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hill training in Chicago

rlh2000rlh2000
in General Training Discussions
Hi Smart and Experienced People!  I live in Chicago and my two A races are Rev3 Wisconsin Dells and IM Chattanooga, and I keep hearing about all the hills on the runs especially for both these courses.  My question is how to best train for these in the flatness that is Chicago.  While there are a couple of mounds people seem to run hill repeats on, they are quite pathetic and better fitted for the bounding hill strides as you are to the top in 30 seconds or less.  Do I need to suck it up and use a treadmill to simulate hills?  Any ideas? 

Comments

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    Stair Climbing: Stadium or building?

  • rlh2000rlh2000
    Thanks Al- thought about that too. How do I incorporate that exactly? How frequently do you need to do something like that to see a positive benefit?
  • Peter WickPeter Wick

    A few hills down south of Elmhurst around Hinsdale and Burr Ridge but eh.. I found a couple good hills around Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills. They're hard to find out there. Crank up the grade on the treadmill if you can't get out to real hills.

  • steve Beyersteve Beyer
    Not sure where exactly in Chicagoland area you're at, but the trails in the preserves of the Palos area have some pretty decent hiils, including the old swallow cliff toboggan slide. There is a reason why all the mtn. bikers hit those trails.
  • rlh2000rlh2000
    I live in the city itself, and don't have a car. I'd be up for renting a car occasionally to hit some hills on the bike and run, but if I only do this a handful of times, is it of any benefit?
  • Peter WickPeter Wick

    Aren't some of those roads that go up the north shore somewhat hilly? If not, get thee to some high rises...

  • Bruce ThompsonBruce Thompson
    Rachel...try the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, go west on I-88.  It has lots of hills.  Also, the Cary March Madness Half Marathon (which is this coming sunday) course has some serious hills.  But you'll need a car or a ride to get to both of these places.
  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    I live in Lakeview and do 75% of my running on the lakefront path. The other 25% I do in my neighborhood, specifically on Greenview between Belmont and Wilson. Flat as a pancake. Last year I drove to Ohio with Bruce and did the American TTT race which featured, among other nutty things, a VERY hilly run course complete with steep grades and 1700 of elevation gain in a half marathon. While I'm sure I'd benefit from more hill training, I felt like my performance in those events was pretty good and don't feel it is worth the low ROI to go driving all the way to wherever to find a few hills. We already have to drive pretty far to get decent biking other than the North Shore/Sheridan Road, so I'm just not willing to drive far to run in hilly places. One thing you can do once you get into the in-season plans is when you drive somewhere to go biking, you can do your prick run there and hopefully there's more terrain. Just my $0.02.
  • lparellolparello
    Waterfall glen in Darien is a great loop with some hills...off I55 and Cass Avenue. 9.6 miles of crushed limestone and some decent elevation (for the area). I also go out to Lemont-I've found some great hills out there. There is a race there every May called the Quarryman Challenge-10 miles with some great hills.
  • jello4jello4

    +1 on what Lauren said... Also the Joliet Park District runs the Rockdale Rambling 10K in April. If you wanted to take a train (BNSF or Rock Island) I'd be happy to pick you up at the station.  http://www.jpdrun3.com/rockdale-ramblin-run.php

  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    For a somewhat-flat-lander here in Dallas, ever heard of overgearing? I know it's not exactly the same as hill climbing, but using a bigger gear (and therefore, lower cadence) than usual works for some people. Just make sure there's not too much stress/resistance, as knee injuries have a tendency to show up when that happens.
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