18 months ago I was puffing like an old steam engine and failing to crest most of the climbs around here. I went and got checked out, had some tests and was diagnosed mild asthmatic.
I tried the inhaler and found it didn't help so binned it and just persevered with the hills.
Fast forward to now. I'm 20 lbs lighter and have conquered all of the toughest climbs in my locality. Asthmatic my @rse. It was just a fitness issue.
On the subject of heart rate, the climbs that were defeating me had me up in the high 180s. Same climbs I now am in the 150s and hardly blowing.
I'll be 65 in October
If you are mastering the hills around Pendle you are doing well. I live in Southport and do most of my cycling around S. W. Lancs and Merseyside which is a very flat area. My wife and I occasionally have a trip out to the Pendle / Bowland area and to say the hills there are challenging compared to here is an understatement.
I was speaking to an old schoolmate a couple of years ago, who now lives up that way and reckons that, as a result of cycling round there for many years, he can breeze up most hills, but isn't too quick sprinting in flat areas - maybe its a case of how your body trains itself in its usual environment?
Round here, you have to get out towards Parbold / Wigan before meeting anything resembling a real hill, and about a year ago, I started going that way deliberately to improve my "hill skill". I have noticed an improvement and I would say consistently challenging yourself without over-exerting yourself will bring improvement.
P.S. How did you lose the 20lbs, was it a deliberate thing, or a side effect of your cycling? I only ask because despite my cycling, I still carry quite a bit of excess weight.
