Illustration of the training hill next to our Casita from my travel sketchbook. Note, the person is not to add scale, they were part of a different illustration in my sketchbook. The hill was a 1/3 of a mile climb.
This will be the first in a series of posts on explorer fitness. I have previously posted about training here and the Crested Cara Cara birds I saw on one of my shorter runs here.
This training run served multiple goals, which is why I am using it as an example. Last year, my personal goal was to achieve 300,000 ft of elevation gain and loss throughout the year using human power. During my week-long stay in Baja California Sir, Mexico, I found myself near a short but steep hill next to our Casita. This hill provided an opportunity to gain and lose elevation in the middle of the desert while having the safety of water and food supply at the Casita.
The following image represents the workout from a heart rate perspective. I define the heart rate zones according to the book “Training for the Uphill Athlete.”
From my trained perspective, the heart rate zones break down as follows:
- 120-155 - Zone 1 - Nose breathing pace, all-day pace
- 156-162 - Zone 2 - Avoid if possible, too hard for Zone 1, too easy for Zone 3
- 163-173 - Zone 3 - 1.5-hour pace for me, or many shorter bursts
- 174-184 - Zone 4 - Shorter HARD efforts
- 185-195 - Zone 5 - Pushing max pace/effort
During each repetition while ascending, I was in Zone 3, and then I quickly recovered on the way down, moving through Zone 2 into Zone 1 repeatedly. After this intense effort, I achieved my yearly goal a few days later with a few smaller efforts.