In addition to what time affects your run, location is the biggest environmental factor that will affect what type of run you will end up having. Usually I am an urban jungle junkie, concrete pounder, road runner whatever you want to call it out of necessity and convenience. I have the fortunate circumstances of living near a sandy stretch of beach part of the year, and that helps add variety, but for the most part when I am in for the long haul in my VFFs it is usually on man made material.
And though I feel as if trail running in a park is wonderful, it still is not the same as running in the wild, untamed and unkempt forest or somewhere where you can forget civilization and other people exist. It seems as if few of these places are right there in our backyards, so often we must be flexible and bend to the will of our circumstances.
Like I said, while I usually split my time between city streets and the beach with its boardwalk, I sometimes have a chance to hit some trails. This past week alone I’ve gone and done trails in the forest and it has been great. I was shocked to learn there were legitimate trails right outside of Richmond that wound for miles around the various cemeteries in the area. The run not only featured forests but ran my group and I through rocky patches which my VFFs did not appreciate and neither did my feet. But overall I was grateful for the escape into honeysuckle lined trees and winding dirt paths as a great change of pace.
Later that week I had the chance to up the stakes and put my VFFs through this all over again and more, which I will review in a later post as I put my Treks through mud, trails, and rocks at Richmond’s Belle Isle.
So my question to you FiveFingers fans is: Where do you run! What types of scenery and surfaces do you enjoy? Where should I try next? (and, are there hidden running routes I am missing if you are familiar at all with Richmond or eastern VA?)
Leave a comment and let us know!
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada… just outside the city, there are hundreds of trails along the escarpment… lots of roots, rocks, elevation, with tons of wildlife… in my KSO Treks, nothing like it..
American Tobacco Trail…Umstead..anywhere up in the Appalachian Mountains. So many awesome random little trails branching off the main ones. Tis lovely!
Suburban bike paths and around soccer fields. I would love some forest runs on a dirt trail but none are close enough for convenience.
I live in the flattest boringest country in the world: the Netherlands. To get my kicks I sometimes run in fields. But mostly I just run on the road.
I’m considering driving up to forrests just to run there. However, I’m still building up to longer distances. I can go for about 20 minutes now. It’s not worth driving an hour for yet :)
Like Bart, I live in flat boring country. Wheat fields and red dirt get old quickly. I’d love to see some nice trails. Although, as a people watcher, running in the city isn’t bad either.
Most of my runs are from my home in south central PA. Fortunately I am locate at the base of the mountains and away from most civilization that my runs are filled with nature. Though much of my runs are over the road there are a number of trails I will frequent as a change of scenery. Early morning runs are typically the best, traffic is light & the sunrises are beautiful.
I like running in the parks or going for some trail-running in the near-by forests. I like terrains that tend to be varied: sand, gravel, rocks, roots, grass…having to always keep concentrated on the next steps makes it more interesting. I’d love to run more in the city, but the air is terrible (..cars and stuff).
Brooklyn’s Prospect Park when I am running outdoors, I run on the dirt path alongside asphalt/concrete. Otherwise my treadmill.
State parks, dog parks, roads from one city to the next, I’d like to just pick a patch of forest and run from one side to the other. Running through bad neighborhoods is exciting in a weird sorta way as you are continuously doing the flight portion of the “fight or flight” thing. Lol always wanted to do the parkour/urban running thing but with bad knees running is already tough enough. Perhaps after some more practice I’ll run across a major city.
Lastly, a buddy of mine wants to train with me for running across the USA… That’s about 2-3 months of 12 hour runs every day… That’s still up in the air…