Hill Repeats

So, with no-one to ride with tonight and Thursday being my regular ride slot, I decided to try something new with a view to improving my fitness: enter, hill repeats. What on earth!? I read a bunch of stuff on the Internet (like this and this article), figured out what I needed to do - as well as justifying why I was doing it - and, having decided on a good place for it, headed off to a nearby lane. As this is officially "training" rather than "riding" (the latter involving friends and/or cafe stops), I dug out the HRM that I haven't used in an age then rode up to the "start". I figured as this was my first time I'd go easy and just aim to do 8 repeats not quite all the way to the top of the hill. For me the first time I do anything is all about getting to know the lie of the land. On the hill I'd chosen, the last part is the steepest, so the plan is to work up to the full length of the hill when I'm comfortable doing 8 shorter reps.

The first climb was tough. My legs weren't that warm - the ride in was fairly short - so I was slogging up there with the mind chatter already kicking in ("Why are you doing this? This is going to be so boring!" And so on..). One done, 7 more to go. Maybe I'll just do 6? Maybe James will be along to pick up the house key? If he gets here at 5, that'll do for the first time... mind chatter central. After 2, 3, 4, .. James appears, I give him the key, he goes. Well, I'm here to do at least 5 so I'll stay on for 6 then see how I feel. 6 comes and goes. Not so bad! I pass a woman with her dog, me on the way up, her on the way down. I pass her again on the way down. And on the way back up. She thinks I'm nuts. I pass a neigbour on the way back down. Then on the way back up, and down again. She asks if I'm going up again and looks shocked that, yes, one more. And up I go. 7 and then 8; my legs are warm and I'm starting to enjoy it. Maybe next time I'll do 9 or 10. Or just do 8 and push harder? Whatever. First ever attempt at hill repeats and it felt good.




Reps: 8
Max. heart rate: 162 bpm
Ascent: 372m
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time: 46 mins