Mmmmm...beer
I've done them in the neighborhood, which was just my daily 8 mile route twice, not optimal, but it worked. I prefer to go out to an 8.3 mile (one way) out and back "trail". They call it a trail, but it's really just an old section of highway that was shutdown when the new highway was built, they turned it into a biking/running park. It's nice because there's good scenery, every 1/4 mile is marked, and you don't have to worry about getting hit by a car so you can completely zone out.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
I run on paved trails as much as I can. I like not having to stop for lights!
I don't do long runs but I have a 10 mile route around my neighbourhood that I do pretty much all of my runs on. It is really an out-and-back with several smaller loops along it so I can lengthen or shorten my run as needed. I guess if I ever get into doing longer runs I could run some of those smaller loops twice.
Jess runs for bacon
Great replies people, keep 'em coming!
Fatty McFatFat
I drive down to my gym, and start from there. Most of the time I do a combination of a out and back on a bike trail (close to three miles one way) then down the road to a run by the river. I run in Cambridge, and part of the run goes through Harvard square, where I get to practice my dodging skills on weekends.
I go to the local bike path, which is out and back 5 miles each way. I have never run more than 10 miles (thanks to injury), so I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I get to that point. I'll probably take a road off the bike path and run around a neighborhood or something.
I have never tried "looping" anything because I'm afraid that would be monotonous...like a treadmill or a track (IMO).
levitation specialist
I run on the paved trails by my house. We live 2 miles from the end of a trail that runs all through Lincoln. I can run a whole marathon or ultra on them if I wanted and never leave the trail system. Heck, you can take crushed rock trails down to the Kansas boarder and all the way to Omaha. We have a really nice trail system. I do run often enough on the same parts that I tend to run 3 runs just randomly off the end of our driveway around the local area streets. We live by a golf course and by 3 lakes. And it is very hilly, so I figure I get scenery with my hill workouts!
There's a park about 2 miles from the house. I can run there, get lost on the trails in there and make it add up to 15 miles without repeating any parts of the route. That's been plenty for the mileage I'm doing this year. The only thing is, it does get stale after a while. I'm starting to look for nearby trails just to break the routine. "Nearby" to me means, I have to spend less time driving than I do running.
not lazy, just tired
I drive 5 minutes or so to a rail trail or 20 minutes to a reservoir. One loop on the dirt trail around the reservoir is a little less than 4 miles, a pretty spot so I don't mind going around it more than once.
Not if it makes sense.
I rave about my route all the time. I'm just a short walk away from a beautifully maintained, asphalt paved 16 mile riverwalk. There are bathrooms and water fountains at various points along its length and it's fairly well lit at night. It goes from an urban downtown area to densely wooded sections and then along a migratory bird sanctuary. I see everything from hobos to herds of deer during my run. I never have to run the same route twice in a row, either. I can split off the riverwalk and take scenic detours too.
Man... I am one lucky runner. I've been running in this place for a solid 10 years... still not tired of it.
I rave about my route all the time. I'm just a short walk away from a beautifully maintained, asphalt paved 16 mile riverwalk. There are bathrooms and water fountains at various points along its length and it's fairly well lit at night. It goes from an urban downtown area to densely wooded sections and then along a migratory bird sanctuary. I see everything from hobos to herds of deer during my run. I never have to run the same route twice in a row, either. I can split off the riverwalk and take scenic detours too. Man... I am one lucky runner.
Man... I am one lucky runner.
Yeah you are. Sounds like heaven!
Oh, every now and then a bicyclist will infuriate me.
I hope heaven's not like that.
No more marathons
I just head out the door. Two miles on rural roads (one hill that I hate, but oh well), two miles in town (yeah, all 7,500 people), one mile at the college, then on to an exercise path that connects to a national forest. Total distance determined by how far out I go, Round trip is anywhere from 9 to 22 - even more if I wanted to add more in the forest (I'm not yet into those kind of miles).
Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
He's a leaker!
I've had to do them on the treadmill or indoor track (ours is 1/12th of a mile) ... But I prefer to be outside.
If I need to keep the run flat, I'll run through my neighborhood. An easy way to get additional mileage without going out as far is to run up and down the cul-de-sacs. (We have a number of those where I live.)
If I don't need to keep the run flat, I'll go down into the Valley and do most of my run on the paved all-purpose path.
Every so often (maybe once every couple of months) I'll drive out and run on the Towpath or even on the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.