[madanyang]

Hi,

I am using the 24 week Mountaineering Plan from the Training Peaks. Previously my Steep Uphill workout question was clarified by Scott Johnston in favor of StairMaster as the available terrain was not suitable.

Now I have a similar question this time regarding the Hiking hilly terrain workouts of the plan which are like 3-4 hours long in duration. As described in the workout I run the flats and hike as necessary to keep the pulse @ AeT. However the attached elevation profile is where I do these hikes the distance is roughly 15 km and at end I gain an elevation of 790 meters.

First of all is this suitable given the fact that the mountains are like 3 hrs drive away ( which makes a 6 hr drive while hoping there isn’t any major traffic around).

1) Are there things I can do to get a better training effect if I am to use this location (i.e increase the duration of workout, or repeat the hilly portions instead of running the flat parts)

2) Or am I better served for training effects by spending my time on the boring Stairmaster ?

Thanks

Attachments:

You must be logged in to view attached files.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on March 11, 2019 at 8:31 am #17954

Oof. First off, I’m impressed with your dedication. A 6-hour round trip drive is far more than I would do (but I’m spoiled by where I live).

It seems like choosing between necessary evils: A 6-hour round trip drive? Or Stairmaster boredom?

Over the long-term, and if mountain sports are a long-term interest, is moving a possibility? The best thing I ever did was move to the mountains. I think I would have quit climbing–and never would have started skiing–if I hadn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on March 11, 2019 at 8:35 am #17955

On a related note, I think that the presence/absence of “lifestyle friction” is a huge (dis)advantage.

I’m in Switzerland right now where uphill skinning is widely accepted on piste and ski runs go right through the village. It’s a big advantage for Swiss skimo racers that even I don’t have living in the mountains in Canada. I imagine that the added convenience (and lack of a commute) could account for at least a couple hundred training hours per year.

[madanyang]

madanyang on March 11, 2019 at 11:50 am #17981

Unfortunately moving to a place near mountains isn’t one of options at the moment. So you are suggesting either the 6 hr drive or the stairmaster. Starting mid May I have time to do the mountain trip, yet every week would be brutal also. But till then you sound like stairmaster is the only option.

I was hoping some kind of tweak to the workout after watching the video by Steve House Explanation and Tour of TrainingPeaks’ Performance Management Chart where one of his athletes being in Singapore and from the chart that person is living in a flat land compared to me (around 4:11 timeline in the video).

If that person is also for mountaineering training and all he/she got is that training location I am thinking most probably Steve made some adjustments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on March 11, 2019 at 12:37 pm #17985

@mananyang:

First of all, training has to fit into your life from a time and commitment standpoint. If it is not convenient of manageable with all the other things you have in your life then no training program will work long term. Having to make the sacrifice of driving 6 hours round trip to do a workout sounds very much like a strategy that is doomed long term. We do have plenty of clients who do 3 hour Stairmaster workouts. Hiking uphill will be better for your training than flat running if climbing mountains is your goal. But if the cost, emotionally, physically, financially is to hight then stick with your local rolling hills for the longer workouts with the occasion stair machine workout for the harder ME workouts.

Scott

[madanyang]

madanyang on March 11, 2019 at 1:39 pm #17988

Thanks Scott J. If I understand correctly, my options are

1) If I stick with my current local rolling hills ME workouts are definetely Stairmaster.

2) I can ditch the local rolling hill and do Stairmaster only including the ME workouts.

Actually after you have clarified my previous question regarding Steep Uphills, I was leaning towards the gym based ME. Would that be a wrong strategy ?

Thanks