Hey there girlie,
How are ya? I just saw that you wrote I could do the hill repeats in Prospect Park but I don’t even know how to do it. What I mean is, how long do you run up the hill for? 1 min? 3 min? 1/4 mile? This is the part I get confused with.
Is Cat Hill a certain distance that is perfect for the hill repeats or it doesn’t matter how long the hill is? I mean, does it matter how HIGH the hill is?
I am such a running dork. BONDI BANDS ARE FREAKING AWESOME!!! I love them. I have two and I need more!!! No more floppy hair in my eyes. They even make hats for the winter with a little hole for a ponytail.
Thanks TK!!
Dear Miss Joy,
Well thank you so much for writing in, I am well and even better now that I’ve heard from you.
This is the thing about hill workouts, the beautiful thing about them. You can pick the hill based on your current fitness level, and then use it untill you flatten it, and then go find a bigger hill to level. Cat Hill is .25 miles long, which I find to be just long enough to get a good burn going. But you may wish to start with a hill that’s just .2 miles long, if you find five times of that that is difficult enough.
For example, two weeks ago I ran Cat Hill five times, but stopped at .18 miles. Last week I ran the same hill five times, but extended my push up to .25 miles. This week, I will run the .25 mile incline six times. It took me an average of 1:48 to get up the longer hill, about 20 seconds slower than the shorter version. As long as the incline is steep enough to elevate your heart rate, you can use it for a workout. As it gets easier, you can add repeats, increase your speed or find a steeper or longer hill.
As to your other comment, some of my favorite people are running dorks. So glad the Bondi Bands have worked out for you — I have never used one myself but my friend Sarah swears by them. Maybe I’ll try them when they make hats with two holes for my pigtails.
Run on, sugar.
TK
P.S. — hopefully some other readers of PF will add their collective wisdowm about hill repeats in the comments section, too.
Pigtails Flying 
I think I have 25 Bondi Bands now. But I can’t find my “Will Run For Beer” one! Tragedy!
Why thank you TK! Your answer has helped me greatly! Now, I can attack the hill from behind! NOT! :O)
Seriously, I will do a few hill workouts before the NYC Half Marathon. Well, maybe 1 hill workout. FOR NOW!!
Someday, we will run together. My floppy hair in a bondi band and your two pig tails neatly held in place with a hat.
Hey, why do they call it pig tails anway?