Sidewalks

I hate them.  Most of the time, they are way more trouble than running in the street.  They are frequently uneven, with bumps, and dips, and are way more unkept than the streets they run along.  I have to constantly run onto the street or onto someones yard to avoid mailboxes, telephone poles, trash barrels, over-hanging branches, recycling bins, or cars that people think they can just park across the entire sidewalk.  I enjoy kicking tires of said cars as I run by (I'm very mean, I know).  Beyond all of this, the worst part about sidewalks, in my opinion, is the slopes down and up where the sidewalks meet the driveways.  They are not too steep, but over the course of a long run, all those step-ups and step-downs really take a toll on my legs.  I prefer to run my miles on the street (if I am not running on a trail somewhere) along the side of the sidewalks, unless the sidewalks are very wide and are noticeably "good."

So as a warning, if you park your car across a sidewalk or driveway along my running route, forcing a handicapped person to go into the street to go around your car, I WILL kick your tires.  So there!

Hill Climbs are Death

If anyone ever wonders how they can become a better cyclist, I would suggest doing hill climbs at a minimum. The strain you put on your legs, and the amount of work you make your heart do, does wonders with your strength and conditioning on bike. As long as you give your body a chance to recover.

This season, I am trying to incorporate more hill workouts into both my cycling and my running training. Last year, after doing a few hill workouts, I noticed a considerable difference in the rest of my training with leg strength. Going to blue hills reservation is going to be a regular event for me this spring/summer, and hopefully with a group of people; it always makes it more difficult to quit with more people. The loop around the "mountain" is approximately 7.5 miles, while the access road up the "mountain" is approximately 0.9 miles. Typically we start out the workout with 2-loops around the mountain, for a 15 miles warm-up. Then we hit the access road with blazes. I go hard up the access road, and then cruise back down (wearing my brakes out the entire time). Two weeks ago, we completed 3 intervals up-and-down the access road, and we were close to spent. This past week, we completed 4 intervals. The goal is to increase the intervals by 1 each week, until we cannot feel our legs anymore. I can already feel improvements in my cycling in only 2 weeks of this. Last week I went out for a 20 mile tempo ride, and I felt so much faster than I had previously, and it was so much easier.

Below is not any recent data, because I broke my garmin, but you can get a glimpse of what it's like.



Do not try this workout unless you are ready for the following:

Blood. Sweat. Tears. Torture. Pain. Strain. Infliction. Hurt. Fuss. Wound. Ail.