Living here in Minnesota sometimes makes running outside a bit difficult and often times dangerous. With wind chills way below zero, 40 below to be exact, hill sprints outside today seemed almost impossible.
I run hills outside occasionally, but most hills around here are not that long and I wanted to do 3 minute hill sprints. The graph above is from a hill I ran a couple weeks ago in mild weather that only took about 2 minutes. Once I reached the top, I continued to sprint for another minute…or should I say, I ran fast for another minute. I was a bit gassed once I reached the top of the hill to sprint, but I did my best to maintain a fast pace. Definitley not a sprint!
The following week since it was 25 mile per hour wind gusts and it was freezing out, running hills outside was out of the question. At least for me it was! Sprinting up a hill is hard enough when it’s good weather and you’re not dressed in layers. Seriously how do you sprint up a hill when it’s windy, cold, and you have another 5 pounds or more of running gear on just to keep yourself from freezing…
You go to the gym and you run easy for 30 to 40 minutes. Set the treadmill to 4 incline, sprint for 3 minutes. Recover. Repeat. Interesting enough, I completed 5 sets both inside and out. Which was harder? Probably inside since you really can’t slow down unless you purposely decrease the speed on the controls. I hung on, and to be honest, it felt like my heart was coming out of my chest. OMG these are hard.
What are your thoughts about running outside when the weather is bad? Inside? During the winter months I try and get out as much as I can, but there are some days when speed work is best done with my friend at the gym, the treadmill
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