[patrick.obrien]

I have a 2 hr zone 2 workout where I need to hit 2,000 minimum coming up. With the trail I use, it takes me 1:30 to get to 1,000 feet staying in zone 2.

It is the steepest hill within driving distance. I live in Austin.

What is the recommendation here? Should I go longer on time? Or should I get less vert feet?

Extra Info:
My goal is Mt. Rainier next June.
This is a rest week.

Topic

[Cory from Wisconsin]

Cory from Wisconsin on November 22, 2022 at 4:39 pm #72807

How steep is your hill? Are you not getting the elevation target because the trail doesn’t have much incline, or is the steepness restricting your pace and it just takes you that long to do 1k?

Depending on your fitness and training background you will likely get faster at the same HR as you progress through a plan. This could help solve your issue if the trail is sufficiently steep.

If you simply need a steeper trail, you may want to try indoors on a stair master to see how it goes. Only problem with a stair master is the elevation gain needs to be “adjusted” since the stair is falling away as you step up. Most on UA take the elevation gain and divide it in half. So for an hour you would want to see 2k of gain on the stairmill.

[TLoftus]

TLoftus on November 23, 2022 at 7:29 am #72817

I’m just finishing my first time through the 24-week plan and have solved this problem by just adding time to the WO. I live in the White Mountains so elevation isn’t a problem, but if I go 2,000 feet up on one of our peaks, I’ll be anywhere from 1.5-3 hrs holding in zone 2 with time depending on weight carried/grade. Then I go down, in zone 1 if I’m weighted and low zone 2 if not. The early workouts in the plan called for elevation/time that could be accomplished but after the first few weeks it wasn’t possible to make it work so I’ve just added time. I try to avoid doing these inside.

[krish]

krish on November 24, 2022 at 10:09 pm #72923

You could always go back down partway and then back up again to total 2000ft. I’m not a coach, but I imagine staying in Z2 the entire uphill time and maintaining a duration volume that is within your recovery ability should be the focus. As mentioned earlier, you will eventually get faster within Z2 and will be able to do the hill twice to get the vert + 2hr time.