Aerobic base building hill theory.....or something.

     So I've spent most of 2013 doing aerobic base building (also called heart rate training).  This type of training has been beneficial for me in several ways.  Not only have I built my aerobic base up but I've built my body back up from injury in a pretty gentle way.  Having a stronger aerobic base enables my body to use its fat stores as a fuel in an efficient manner.
   Using Dr. Phil Mafetone's 180 minus your age * method of calculating my maximum heart rate, I started the year off doing lots of walking. Especially with hills and other inclines.  Lots of walking up hills and inclines.  Just when I saw some progress with the method, Summer came in and brought heat and humidity with it also.  These things cause heart rate to increase thus slowing my running down.  (A person's heart rate rises with rising temperatures and humidity as the heart works harder to try and cool the body down.)
     With the coming of fall and now that winter is almost here I have started to show slight improvements once again.  My mile times have decreased and persistence has started to pay off.....again.
     Though speed is actually a bi-product of what I'm trying to accomplish.  At the moment I'm trying to concentrate running greater distances. It's always a bonus to be able to just go out and run without having to walk due to a rising heart rate.  Training my body to use it's fat stores as fuel would mean that I could run forever, in theory.   In the past, trying to get faster and faster just led to injury.  Running at or below my aerobic threshold uses my fat stores as energy which, in theory, are infinite.  Running at an effort greater than my aerobic threshold causes the body to use it's finite stores of glycogen and could increase chances of injury.  (This is the way I understand the reasoning behind the method, I could be wrong.  If I am, it wouldn't be the first time.)
     As I mentioned earlier, the summer was full of lots of uphill walking.  I spent all of 2012 tackling hills with gusto and charging straight up them like they owed me money.  My quads were hill running mama jamas.  Then I experienced several unrelated injuries.  Then I changed my training technique.  I went a year without being injured and dedicating my time to aerobic base building is the main reason I think I dodged major injuries this year.   (That and doing strength training.  But that is another rambling blog post.)
     I guess what I'm getting at is that I miss running up hills.  I miss the satisfaction of charging up a hill.  I miss the burning with acid quads.  Or do I?  Does running up hill have to be a glycogen depleting, anaerobic endeavor?  Some will say yes.  But these are the experts. These are the people who have been studying endurance athletes for years.  Some even decades.  I know next to absolutely nothing about the human body.  
     So that brings me to the experiment I'm been flirting with for the last couple of weeks.  I have a theory that one can train themselves to aerobically run up hills.  If enough time, patience, and persistence is given to running up hills or inclines at or below my maximum heart rate:  I will eventually be able to run up them at a moderate pace while staying in (or at least arms reach) of my aerobic zone.  The process will get easier.  My heart rate should stay at or below my maximum setting while my effort will be greater than before.  In theory. 
      I came up with this experiment idea while running up a wee tiny hill that I would have to walk up to keep under my maximum heart rate several months ago.  I've also noticed that other hills and inclines on other routes were requiring less walking breaks.  So far the norm is that I can get a good amount of distance up an incline before my HR raises and forces me to slow my effort.  Sometimes walking is necessary, but other times I just have to go at a slower pace.  Over the last several weeks I have been seeing improvement in my efforts.  Some of this is due to consistency, while some of the progress has to do with the heat and humidity of summer leaving.
     Is it working?  Will it work?  Will it work for me?  I have no idea.  I've only been at it for about a week and a half.  In theory it should.  If I'm just wasting my time at least I'll be getting in some decent hill work while I'm at it.  It's hard to say. I know the aerobic base building has worked for the past 9 months.
     I started using an online running log called STRAVA that collects data from my Garmin and analyzes it.  On STRAVA there is a Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP) feature that estimates an equivalent pace when running on flat land.  Most times of my GAP while running inclines is comparable to my pace while running a flat section.  This has helped boost my confidence that my theory will work or is working.  
      I know the 180 minus a person's age is based on an average (or peak bell curve) for all the clients he ever had.  My maximum heart rate for aerobic work could be above or below the number I use.  It's a good base number to be within range of.  I tried to find a lab that could do metabolic testing so I would have a better idea of what my aerobic zone is.  (And by "try" I mean I googled metabolic lab testing or something for 5 minutes once on a lunch break with no luck.)  But that would be something I would be interested in doing. 
     So in the meantime, I put together a neighborhood route that is about 8 miles long and has 1,000' of elevation gain to test this theory out for the winter.  Am I over thinking all of this?  Maybe.  I tend to over think when it comes to this stuff.  I reckon winter is the best time to try such an experiment since my efforts won't be compromised by hot weather.  As long as I keep my heart rate at an aerobic rate I can't do any harm to my ongoing base building project.  The worse that will happen is that I will build my hill running  muscles up in a slow, gentle way.  

*  http://philmaffetone.com/180-formula

Tecumseh Trail marathon

    So, the big race that I was trying to come up with a strategy for got cancelled due to severe weather.  The county that it was being held in was under an "emergency travel only" advisory for the day of the race.  I spent the Friday before securing rides, car pooling rides,  accepting rides, and offering rides.  Then at about midday Friday the race director and the Hoosier Hills Hikers Council made the announcement that the race was cancelled.
     No biggie.  My race entry was deferred from last year. To be honest, I was just glad to make it to "race day" uninjured and healthy.  That was my Tecumseh victory !!!