kind of speed drills/interval training? That made a difference for me---even just doing it once a week.
2005-09-12 1:52 PM
in reply to: #244983

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Subject: RE: Hills vs. flats run pacing
I've been doing fartleks up the Central Park hills. I'm presuming it has made a difference, but I haven't been very keen on recording my times recently.
2005-09-12 2:42 PM
in reply to: #245050

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Subject: RE: Hills vs. flats run pacing
Central Park is perfect for training and you'll get both the Hill & Interval training in. I used it to get my 3:10:27 BQ last year (no joke, I got in by 30 seconds).

Judging by the incline at Honolulu Marathon, you're looking at about 2-3 significant climbs in the Honolulu marathon at about 50-120 ft. Working numbers out, that elevation is similar to Harlem Hill (84' rise for 0.3x miles)...

So in essence, just by running around Central Park will improve your base and the rolling terrain certainly helped me deal with Boston earlier this year. Then you can use the Reservoir Path to help with the intervals and tempo work. You have to get tempo, MP, and intervals in to up the LTHR. It's tough, but definately benefits your running style...
2005-09-12 3:46 PM
in reply to: #245120

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Subject: RE: Hills vs. flats run pacing
Jerry, congrats on your BQ qualifier. That's awesome and inspiring. Do you train in NYC throughout the year? Also, what's "MP"?

2005-09-12 3:58 PM
in reply to: #245196

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Subject: RE: Hills vs. flats run pacing
MP = Marathon Pace. It's not really used much in Triathlon Training because tri-marathon runnning and straight marathon running are two completely different concepts. So to train for BQing, you would have to practice running at 7:14 min/mile for a significant amount of time. I used Mcmillan Running to set my training paces. The Tempo/Interval & Steady-State runs completely sucked in the beginning as I felt gassed. But 10 weeks was enough time for my body to prepare for the race... check it out ww.mcmillanrunning.com ...

BTW, don't pay much attention to the estimated pace calculators for shorter distances. If you're aiming to run 3:10 to BQ, it estimates that you should run a 10k in 40:xx and half in 1:30:xx. I NEVER came close to those estimates, my 10k is 42:xx and half at 1:32:xx. But I was trained to hit 3:10 after 26.2 miles so didn't suffer much difference in my marathon split times...


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