A fifty five minute, Zone 2 run.  That was one of my scheduled workouts today.  It is a very straightforward workout, and one I have done, dozens of times.  There are however, always choices to be made.

One such choice is, what route should I take?  Today I chose a route that had hills.  Not just any hills, but a certain hill in particular.  Before I get to that however, why should I be running hills at all?

It’s a pretty straightforward answer.  Running hills is good for you.  It’s like resistance training for runners.  When running hills, even at a Zone 2 effort, I work my muscles just that little bit harder.  My quads, calfs, hamstrings and glutes, all get a good workout.

Over time, this builds greater strength and endurance.  These are great things to work on while training, but that is not why I chose this route today. I chose this route, thinking about September.

I ran the route I did today, because the hill I ran on, is the closest hill I can find to the one I will face on the marathon at Ironman Chattanooga.  The length and gradient of this particular hill, is very close to that of Barton Avenue, the big hill on the Chattanooga course.

Training is very important, but also it’s critical to train for the course you will race at!!