[davelockyer101]

I’ve just moved over into the late base phase of training and have introduced hill sprints. I’m 50 and train in g for a hilly trail ultra. Here’s how I shaped the workout :

45 min warm up run going from zone 1 to upper zone 2.
8 x 20 sec hill sprints up a 20% series of steps followed by 2 1/2 min walk back down and rest.

The first sprint took 30 secs so I reduced the distance but was still sprinting for 20 secs which felt VERY short.
On the final sprint my legs were fading on the last 10 secs.
I hardly managed to get out of zone 2 for the whole workout. My AeT is quite close to my LT.

Have I executed the workout properly?

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on November 26, 2019 at 2:31 pm #32816

Heart rates are normal for sprints. I never get above AeT either.

The duration is long to start with though. I usually start with 6x 8″ in the first session, increase the sets to 8x, 10x, then 6x 10″, 12″, 15″, etc.

[davelockyer101]

davelockyer101 on November 26, 2019 at 3:11 pm #32830

I was slightly unsure about the length as it states in the book to not increase the sprints to over 10 secs. 20 secs feels extremely short to me…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on November 26, 2019 at 6:38 pm #32884

Hmmm… That could be because you’re very slow-twitch. Have you ever had a lactate test done? It’s not necessary to do so, but slow-twitch-dominant athletes have a hard time generating sprint power. So, counter-intuitively, sprint workouts are a good stimulus for them.

Check out UA coach Sam Naney’s response in this post: https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/alternative-to-hill-sprints/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on November 26, 2019 at 6:40 pm #32885

P.S. Being slow-twitch-dominant (or FT-dominant) isn’t positive or negative. It’s just that each athlete has to approach their training in a way that respects where they are on the FT/ST continuum.

[davelockyer101]

davelockyer101 on November 28, 2019 at 5:39 am #33132

Thanks. I’ve read the response in the thread cited and I’m guessing it’s the same issue of experiencing a lack of fatigue due to being ST dominants. I’m planning to stick with them. Just wondering if I need to shorten the distance to 10 secs and as I progress do I add more reps rather than a longer duration?