Tuesday 17 May 2011

Bit of training- first time in the Baregrips

So after the past couple of races I looked at my average times for Kms, and have realised that I am somewhat slower going uphill than anything else.
No surprise there, however, it was noticable that I was being overtaken and somewhat overhauled on the uphill sections on Mount Famine, and also on the semi-uphill sections. I wasn't making the time back on the descents either, with the net result being that despite quite a decent first ascent, I just couldnt keep the pace up and ended up being overtaken by a fair amount of people, ending up 29th, wheras, at some point in there, I was about 20th.

So, uphill training is the way forward. I know I need to get some hill reps done, but I wanted to go out and see if I could run non stop up that damn hill over at Herod Farm. Also, it is pretty much the closest, most vicious hill I can find which entails only a very short amount of time on tarmac if I run there from home.
This was important as I wanted to try out my new Baregrips, and really didnt fancy doing much, if any, running that wasnt on mud or grass.

The Baregrips, I have to say are excellent in terms of grip- except on wet stone. I still cant find anything to grip on that stuff, and when there is a breakthrough, I shall be there in disbelief, trotting all over wet stones and stiles.... until that day, I'll just have to blag it instead. (and fall over a lot).
I also found that, as to be expected with a Zero arrow shoe, there is not much cushioning anywhere on the sole of the shoe. This means that it is indeed as close to barefoot as you can get- which also means that if you stand on a sharp stone, it hurts.
Maybe I need to run in these a lot more in order to toughen my feet up, but Im keeping it minimal at the moment, it being peak season (my first season), and I dont want to cause an overuse injury because of a training issue.

As for the hill... I managed to get 3/4 of the way up it, even after running there, and doing the entire course (again, running), and I think I managed it a mite faster than I did on race day.
I need to stop running with my head for a bit, and just run as fast as I can, letting my body decide when I actually need to stop. I think its the brain that is stopping me from running faster, wierdly enough.
anyhow, in the end it was 10km or so in about 55mins, not a fast 10km time, but I did have 650m of ascent in the way.
Now.
To be faster uphill and keep the pace on the flat sections... thats the issue. and the way to improve?
run up hills.

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