Hill Reps

[Deleted]

I am off to do some hill reps this week and wanted to know how many I should be looking to do. I'm new to this specific training lark.
I've got a figure of eight loop marked out which goes up the two roads either side of fox hill and down fox hill itself.
should I keep it specific, or just do as many as I can before i drop?

[andyw]

Depends on how long the intervals are, how long the recovery period is and what you plan to do in the days after.

I'd ride the loop once as a taster just to get your eye in and confirm where you plan to start and end each rep. It's also worth doing a loop just to check for pot-holes etc.
First time up the hill at proper intensity, go as fast as possible and make a mental note of your time. As soon as you slip outside a couple of seconds of that time, it's time to go home.
Recovery is difficult to get right with hill reps. If all you do is go straight up and down a hill, the recovery period tends to be too short and inactive. Better to find a triangular circuit where you can have a decent spin along the flat before doing the next climb.
Don't think that by keeping your HR up between intervals is giving you a better workout. It's better to drop to <60%MHR whilst spinning and get 10 quality reps done than it is to keep your HR up at 70% and do 8 rapidly deteriorating reps.