Hi Christopher
Thanks for the thoughtful comment and encouragement. And congrats of your comeback after 10 years off!
I’ve never done hill sprints: not from lack of interest, but from lack of running base, plus a history of achilles tendonosis (this was the first of my many sports injuries). It’s hard to develop a decent run base when you’re continually in ‘return to running’ mode, and only running 3x week. Instead, I’d do 3-4 strides after my easy runs – something I continued when I began running more.
I love sprinting so much that I have to be careful to not overdo things, and it’s true hills would make it that much harder to go overboard on the sprints!
There is a very modest hill, maybe 500m long, but nothing remotely sandy: it’s nearly all pavement and cobblestones where I live (central Paris), and even the park trails are gravel and dust. There are some nice tracks further afield, which is where I’d probably start when my surgeon gives me the all-clear for running, which probably will be months from now.
In the meantime, I’m quite happy to focus on fixing my back issues and reinforcing the muscles around my overly-flexible joints.
I just bought some rubber tips to put on my trekking poles, so I am looking forward to introduce nordic walking into my routine soon. For now I’m pretty happy that I could walk the 3km (with a trekking pole as backup) to my most recent physio appointment!
Cheers
Sarah