Long runs

emilyjaneelizabeth

Where do you run your long runs? I live in a small town. A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances and I'd love to know where other people do theirs.

RoxieDawn

I live on top of a mountain.. really I do. My small neighborhood where I live (4 corner cul-de-sac) is .98 miles from corner to corner. I can start in my neighborhod and do as many of those miles as needed before hitting the "offical road"..

But after many runs around where I live I have been able to map out 2 long run courses (up to 11 miles) and one includes doing laps around a tiny lake in a neighborhood that I might get ticketed one day for trespassing.

I have plenty of hills for hill work.. LOL

T0M_K

emilyjaneelizabeth wrote: »

Where do you run your long runs? I live in a small town. A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances and I'd love to know where other people do theirs.

what would be wrong with take multiple laps?

emilyjaneelizabeth

Nothin

Tomk652015 wrote: »

emilyjaneelizabeth wrote: »

Where do you run your long runs? I live in a small town. A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances and I'd love to know where other people do theirs.

what would be wrong with take multiple laps?

There's nothing wrong with multiple laps. I'm really just curious what other people do.

JenHuedy

I live in a town about the size of yours. I'll sometimes run on back roads, but I worry about traffic. Usually I use long runs as an excuse to go to area trails and run. If I'm going to be running 2+ hours, throwing in an extra hour round-trip driving isn't going to be a big deal. I get to enjoy some nice nature trail time AND avoid running in traffic! I found a lakeside trail for if I'm in the mood for a nice flat, easy run. And a hilly trail I like when I want a challenge. And sometimes I'm in the mood to explore and go find a new trail and have fun!

Look around your local county and state parks. Some cities have pretty good trail systems, too. I live near a college town that has a lot of multi-use biking/pedestrian trails that are great for winter long runs when the snow is a challenge.

pondee629

I go to Map my Run, give it my starting address and start plotting routes on streets and paths. I find this to be very helpful when on vacations. I can map out a route, or two, from where we are staying. The created maps show elevation and distance.

"A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances..." I'll assume that there are roads leading out of and into your town? Are they safe to run on?

lporter229

Anywhere and everywhere, really. Mostly my long runs are done around the area where I live. I live in a large sub division, so for anything over 6-8 miles, I exit the sub division and run around town. I try to avoid main roads if possible, especially if there is no shoulder. I also have plenty of bike path options where I live. I drive to parks or paths to run.

BeeerRunner

I'm kind of a dork so I map my runs out in advance to create a route that's the distance I want to run. I wanted to get some hill work in, but my neighborhood is very flat, so I ran in a nearby neighborhood I knew was hilly, but mapped out the distance to create a route in advance. There is also a running/biking trail along a river that runs through town that is over 20 miles long with various trail heads to start at. So, I'll do an out and back for the distance I want to run. I also run at other parks with long trails and run for the distance I planned. I like trail running too, but I currently have all road races coming up, so I haven't hit the trails much lately. If I'm preparing for a road race, I make sure to run mostly paved trails or on roads. If I'm preparing for a trail race, I run trail runs on the weekend unless they are too muddy.

Are there any parks or state parks nearby? That's where I prefer to do my long runs for the scenery.

You can also do multiple laps. I certainly do that in my neighborhood and the park next to my neighborhood. However, I hate seeing the same thing over and over again...I like to change it up...especially on the weekends. During the week, I usually run in my neighborhood, but my long runs are on the weekends.

stealthq

I live in Dallas near part of the bike/walk trail system. The bit I'm near could take me downtown in 3-4 mi, but I always head the other direction. The trail I start on joins up with another at a bit over 2 mi, and that trail makes a 9+ mi loop around a lake. I usually just go out, around the lake (for half-marathon distance runs) and back.

The lake trail connects with a couple of other trails that I may take if and when I get to running closer to marathon distance, but I suspect I'll just keep looping around the lake. It's pretty, has lots of people and critters to see and bugs to inadvertently eat.

VioletRojo

I can scratch out about 10 miles worth of running route in the town where I live, the roads are just not safe enough to run along. So, I go to a local lake and run around it or down the river path with is 23 miles long.

trailrunner81

Another small town runner here. I am lucky enough to have trails nearby so when I need to get long runs in I can run on the back roads, just a simple out and back, or I can run some loop runs where I start on a trail and come back on a different road. I have many different options based on what mileage I am hoping to achieve.

You've got lots of great advice in this thread, hope you find something that works for you.

shanae727

anywhere and everywhere. Once I finished a mile in my house running around my island in the kitchen. But if I can only run around my block I will do that 20 times if I have to. I typically run the same route twice 6 ish miles and then split it up and take different side streets to get to 10-15 miles. Or run on the other side of the street. LOL! Whatever gets you to your goal!

Backtolovely

I used to live rurally, so I would take long runs on the countryside, trying to push and see if I could go further each time! Good times lol

jhall260

Another small town here. I usually will do my longer runs out on country roads, or farm roads. We also have a great multi use path that circles our community, its about 25 miles long.

josavage

I live near trails that run along a river. It's about a mile for me to run there and then I have a multiple choices on which way to go. If it's dark out or the trails are iced over, I stick to running through my neighborhood.

emilyjaneelizabeth

pondee629 wrote: »

I go to Map my Run, give it my starting address and start plotting routes on streets and paths. I find this to be very helpful when on vacations. I can map out a route, or two, from where we are staying. The created maps show elevation and distance.

"A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances..." I'll assume that there are roads leading out of and into your town? Are they safe to run on?

Some of them probably would be fine, but most of the ones I know of would make me worried. I live on a 1.5 mile road. At the end of the road in one direction is a state highway and at the other end is a busier road with no shoulder, so I wouldn't want to run on those. I used to live in a very rural place where I could go for miles without having to worry about traffic at all and before that I lived in a larger city with a very nice trail/park system, so there were paved running trails and/or unpaved trails to do longer distances on which were easily accessible. I wasn't running then and didn't realize how nice I had it!

There is a lot of good advice here. Thanks!

Asher_Ethan

My neighborhood is exceptionally hilly and I hate it. I've tried for years to embrace the hills but I hate them so. I'm training for my first marathon, Rock and Roll marathon in Vegas so extremely flat, I've started running the local high school and middle school track for my long runs (alternating between the 2 to try to not be as bored).

MeanderingMammal

emilyjaneelizabeth wrote: »

Where do you run your long runs? I live in a small town. A 4 mile makes a square around most of town. I'd love to run longer distances and I'd love to know where other people do theirs.

It depends on how I feel. I try to do anything more than 10 miles on trail. I can turn left out of my gate and do between 13 and 16 miles largely on trails, if I turn right I'm on about 50% road vs trail, so that'll do me for anything up to 25 miles.

BeeerRunner

stealthq wrote: »

I live in Dallas near part of the bike/walk trail system. The bit I'm near could take me downtown in 3-4 mi, but I always head the other direction. The trail I start on joins up with another at a bit over 2 mi, and that trail makes a 9+ mi loop around a lake. I usually just go out, around the lake (for half-marathon distance runs) and back.

The lake trail connects with a couple of other trails that I may take if and when I get to running closer to marathon distance, but I suspect I'll just keep looping around the lake. It's pretty, has lots of people and critters to see and bugs to inadvertently eat.

@stealthq I'm in the DFW area but over on the Fort Worth side. I referred to the Trinity River Trail system above. If you ever want to road trip it over to Tarrant County, the Trinity River Trails are excellent for long distance runs too.

https://www.traillink.com/trail-maps/fort-worth-branch-(trinity-river-trails).aspx

Chieflrg

I have a few state parks within 10 min drives with horse trails that are nice to get lost in. Otherwise I just Forrest Gump the city streets...

BasicGreatGuy

I have some local trails nearby, as well as some paved park paths that are close to the trails. I have the best of both long run options. Trail running with some hills and waterfalls and wildlife etc., as well as paved paths that afford me the easy option of cutbacks back to the different trails.

Without having to drive more than 5 miles, I can do runs anywhere from 5 miles to 30+. Speaking of which, I have a 31 mile run planned for tomorrow (5am). Can't wait. I love running long distance.

dewd2

I live close to a city that has a great 20 mile path to run and ride on. I also live close enough to a few rail trails that I can easily get 20+ miles in. When I'm not running there I venture to different parts of Central Pennsylvania and run with several local running groups. There is a great running community here.

DancingMoosie

I do my"long" runs on Sunday on a track. Yes, I have to do many figure 8loops, but I feel safe and there is shade and a restroom nearby. The longest run I've done is 8, my usual is around 6 miles.