training for hills where there are none

Tony said:

I live in the desert. There is not a hill around for miles, let
alone a mountain. How in the world should I train for a triathlon
that is going to have an elevation gain of 862 feet over the span of
a mile. I did the math and that is over a 17% grade. Am I totally
screwed? What should I do? Also, any ideas on what I should do about
the 4,000+ elevation difference between the two cities?

Thanks for your help.

Got any handy multi-story carparks?

Tim

Tony said:

I live in the desert. There is not a hill around for miles, let alone a
mountain. How in the world should I train for a triathlon that is going to
have an elevation gain of 862 feet over the span of a mile. I did the math
and that is over a 17% grade. Am I totally screwed? What should I do?
Also, any ideas on what I should do about the 4,000+ elevation difference
between the two cities?

Thanks for your help.

--

Best,

Tony

1. Go on a treadmill and jack the gradient up - think you can get 12
out of the ones at my gym but not sure if this is a 12% gradient or a
12 degree slope
2. Go on a training week somewhere hilly (and high)
3. Do some leg strength work
4. Don't expect a PB

Can't help much with the altitude thing from a training point of view
but suggest you pace yourself pretty conservatively on the day.

Tony said:

I live in the desert. There is not a hill around for miles, let alone a
mountain. How in the world should I train for a triathlon that is going to
have an elevation gain of 862 feet over the span of a mile. I did the math
and that is over a 17% grade. Am I totally screwed? What should I do?
Also, any ideas on what I should do about the 4,000+ elevation difference
between the two cities?

Thanks for your help.

Parking garages when not busy, stairs in tall buildings, step ups (if
tallest building is 1 floor), overpasses, tm as high as it will go (most
around here go to 15%), stepmill (like escalator) if you can find one
(also tried versaclimber and stairclimber but they didn't work as well
for me since there's no stride at all on them).

For strengthening, I like weighted lunges and maybe squats. If you need
to run down, be sure to strengthen quads and knees (leg lifts, squats).
Lunges involve strides that squats don't, so they're more like running.

If you can drive some place with hills to run them, that would be
helpful to give you the feeling of real hills and how to pace (slowly) -
and maybe consider run/walking might be faster than running -
considering you're at end of tri.

FWIW, I usually run hilly trails (10-30% grade on hills), but we had
some nasty ice (water on top of ice for a few days) that really made it
dangerous to run normal trails, so I tried desperately to find something
that would work indoors. For me, the 15% treadmill and weighted (hand
weights) lunges worked best for my weak points.

What elevations are you talking about? If the 4000 ft elevation change
is from 10,000 to 14,000 ft, you may have an extra challenge. If it's
from 0 to 4,000 ft, it shouldn't be an issue. I live at sea level and
the top of local mountain that we train on is about 3800 ft.

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dot dot.h@#duh?att.net said:

Tony said:

I live in the desert. There is not a hill around for miles, let alone a
mountain. How in the world should I train for a triathlon that is going to
have an elevation gain of 862 feet over the span of a mile. I did the math
and that is over a 17% grade. Am I totally screwed? What should I do?
Also, any ideas on what I should do about the 4,000+ elevation difference
between the two cities?

Thanks for your help.

Parking garages when not busy, stairs in tall buildings, step ups (if
tallest building is 1 floor), overpasses, tm as high as it will go (most
around here go to 15%), stepmill (like escalator) if you can find one
(also tried versaclimber and stairclimber but they didn't work as well
for me since there's no stride at all on them).

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training. For
run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up. I
don't know how well this works.

--Harold Buck

"Hubris always wins in the end. The Greeks taught us that."

-Homer J. Simpson

Harold Buck said:

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training.

I noticed he didn't say, and I almost asked this at the start of my
reply, then deleted it.

For

Quoted message said:

run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill.

FWIW, I haven't found that works the muscles quite the same, at least
for trails, and why I was trying other things. But most of my hills are
steeper, and that might be why - plus you don't learn to pace.

Dot

--
"So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste
away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training. For
run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up. I
don't know how well this works.

I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE gear into
the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe would help.

Goerge

I was talking about the bike. I will try your suggestions, thank you all
for your help.

"George Ball" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training. For
run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up. I
don't know how well this works.

I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE gear into
the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe would help.

Goerge

You can simulate some of this outdoors, but the best way to do "hill"
work when you have no hills is indoors on a trainer so that the
environment is very controlled and you can truly maximize the work in a
minimal amount of time.

Seated climbs---big gear repeats where you're at 55-60 rpms (presuming
your knees are well enough to handle it) will serve you well. My
workouts at the moment are at a 4x8 minute interval with a couple
minutes rest in between...it's a hard workout. About a 40-minute
warmup and another 15-30 minutes after and you're done...literally and
figuratively.

You can also do standing climbs, just crank up the gearing a bit more
and go for it....of course, make sure you're securely locked into place
on the trainer before you do this! Use your imagination here, there is
a variety of things you can do and not be at the whim of the terrain
dictating your workout.

Good luck!

Mike c

Tony said:

I was talking about the bike. I will try your suggestions, thank you all
for your help.

"George Ball" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training. For
run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up. I
don't know how well this works.

I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE gear into
the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe would help.

Goerge

P.S. Which race is it that you're doing?

Mike C

Tony said:

I was talking about the bike. I will try your suggestions, thank you all
for your help.

"George Ball" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training. For
run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up. I
don't know how well this works.

I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE gear into
the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe would help.

Goerge

It is the St. George Triathlon, in St. George Utah.

"Mike C" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

P.S. Which race is it that you're doing?

Mike C

Tony said:

I was talking about the bike. I will try your suggestions, thank you all
for your help.

"George Ball" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike training.
> For
> run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training for
> extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking garage is
> harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the wind, sitting up.
> I
> don't know how well this works.

I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE gear
into
the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe would
help.

Goerge

"Tony" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:3sYBf.1541$MJ.761@fed1read07:

Quoted message said:

It is the St. George Triathlon, in St. George Utah.

"Mike C" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

P.S. Which race is it that you're doing?

Mike C

Tony said:

I was talking about the bike. I will try your suggestions, thank
you all for your help.

"George Ball" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
>
> "Harold Buck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
> news:no_one_knows-A3DFFC.13065923012006

@comcast.dca.giganews.com...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>> Maybe it's my bias, but I thought he was asking about bike
>> training. For
>> run training, I'd just set the incline on a treadmill. Training
>> for extended climbing on a bike when all you have is a parking
>> garage is harder. Some people say to ride a big gear into the
>> wind, sitting up. I
>> don't know how well this works.
>
> I agree, I thought he was talking about the bike. Ride a HUGE
> gear into
> the wind is about the only choice. Or a Computrainer maybe
> would help.
>
> Goerge
>

Hi Tony

A good way to build muscle for hills is to clip out one of your shoes
and ride with only one leg for a certain amount of time. Then you switch
legs and ride the same amount of time only using the other leg. Please
be careful to build up strengt over an extended period as your knees
could be injured using this method.

Sinc.
Kim

Just make sure you're doing this on a trainer and not on the open road!

Mike C

TriDane wrote:
..> >

Quoted message said:

Hi Tony

A good way to build muscle for hills is to clip out one of your shoes
and ride with only one leg for a certain amount of time. Then you switch
legs and ride the same amount of time only using the other leg. Please
be careful to build up strengt over an extended period as your knees
could be injured using this method.

Sinc.
Kim