Laps of Howth Hill for fitness?

romperstomper

Hi guys,

have been hitting howth hill from kilbarrack every night for the last 2 weeks and although its not getting any easier my times are coming down so that a lap of it is taking me 40mins instead of 50 when i started. what i want to know is that can i just keep increasing the number of laps i do in order to get in shape? I'm happy with my diet but this has been my only form of exercise in about 12 months so i have quiet a bit of beef to shift.

thanks

Planet X

Rest is as important as the amount of exercise you seem to be taking on. Let your body recover. Take a few days off and come back. You'll see an improvement.
If you've got stiff legs, back off for a while. You'll know when your body is talking back to you.

Vélo

I read somewhere for getting fit you should vary your cycling. You should take different routes and one night just take it easy, then the next night give yourself a harder work out. The reason you should do this is so your body doesn't get used to just doing the same thing all the time.

I've read that in a couple of different magazines.

romperstomper

would a 'soft day' like a 20K flat cycle alternated with going round howth be an idea? i've been toying with renewing my gym subscription, but TBH i don't see the point of 30 mins drive - 90 mins workout & assorted getting changed etc - 30 mins drive back; compared with just jumping on the bike and home inside ~75 mins.

i'm 20K from where i work (flat cycle) so the idea will be to cycle in there for the summer (i did it last summer and found it great, then got lazy)

i could never understand no matter how much i was doing, the ned refused to shift (only gets bigger in the winter with less exercise and longer nights)

blorg

romperstomper wrote: »

i could never understand no matter how much i was doing, the ned refused to shift (only gets bigger in the winter with less exercise and longer nights)

It's easy to overcompensate on the diet front, you will naturally tend to eat more if you are exercising a lot.

Dead right about the idea that cycling gets you going immediately rather than driving the gym etc.

brayblue24

romperstomper wrote: »

i've been toying with renewing my gym subscription, but TBH i don't see the point of 30 mins drive - 90 mins workout & assorted getting changed etc - 30 mins drive back; compared with just jumping on the bike and home inside ~75 mins.

I was going to do just that in 2005 and had that option or going whole hog and getting up on the bike again. Picked the outdoor life! Good decision for two reasons - fresh air and no annual renewal. If the weather is not up to scratch invest in a good turbo trainer so you can still hop aboard.

Raam

romperstomper wrote: »

Hi guys,

have been hitting howth hill from kilbarrack every night for the last 2 weeks and although its not getting any easier my times are coming down so that a lap of it is taking me 40mins instead of 50 when i started. what i want to know is that can i just keep increasing the number of laps i do in order to get in shape? I'm happy with my diet but this has been my only form of exercise in about 12 months so i have quiet a bit of beef to shift.

thanks

Howth is a great facility for cycling. When I started out I found one lap a struggle, now it's still not easy but I can go for much longer. The guys have given good advice, especially about taking rest days.

P992

I really like Howth and have taken to cycling it now with my friend. problem for me is the trip back to foxrock after involves going across the east link which scares the crap outta me!

Caroline_ie

Which side if the hill are u all talking about, the shortish quite steep one via the Village? Or the Not so steep but quite long around the back hill...?

bunnygreen

That East Link on the way back can be a nightmare,i find if you you really lather on the speed just after the toll you can keep out of trouble,motorists tend to get a bit antsy if they feel they are driving too slowly,also gets the heart rate up nicely.

romperstomper

dunno about everyone else, but my route is to go up the longer slope starting at the marine hotel. then when i get to the Very summit (past the pub etc). i turn back on down the same way i got up. when i get to the hotel i do a u-turn and head back up

Raam

romperstomper wrote: »

dunno about everyone else, but my route is to go up the longer slope starting at the marine hotel. then when i get to the Very summit (past the pub etc). i turn back on down the same way i got up. when i get to the hotel i do a u-turn and head back up

I usually go up the long way, then over the top into the village, then turn around and head back up and over... repeat until you drop

daymobrew

Raam wrote: »

I usually go up the long way, then over the top into the village, then turn around and head back up and over... repeat until you drop

I do the same, though probably only once before cycling back to D15.
I don't like the downhill to the village because the road surface is brutal and I'm really riding the brakes (my max ever speeds are too low to post in the other thread - I'm too cautious).
Taking a quick trip up to the Deer Park Golf Course club house is another wee challenging hill just outside the village. Nice view of Portmarnock from there.

Raam

daymobrew wrote: »

I do the same, though probably only once before cycling back to D15.
I don't like the downhill to the village because the road surface is brutal and I'm really riding the brakes (my max ever speeds are too low to post in the other thread - I'm too cautious).
Taking a quick trip up to the Deer Park Golf Course club house is another wee challenging hill just outside the village. Nice view of Portmarnock from there.

I've never done the road up to the club house, I must check it out soon.

The road into the village certainly has some dodgy spots, especially near where they installed those new lights. Going past the ATM is another dodgy part.

peterk19

Raam wrote: »

I usually go up the long way, then over the top into the village, then turn around and head back up and over... repeat until you drop

Ive started doing this myself after seeing how fast Raam can sprint up that hill

Raam

peterk19 wrote: »

Ive started doing this myself after seeing how fast Raam can sprint up that hill

aww shucks

romperstomper

if (like me) you are trying to shed the extra beef, is there an adavantage of one side versus the other? my thinking was that a longer cycle of less intensity (long slope) would be more beneficial that a shorter cycle of tougher intensity (village side). or should it equate to just doing more repetitions of the village side? thanks

blorg

P992 wrote: »

I really like Howth and have taken to cycling it now with my friend. problem for me is the trip back to foxrock after involves going across the east link which scares the crap outta me!

If you live in Foxrock I would suggest going up the Dublin mountains instead- more interesting cycling. There are plenty of interesting loops from shorter than the distance to Howth and back.

Raam

romperstomper wrote: »

if (like me) you are trying to shed the extra beef, is there an adavantage of one side versus the other? my thinking was that a longer cycle of less intensity (long slope) would be more beneficial that a shorter cycle of tougher intensity (village side). or should it equate to just doing more repetitions of the village side? thanks

I would say a longer cycle of less intensity is better.

blorg

If you are trying to lose weight, yes, longer cycles of less intensity are better.

DirkVoodoo

blorg wrote: »

If you live in Foxrock I would suggest going up the Dublin mountains instead- more interesting cycling. There are plenty of interesting loops from shorter than the distance to Howth and back.

Yeah I know (sorry, me again posting under another account by mistake!), but my mate Johnny lives in malahide so we have to alternate from UCD-howth to UCD-Sally Gap to keep it all even. I do prefer the dublin/wicklow mountains myself.

bunnygreen

longer cycles,less intensity deffo,if you can find out where your fat burning zones are this really helps,i use a heart rate monitor alot and know where those zones are,so depending on what im trying to achieve i can really monitor my efforts,this approach isn't for everyone but it works well for me.If your trying lose a few pounds try keeping the cadence high,ie spinning a little faster,this will burn up the calories.

E@gle.

instead of doing the hill over and over why not try a mountain a nice long steady climb

Raam

E@gle. wrote: »

instead of doing the hill over and over why not try a mountain a nice long steady climb

I dunno about anyone else, but for me Howth is 10 minutes away, so it's very handy. Long climbs get done at the weekend in Wicklow

bunnygreen

I did the Wicklow Gap from Laragh on Tuesday,after the Sunday Orwell Randonne,that's a good long climb,forgotten just how beautiful it is up there,a great climb for low intensity,getting into a rhythm,and watching the old heart rate,freezing coming down again.

E@gle.

not familiar with howth hill, actually dont think i have even been in howth before how long is the hill ? anyone got a picture?

Dirk Gently

E@gle. wrote: »

not familiar with howth hill, actually dont think i have even been in howth before how long is the hill ? anyone got a picture?

This is the start of the "short steep side".

Not the most informative picture but that incline is probably the steepest part It's right at the beginning and tends to sap your energy as you continue climb the rest. I usually run out of steam close enough to the summit after starting off that way. People tend to walk faster than me by the time I'm getting to the top approaching the pub
Best situated shop in Dublin at the top though

blorg

It's not long at all but it is very steep from the town side- I'll have a look to see if I can find a gradient chart.

sy

The

romperstomper wrote: »

if (like me) you are trying to shed the extra beef, is there an adavantage of one side versus the other? my thinking was that a longer cycle of less intensity (long slope) would be more beneficial that a shorter cycle of tougher intensity (village side). or should it equate to just doing more repetitions of the village side? thanks

High intensity cycling like this won't shed the "beef" If you need to loose weight then LONG easy spins with high cadence is your only man ( sorry caroline.ie if you are reading this!) You must train your body to burn fat. Hign intensity exercise will use glycogen stored in ypur muscles and liver. When this is used up and the system becomes clogged with lactic acid you feel knackered. Even a very fit guy like Raam has a limited supply of glycogen (enough for about 2 hours) so he too will eventually get tired etc. Get long spins in the legs and leave the power climbs for a once or maybe twice a week blast. The advice on taking rest is excellent. Good luck with your training and remember to enjoy it!

romperstomper

thanks for that sy, the only thing is now you have me worried that the long slope is too intense (i don't think it is)! i do enjoy the training, the one thing that keeps me going is that i say to myself 'it'll only take you an hour or so there and back so just get and do it'.as opposed to say doing a long flat cycle (50K) that would take me 2.5hrs round trip.so long slope is ok but not too killer then? any agreement here? other thing about it is that i do it in the granny gear (#1) so my legs spin pretty freely and i'm only doing 9-10km/hr

Raam

E@gle. wrote: »

not familiar with howth hill, actually dont think i have even been in howth before how long is the hill ? anyone got a picture?

Attached are a couple of logs from a spin I did out there a while back. The first one, Howth1.jpg, starts near the Dublin Road. The other one, Howth2.jpg, starts in Howth Village. In both, I have highlighted the elevation and the route it takes.

sy

romperstomper wrote: »

thanks for that sy, the only thing is now you have me worried that the long slope is too intense (i don't think it is)!

Sorry romperstomper I assumed you were hammering up the hill in a big gear! Spinning in the granny is no problem but you should fit in a bit of variety and at least one long boring 50k! The old stamina base is very important if you want to work on your power training later. Enjoy

sy

Nice detail Raam. Are you using Polar or Garmin based software? Interested in purchasing something like that. Any advice. By the way what is the average gradient on the long and short climbs? I am not familiar with Howth.

blorg

That software is third party- SportTracks. It's great stuff and is donation-ware (pay if/what you like.) Imports data directly from Garmin computers.

Raam

I use a Garmin to record, and the software is the one Blorg mentioned. Gradient...I looked at the results last night, and there is some strangeness happening. I'll try figure it out later.

DirkVoodoo

Thats pretty cool Raam, thanks for the info.

How would Howth, the second jpeg route, compare to the likes of Slieve Maan. I have yet to tackle that one and am slightly intimidated by the prospect.

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

How would Howth, the second jpeg route, compare to the likes of Slieve Maan. I have yet to tackle that one and am slightly intimidated by the prospect.

A fair question. The Howth route is only steep at the start, and levels off pretty quickly. Slieve Mann is about 3.5km long and is steep at the start, but also levels off eventually. Slieve Mann is probably tougher because you will be hitting it after 90km of cycling, so you are already tired.

daymobrew

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

How would Howth, the second jpeg route, compare to the likes of Slieve Maan. I have yet to tackle that one and am slightly intimidated by the prospect.

There is nothing or no-one to stop you getting off and walking or taking a rest. I took a break in the shade about half way up Slieve Maan last year.

romperstomper

daymobrew wrote: »

There is nothing or no-one to stop you getting off and walking or taking a rest. I took a break in the shade about half way up Slieve Maan last year.

cleats would stop me getting off and walking

Raam

daymobrew wrote: »

There is nothing or no-one to stop you getting off and walking or taking a rest. I took a break in the shade about half way up Slieve Maan last year.

Dirk Voodoo, here's your mission, should you choose to accept it... climb Slieve Mann on the day of the Wicklow 200 without stopping to walk or taking a rest.

Hermy

This is my lap of Howth.

Start at Sutton Cross.
Go forward onto Greenfield Road.
Continue onto Carrickbrack Road passing the Summit Inn.
Continue forward onto Thormanby Road.
Entering the village turn left and left again at the church onto Balglass Road.
Continue forward onto Balkill Road.
At the Summit Inn turn right onto Carrickbrack Road.
Continue forward on Carrickbrack Road taking the second right onto Old Carrickbrack Road.
Continue forward onto Windgate Road.
At T-junction turn left onto Balkill road.
Continue onto Balglass Road.
Entering the village turn right and right again at the church.
Continue forward on Thormanby Road turning right onto Balkill Road at the Summit Inn.
Continue forward on Balkill Road turning left at Windgate Road.
Continue forward onto Old Carrickbrack Road.
At the T-junction turn right onto Carrickbrack Road.
Continue onto Greenfield Road and return to Sutton Cross.

I used to do this quite regularly. It's about 20km and there is plenty of climbing if you live this side of the city and don't feel like the trek across town to the mountains. Balglass Road is a nice little climb but I would advise caution on the way down. I ignored my own advise and ended up on my back!

Chips Lovell

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

How would Howth, the second jpeg route, compare to the likes of Slieve Maan. I have yet to tackle that one and am slightly intimidated by the prospect.

Slieve Maan by far the harder. According to Toporoute (which is crap for plotting rides, but good for checking out climbs, Howth from the village side is 2km with an average gradient of 5.4%. Slive Maan is 3.5km, with an average gradient of 7.4%.