When preparing for a HM distance, I would walk .3 miles to neighborhood entrance, and then start running on path adjacent to main road Then I would follow this route and actually cover 3 different roads. All mileage is out and back up to 10 miles. Greater than 10 miles, then I have a 5.5 mile loop which I can run 2x and then add miles in neighborhood to achieve the desired distance.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
I'll usually start at my house and run a four or five mile loop then come back to my house and run a different four or five mile loop, etc...I am lucky that I have a lot of options as to which direction I go.
Goddess of the Cuisine
When I did long runs, I stuck to my 'hood unless I was meeting up with someone.
In transit, arriving on time.
I either drive to a nearby trail (10 min away), run through neighborhoods to get to another nearby trail (1.5 miles away), or I drive to run with my running club (15 min away).
5k - 25:15 (11/18/12)
10k - 1:01:51 (2/14/15)
10mi - 1:33:18 (3/2/14)
HM - 2:06:12 (3/24/13)
Upcoming Races:
Benched until further notice. :/
Everything you need is already inside. [[Bill Bowerman]]
I change it up a lot. Sometimes I run on the rails-to-trails bike trail just a couple miles from my house - I can go 10 miles one direction, or go the other and link up to trails that go 50+ miles the other. Or I run from my small town on trails and streets to the larger town and through some of it's parks. Or I run the streets around my town and the surrounding rural area.
I have, in times of very bad weather, done LRs on the TM, or a combo of TM and indoor track, but that is a last resort. I have also driven to run on trails in nearby parks, but usually only if I have a trail race coming up. And I sometimes join a group of friends in a town 10 miles away; to make a long run, we usually end up doing 2-4x around a loop they have through the town.
20,000 miles behind me, the world still to see.
Wandering Wally
It varies. Sometimes I go out on a rail trail, sometimes forest single track. In the winter I am mostly confined to roads due to snow conditions and then I'll just chain together neighborhoods to get the distance I want.
Run! Just Run!
Trail Runner Nation Podcast
I live within 5 miles of four county Forest Preserves where I run on packed mulit-use dirt trails. And when I get bored with them, there are quite a few more FP and two state parks within 12 miles.
I can head out my door and do several runs, but I generally do the same out and back. I know the miles on that one and I like the hills. When doing long runs there are a few side routes that can be added to the route to total 20 miles or so. I'm thinking of running right after work from my work place to take advantage of the remaining daylight. That would be pretty flat for the most part, but there would be a lot more traffic to contend with.
During the summer I did my long runs around Liberty State Park along the waterfront, have to put up with ALOT of tourists though, lately I've been doing multiple loops around a park.
My favorite long run route is at the beach but it's only about 9 miles. I've also been known to run long at boring venues like the track or even on the treadmill.
Antipodean
I run all kinds of places, but for a long run (mine aren't too long, yet) I like to do one big huge loop. I love the challenge of being able to run to places I normally drive to. I like to include some paved bike paths through parks or green belts as well as city streets. Sometimes I drive to other areas such as big city parks or the waterfront area where there are long out and backs that are scenic too. Then I have my fallback route, a 2.5k path around a park that's dead flat and I can do it as many times as I like.
One of the things I like most about running is actually planning my routes on mapmyrun.
Julie
"It's not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."
~ Sir Edmund Hillary
Mostly harmless
I drive about 20 minutes away to the C&O Canal tow path and do all of my long runs there. The tow path is 185 miles of well maintained, flat trails. It's a nice contrast to my weekday runs in the very hilly neighborhood where I live.
"It doesn’t matter how often you do it or how much you accomplish, in general, not running is a lot easier than running." - Meb Keflezighi
Dr. Cornsitter
Anything up to 9 miles, I can run around the outermost streets and paths of the little island I live on. If I need more than that, I have the full length of Revere Beach to add various lengths of out & back miles to add. Distance from my house to Carey Circle (northernmost point of Revere Beach) is just over 4 miles, so I can get about 18 miles + or - that I can get. When I actually need those distances, I will let you know. Longest long run at this point is only ten miles.
I spend a lot of weekends down on the Cape (Cape Cod for those who are not local) and map out routes with my Endomondo and get creative. My most perfect run (you know, those runs that are just STELLAR and you feel like you could double it up bc it was so great) was a 10 mile loop through all the streets of my childhood down on the Cape.
I just love running where there is beach. Go figure.
Quote from BeachRunner3234 on 6/25/2013 at 8:20 PM:
So I'm currently sitting with a bag of frozen corn in my ass.