Ode To My Running Routes

We're moving. And perhaps the biggest change with moving won't be the house itself, the mortgage payment or the commute. But the running options.

When searching for our new home, we found plenty of houses that we loved but that were, as I called them, "land locked." My definition of "land locked" means the only way out of your neighborhood is a narrow two-lane road that is not safe to run on. These houses were automatic deal breakers. Our new home will be run-able, but as I stated above, the running options will be entirely new and different. 

But in this post I don't want to talk about our future neighborhood. I want to wish a proper farewell to our home of 15 years, the home that got me outside every day instead of on a gym treadmill Monday through Friday. 

Here are the top 10 things that I LOVE about my running routes today, that have been part of my daily routine for 15 years. 

10. Variety. From my house I can run in multiple directions and through multiple neighborhoods. Even though I do tend to get bored of my same routes, there are places I can go if I really want a change.

9. Fresh Pavement. Within the past year, they paved my neighborhood with smooth asphalt and they did the same to almost all the roads I run on. There is nothing like fresh, smooth asphalt!

8. Safety. I run mostly on neighborhood roads and I have never once feared for my safety. I often encounter other runners and walkers. The roads are generally well lit. I typically don't run on thru-streets so the only cars on the road are those people leaving their homes in the morning.

7. Flat, Hilly, or Mixed. I can make my runs as hilly or as flat as I want them. There are some routes that are mostly flat, and some routes that are quite hilly. I usually choose the flat routes for easy runs. Those routes are not entirely flat, but the hills aren't very long or steep.

6. Wide Roads.
If you've ever watched one of my Instagram videos, you know that I run mostly on neighborhood roads. And there aren't many cars. This is thanks to the roads being wide. There is enough room for cars to be parked on both sides of the street AND for two cars to be driving on the street passing each other, AND for me. So imagine a scenario where you have cars parked on both sides of the road, and there are cars coming from both directions. Well, there's still plenty of room for me to run. The roads are that wide.

5. Perfectly Placed Hills. One of these wide roads is a hill that's about a quarter of a mile long. It's perfect for hill repeats. My hill repeats usually last 60-90 seconds and this hill is the perfect grade and distance. It's not too steep but it's definitely a hill. This hill is located about a mile and a half from my house so it's perfect to run the warm up and cool down there and back. There is another hill that's about twice the distance that I use for my 2-minute hill repeats. It's similar to heartbreak hill. It's not incredibly steep but it is long. Finally, there is an area that's almost completely flat but has one hill in it. A common workout of mine is tempo/hills/tempo so I can run the tempo on the flat portion and have the hill for the hill repeats in the middle.

4. Plowing in the Winter. They are very good about plowing my neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods. If it snows overnight or in the morning, I know that road will be plowed by the middle of the day. Last winter we had a few periods of heavy snow and I only had to use the treadmill a few times. There was one winter when Greg and I needed to do a long run before leaving on vacation. Our neighborhood was not plowed but we found one about a mile away that was plowed and it was a big loop we ran 14 times around.

3. A Track. I can run to my local track in 2.3 miles. Sometimes I drive there and sometimes I drive halfway there, depending on how long I want my warmup and cool down to be. But it's nice to have a track that's open to the public that is within running distance. I also have a group of friends who runs on this track most Tuesdays, which is nice. 

2. Ending at Coffee. I live less than a mile away from a plaza with a coffee shop, a smoothie place, and a grocery store. I like to finish my runs there and walk home with my coffee or my smoothie. Or even pick up some groceries afterwards!

1. The Perfect Tempo Neighborhood. About 2.5 miles away from me is a neighborhood that's mostly flat (just a few inclines and declines) and it goes on, and on, and on, forever. It's perfect for tempo runs and marathon pace runs. Sometimes I run to it, and other times I drive there so I can use my car as a water station. The roads are wide, there is no through traffic on most of them, and it's well shaded. I think this is what I will miss most of all. 

Many of these things will also apply to my new neighborhood, but in a different way. I think the biggest difference will be narrow roads and a generally hillier topography. Narrow, hilly roads instead of wide, flat roads. I am sure I will get used to it! There will also be things about the new area that will be better than my current area. 

We still have a bit more time left to enjoy our current house which we will miss dearly! Every time I run I take a moment to appreciate how "lucky" I got with this particular area in terms of running route options.

If you are looking to move to a different area and you are an avid runner, it's worth thinking about these things and really sizing up the running landscape before choosing a new home.