Overshot my 3rd run of JuJu’s Magic Plan with a 6.2 km run, so I’m wondering how other runners keep to the distances, when the routes you have just don’t quite fit those lengths and are not simply out-and-back routes. And do runners prefer an out-and-back long route to work up to 10k or do you measure out each distance?
And I encountered another runner with a FreeTrain V1 Vest! What are the chances!
Pictures are from this morning’s route, the right one being the turning back point of my 4.8km former railway-line route. Beyond this is (sadly) only road running. ☹️ To get to 6.2km I added a street-based circuitous section to get to the start of my usual route.
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CBDB
Graduate10
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Well done CBDB that looks like a nice place to run. I spent a lot of time running round local roads to work out distances and making a mental note how long they were, any footpaths that linked them etc. I did spend a fair amount of early runs going up and down the road to make up the required distance. I now have a fairly detailed knowledge of the local area and I just stitch various sections together to get whatever distance I need.I hope that’s some help.
Can't help with routes as I don't have a system, other than having a vague idea how long certain stretches will take because I've done them so often. I prefer a circular route if possible - it's more interesting.Jealous of the sunshine, its dreary again in Devon!
Yeah, I’d prefer circular, so am still looking. Thanks! (My virtual self is just running through Devon on the RunLEJOG route, so it’s waving to you!) Thank you. 🙏👍🏽
Looks like you had a lovely run. I use a watch to measure my distances. I usually do a there and back run and if I have not quite run the distance I want I turn around and run a bit more. I am hoping that as I run more I won’t get so hung up on running exactly 5k or 10k but just run for the enjoyment of it.
Great run CBDB! 😄 I have a variety of basic routes that I know the length of and I add extra loops, either around a block or around the nearest park at the beginning or ending of my run -preferably at the beginning.
For my longer runs, I’d like to explore new territory further afield - I have a basic route in mind which I adapt and make up as I go along. 😄
Nice. Yes, some extra village loops have worked for me so far, but they feel like such a drag as they are roads and pavements, rather than track. And I can feel the difference. But coming winter darkness I have to get used to running more on pavement anyway. Thanks! 🙏👍🏽
Great run CBDB, I tend to do circular runs, and over the weeks have developed my favourite 4K loop, favourite 5 (can make it 6)k loop, and a great 10k which is a bit of the both of them. It’s been trial and error, but I’m lucky to spend most of my time running around fields 🤣
Nice. I’ve got some fields for the summer, but in winter they become too muddy and unwalkable. But finding one good circular run might be better than doubling and quadrupling back a linear route. Thanks! Enjoy your fields! 👍🏽🙏
Lovely photos, what an amazing sky.When I was doing C25k I actually walked to measure a 5k route as I prefer circular routes. Since crossing the bridge I have mainly been running a longer route I worked out with the help of a map. It's about 8k so I started adding extra wiggles through a housing estate at the beginning, to get it to 10k. My only problem was several times I had to resort to Google maps to find my way out!
Ha ha 😂 yes, sounds familiar, as I got lost a few times as well. Just today I ended up in a dead end as I had only focussed on running. But have yet to find a nice 10k route.
Funny you've just reminded me on my last run I took a different route through the estate and ended up back where I started... No idea how that happened.I'm off to check on maps now 🤣
I just ran a bit further or walked the extra distance home! I also did several Magic Plan runs on holiday, so there was the 5k where I got lost and ended up walking about 4k extra. And what was supposed to be my second 8k ended up being my first 10k. And... well, suffice it to say that you should *not* follow my example! 🤪
My magic plan involved driving to the local woods and promptly getting lost in them, so I can't help you much! But I did have a 5k out and back, and a smaller circular run which started from the same point, so I could cobble together various distances using those. Not so easy in winter - good knowledge of local streets is needed. And being prepared for a nice long walk home 😁
🙂yes, I’m trying to find some routes without having to drive to them. Will explore/walk a new one today and I’m getting more knowledge of my locality than I’ve ever done before! Thanks! 🙏👍🏽
I don't think it matters too much if you go over the distance a little. Having done C25K and the timed version first, I had a pretty good idea of my local geography, so when it came to doing the distance version, I just sort of knew which buts I needed to run to get me to a particular distance. Like a few people have mentioned, I've just become adept at mentally stitching together different segments to create runs of given distances.
I tend to prefer running a "circuit" to and "out and back" but both are preferable to doing laps. I have a very simple rule of thumb that, unless it is absolutely unavoidable, never run up the same hill more than once i any given run.
Because I run after work (not a morning person), during the week it is now fully dark when I head out, so I stick to streetlit pavements around the village or the odd section of very flat, not muddy footpath with my head torch. At the weekends I go out late morning/early afternoon to enjoy the countryside as I lope effortlessly and gracefully (who am I kidding?) through it.
I can pretty much pick out the "split markers" now without even relying on my Garmin as I've ran them so often, but that just helps me put together variations and also means I can change my mind and do other paths mid run if that happens.
I don't really bother much about the distance now, I just head out and do what feels "right" on any given run.
Thanjs! 👍🏽🙏 Agree with never running a hill twice! 😂😂 We walked a new route this Sunday, but I think it’s not a ‘runner’ as it had a long stretch of road without pedestrian walkways.
So when searching online I found a different route and might try that one this week! They all add to my future patchwork, as at the moment I just don’t have enough sections close enough to each other to stitch together.
Out and back route for a long time, and realised that many of the runners I met were all doing the same. Now found a circular route but it is about 12k which I can’t do running but can run part and then walk the rest. Slowly working up to running it all. Downside is it is tempting to do it each time, so for short runs go one way back and forth, long run I go the other way in the day I plan a long run.
I tend to use a tool like the Garmin website's "Courses" planner to work out a likely route for a particular distance.
The route I'm following during most of my runs at the moment ends almost exactly 6km from the start (with a fair bit of shedding of elevation).
I planned out a 6.7km course for use next month (long downhill at the start, a big hill up, then a longer hill down and the remainder almost flat), and walked it yesterday, just to see what state it was in. It's just as well I did as one section would have required wellies.
I have already plotted out a 7.2km route, a 8.4km route, a 9.9km route and a couple of 10.2km routes, all circular, with enough padding at start and end for warm-up and cool-down walks.
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