Originally Posted by
run1206
True, I'm pretty sure if I ran up that same hill, wouldn't be any quicker. I've driven that road a bunch of times, didn't realize how steep it was until i actually rode up the hill yesterday. Later this month I plan on either using the same climb or try other roads into Watchung to get my legs used to the hills.
Oddly enough once I got past that point, other hills within Martinsville and Bridgewater felt ok.
I personally think people make too big a deal out of climbing. While it's true that there are physiological adaptations needed for the position you use to climb, i personally subscribe to the school of thought that it's your aerobic power/body mass that's more important than anything else. The guy who wrote the book on dieting for endurance athletes said something along the lines of good runners have high w/kg by definition as each step they take, at least some of it is actually propelling the body upwards.
Btw, where do you see yourself taking the cycling thing? As an recreation, for triathlon/duathlons, or to get into racing?