The Hill Repeat: Goldmine Trail at San Tan Regional Park

Goldmine Hill Climb

Like every runner, I have read plenty in Runner’s World, Trail Runner, and Ultra Running Magazine to know *exactly* what I should do to achieve awesomeness. Right? Right?! Actually, I know so much about it that whenever I get a new mag, admittedly, I skip past the short articles on tempo runs, hill repeats and the long run and go straight to the race reports and exotic destination event pages, because, after all, that information is for newbies. 😉 I know what it takes to train well.
Too bad knowing and doing are two very different things!! When I was younger and had a coach dictating my every move, I did all the right things and reaped the benefits; since then, though, training is sandwiched into a full-time teaching schedule, parenting two elementary aged children, caring for my home, being a wife and keeping the pets alive…except for the fish, they kind of die often. Suffice it to say, smart training has been hit or miss based on my current motivation level. Currently, I’m enjoying a season of high motivation! 👍😀  So, this morning I took on Goldmine Trail in San Tan Regional Park and muscled out a few hill repeats…because I know I should.

Why Goldmine? 

Goldmine Trail at San Tan Regional Park is 2.5mi and when you park at the main entrance you enjoy a gradual one mile incline perfectly suited for a warm up.  Every good hill has a clear start line…my choice happens to be the “Little Saguaro Before the Big Cholla”.

Little Saguaro Before the Big Cholla

From here there’s a little more than a half mile of steep technical trail before reaching a saddle that sharply drops down to the north Wagon Wheel Trailhead entrance. Several I saw this morning had gone up one side, down the other and back again. That is certainly doable, but the north side has large sections that aren’t runnable, so today I stuck to repeats on the south side.

Why Hill Repeats?

In Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons, author and ultra runner Bryon Powell says, “In some regards, aiming for smooth, steady, low-key efforts in training and racing can yield an overall positive result. However, if you’ve got the mental sharpness and tenacity gained in fighting through sharp pain … well, you can squeeze more blood out of the stone at the end of the same smart and steady ultramarathon effort.”

The first half of this Goldmine repeat will have you crying, “Uncle!” and therefore training yourself to squeeze more blood out of the proverbial ultra stone.

Very Technical: Careful on the Downhill!

The Steep First Half

All joking aside, hill training is widely known as “speed training in disguise”, as Frank Shorter once put it, and hill repeats strengthen those muscles we need to continue driving the knees in order to finish an ultra.

The second half, with its lesser grade and tiny downhill finish to the saddle bench, renews confidence enough to start another and stores muscle memory for running hills on fatigued legs. That part of the climb is a nice mental break, but a lot like forgetting the pain of childbirth. I was aiming for 5 babies, I mean repeats, today, but wised up after 4.

Quality Over Quantity

I’ve always been told when doing any kind of repeat, hill, track, or otherwise, that once the quality of the effort diminishes, it’s time to be done. I noticed on my 4th hill climb today that the runnable sections were reduced to power hikes and my right hip flexor was noticeably fatigued. Even though I thought 5 was doable, I was content with 4, remembering quality over quantity is usually a solid bet. I made my final descent to the “Little Saguaro Before the Big Cholla” start line and cruised and cooled down another mile to the car. Totaled just over 6miles for the entire effort and felt great sticking out a tough workout solo.