Today I wanted to turn my training into more of a challenge so I decided to try and take on a vertical mile challenge. It’s something that can be done anywhere that you can get yourself some elevation; so if you’ve got a mountain, a hill, or even a few steps you can make your own vertical challenge. While I know that some people are fully stuck at home, it’s good to see lots of countries are still allowing people to go out daily for some exercise and it’s been great to see more people working out now that they’ve got some more time so I thought I’d put the details down in case anyone felt inspired to take on a vertical challenge of their own.
The most common format of a vertical challenge that I’ve seen is the vertical mile. Put simply, that means accumulating 1 mile of elevation gain (or 1.609km to those of us who work in kms!) in whatever distance and time that takes.
Singapore doesn’t have many options for elevation gain but I was inspired by a friend who had completed an Everesting Challenge (you can listen to the Endurance Asia Podcast about Scott’s feat here: https://www.enduranceasia.com/podcasts/freetorun or check out the data from his beast of a challenge here: https://www.strava.com/activities/2929536727).
So, I decided to hit up Bukit Timah hill and take on the lap from the bottom of Dairy Farm Car Park B up to the summit of the hill. (I actually stopped just before the summit as it had actually been blocked off to encourage social distancing and there were too many people right at the top but you can see the route from the map below. This seemed like the better option than the actual hill which is concrete all the way up and tough to run in a number of sections, especially 10+ times. However, I am pretty sure I covered approximately 100,000 steps today during my attempt so who knows, lol.
The route I took from the bottom of Dairy Farm up to the Summit of BT HIll.
Each lap is roughly 1.9km and around 140m of elevation and as you can see from the picture, I didn’t make it to the mile of gain I had set out for. It turned out I had bitten off more than I could chew with this challenge and when i finished the first lap in around 20minutes, some quick maths told me it was going to take a fair while longer than I had originally anticipated. (Always the queen of ‘sure, I can do that!’).
It is safe to say that I did not give the preparation to this challenge that it deserved. I did a huge beach WOD on Saturday where we accumulated 1000 reps and a 1mile beach run then did a 90mins strength session on Sunday…. not the ideal conditions to wake up Monday morning and spend 4 + hours chugging up and down Bukit Timah Hill. So, you know what they say, fail to prepare, prepare to fail and all that jazz!
I had also been training for Sprints and Supers before the race season had been blown apart so the longest run I had done in months had been 90mins, so when I hit half way at 2 hours I had to assess the challenge.
These are very much not excuses, more observations I had mid workout and realistically, I could have got through it. I could have put my head down and through power hiking and running combos I reckon I could have ticked off the mile of vert BUT it didn’t seem worth the risk of an injury (I’ve got much more sensible in my old age) plus, I misjudged my fuelling alongside misjudging how long it would take me and therefore also had no more fuel at 2.30 hours … doh. So I decided that 1000m (or 1km) of vertical gain was pretty decent for a reccie run and now that I know what to expect, I will be putting some training in and will be back to finish this one for sure! It feels quite nice at the moment to have unfinished business with it and something to focus on in training so it’s no crying shame.
So, if you’re in Singapore - give it a go! Or maybe you’ve already done it? I’d love to know what times people have done it in so please do drop a comment below if you have!
That moment you realise you’ve got a lot more of a challenge than you thought!
1000ms of vertical gain and a huge sense of achievement!
If you’re anywhere else in the world and still heading out for a daily run, why not add in a vertical challenge? Most watches now can track elevation so all you need to do is set yourself a goal and throw your trainers on! It doesn’t need to be as ambitious as a mile, set something that will challenge you! Whatever you set, it gives a good variation to the normal pace / distance we normally track! Tag us in your efforts too - we’re being so inspired in fitness around the world at the moment and would love to see where you’ve taken on your vertical challenge!
Stay safe wherever you are guys,
Jessie x
The Stats:
Elevation: 1000m
Time: 2:31:30
Distance: 13.38km
Fuel:
Pre: Nothing
During: Tailwind (I am REALLY enjoying the new cola flavor!)
After: Tailwind Refuel then a huge lunch from VIOS which I am really enjoying.
Kit: Scotts Supertrac trail shoes, (They’re a bargain at Red Dot at the moment if you want a pair: https://www.rdrc.sg/collections/scott-running/products/scott-supertrac-ultra-rc-women)
Instinct Trail Pack, Lilytrotter compression socks, Knockaround sunglasses (I have developed an addiction for these apparently).
Animal Encounters: Waited for some monkeys to have their fun on the trail, a black snake with a red stripe down it’s back slithered across my toe at one point (I handed it like the giant wimp I am) and I spotted a few boars in the trees.
Update: April 8th 2020.
Today I went back to the hill to see if I could have another shot at this vertical mile. I learnt from my mistakes, had a couple of rice cakes beforehand and went at the challenge with a much more ready mindset. I forgot to have a rest day before but it was certainly easier than the two huge workouts I had done the week before the last attempt. Mentally I was in such a different place and I felt strong until 1000m. After that things got tough and the last 400m in particular was a real slog. But, as I reached my final loop I realised I could go sub 4 hours if I really pushed. Somewhere I found a bit of extra energy and managed to run the final loop, getting to the top in 9minutes - my quickest ascent of the day! I hit 1609 on the dot at 3:54:08, coming in pretty securely within the sub-4hour. I kept my fuelling consistent this time and was taking on 1 serving of tailwind every hour, which kept my energy levels consistent. This is a really good challenge and one I think I could come back and be quicker at - we’ll see how my body feels about that tomorrow!
The Stats:
Elevation: 1609m
Time: 3:54:08
Distance: 21.77km
Fuel:
Pre: 2 x rice cakes (woke up a bit late to be able to have much more)
During: Tailwind x 4 (Mixed up the Cola with the berry flavour which is also really good!)
After: Tailwind Refuel - Chocolate all the way.
Kit: Scotts Supertrac trail shoes, Instinct Trail Pack, Lilytrotter compression socks.
Animal Encounters: Nothing! But everyone I ran past (not many people due to the new social distancing rules was super friendly and said a cheery hello from afar which really helped keep me going!
You can see my Strava read out here: https://www.strava.com/activities/3269479162