Realisation

So, my cutback week has not gone as planned... I did a set of "supposedly" easy squats yesterday and got an A2G PB of 45KG... I could have done more but decided against it. I'm glad I stuck with that decision because my legs were aching like Hell today. I also got the email telling me of my place in the Yorkshire Moors Ultra and was sent the full route by way of a map and photographs plus a full written description. My jaw got wider and wider as I read sections saying stuff like, Follow this path until you come to a very steep path beaten down with heather.... the footpath is tricky in places where it falls steeply to the beck so exercise caution... keep following the track across the moor which is very uneven and difficult going...the footpath is wide and boggy and sometimes a little hard to follow... BUT MY FAVOUITE QUOTE(NOT)... Head into the field and along the track. Some of the gates and stiles are in ankle deep water!
Lovely! I do get myself into these things don't I?

So, as I had ITB pain just reading about the steep ascents and descents, I thought I might try a fairly steep hill today for my hill reps, with the intention of just running it twice to see how steep it was. It was extremely difficult to jog down because it was so steep and when I ran up it, despite me only running the steepest part of 105 feet elevation over 150 metres, I was still forced to walk the last quarter of it. The gradient was 14% and my hamstrings were knacking. I could increase the distance of this to about 300 metres, but it tapers off to only about 3% gradient, so I'm not sure if that's something I should do. I think whatever I do by way of hills, it will have to be steeper than what I'm training on at the minute because 4.9% gradient just isn't going to cut it!!! So, I'm absolutely crap at running them at the moment but that gives me a goal and an easy way to monitor how I improve.