Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Trail runners who don't live near trails. Drive time vs running time
  • ross980
    Free Member

    For me, running (and road biking for that matter) are all about the convenience of heading out straight from the door, so the concept of driving to go running is a bit alien to me. Any decent mountain biking is about an hour’s drive away and as a rule of thumb I generally bother driving if I’m going to spend more time on the bike than in the car (time constraints result in quantity over quality). However, I really want to do more exercise away from tarmac and later this month I’m due to move within 20-25 min drive of some (hopefully) good relatively hilly off-road running routes (though not great for mtb ime).

    So out of interest, how far/long do you drive to go running, and how does this compare to the length of time you’re actually running? Just ‘normal’ running, not races/events.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Reckon my local is about 20-25 minutes too. Never drive for a run of less than an hour. There’s a couple of spots on the way back from work that are good for a run, they happen a lot.

    Anything really short, say 30 minutes is road shoes from the doorstep time.

    The only occasions where I’ve driven longer than run are club runs. Even then it’s usually longer run than drive, and they’re as much a social thing anyway.

    Push bikes are always from the doorstep.

    Needless to say, I’m not doing the planet any favours.

    andypaul99
    Free Member

    in a word Never.

    I think for a race you obviously need to drive, but for training i cant see the point of driving, especially for the winter months, which for me at least are just long slow runs not going over 140bpm… even if you live in the city there should be a park slope of something to replicate hill climbs, just do multiple reps.

    That said if you are racing an event with big hills, closer to race time it might be worth a trip out just to test the water once or twice, but for base miles no point.

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    cuterunner
    Free Member

    I (think I) know what you’re saying, but unless there’s a brill running area within an easy 5-10 minute ride I tend to run from wherever I happen to be.

    I like running through the centre of Taiwan, which is basically up and down very steep wooded hillsides or along ridges, but I don’t train in that environment ‘cos I live in the centre of Taipei. So I tend to view runs in the areas I really enjoy as treats, and use my daily runs as a way of preparing for them.

    I guess that even if I were within a 10 minute reach of these hills, I wouldn’t run them every day, ‘cos then they’d cease to be special. I certainly couldn’t justify 25 mins each way in a car on a regular basis simply to reach / return from a running route. Hell, that’s 5% of my waking hours in a car? Crazy to even think of it.

    bensales
    Free Member

    Never drive to a run, other than club nights as they’re on the way home from work. Drive to races obviously.

    I have a mix of road, canal, and (XC) public footpaths that I can easily string together up to 20-odd miles for marathon training. It’s the greatest thing about running for me, the convenience of not travelling, plus the ability to see bits of where I live that I’d never otherwise. Get a 1:50 OS maps and you might be surprised what you can find even in the most built up area.

    Spin
    Free Member

    I can run on nice woodland trails pretty much from the front door. 30mins drive however takes me to Aviemore and a further 15mins to the Cairngorm carpark.

    I probably have a low boredom threshold so I make that drive quite often when the weather is good. The wife thinks I’m nuts but nice local trails just don’t motivate me whereas big hills do.

    Jamie
    Free Member

    So out of interest, how far/long do you drive to go running, and how does this compare to the length of time you’re actually running? Just ‘normal’ running, not races/events.

    I once drove 90mins-ish at 6am one morning as I fancied running in the peaks.

    It was worth it.

    ….I didn’t drive straight back, though, as my Sis lives in Sheffield.

    ross980
    Free Member

    I think for a race you obviously need to drive, but for training i cant see the point of driving, especially for the winter months, which for me at least are just long slow runs not going over 140bpm… even if you live in the city there should be a park slope of something to replicate hill climbs, just do multiple reps.

    I can see your point, but for me running off road is a lot more interesting and enjoyable, so should be worth the drive. Pounding the tarmac is just a means to an end. I’ve tried the hill reps thing on a small ‘hill’ near me, I’ve lacked the motivation to do it since. 😳

    dobo
    Free Member

    i like to do a few off road races like brutal 10 through the winter so natrually i like to run off road as much as possible. there are a few routes from the door with short sections of road but a 5 min drives gives me 100% trail and varied terrain so i tend to do that in the week.
    At the weekend ill drive upto half hour to get somewhere hilly or forest trails etc to give some veriety.
    i dont like road running much

    piemonster
    Full Member

    *glares enviously at Spin

    I love hills, proper ones, with big cliffs and bogs, with tussocks and heather up to my armpits, with lung bursting climbs that need hands, and sometimes knees, sliding down steep grassy slopes on my unsightly behind, barreling down rough screes and rocky steep descents, bursting through the tree line eyes bulging, legs burning, lungs peppered.

    It’s a joy, an utter joy. Day or night, sun or rain or snow, calm or wind blasted. Alone or with friends.

    I never, ever get that from road. And it’s never lost its magic.

    Each to their own, obviously.

    neilco
    Free Member

    Agree with the OP. More time on the activity (biking, running, whatever) than on the drive as a rule of thumb. Decent biking me for me is at least 45 mins drive. Running I can do from the door, but I like the variety that a drive can offer. Couple of decent 10k tracks nearby plus a newly found 2x5k trail route keep the running interesting. Tend to run from home during the week due to time constraints then drive/run at weekends,

    On a different note, get a head torch and run at nighttime… Reinvigorates any run you know.

    piemonster
    Full Member

    Out of curiosity, where you moving too?

    Spin
    Free Member

    I love hills, proper ones,

    Amen brother 🙂

    djglover
    Free Member

    I moved to the fellside last year to overcome this problem. This afternoons jaunt:

    http://www.strava.com/activities/92959067

    However, in summer we often traveled up to the lakes on a Friday after work for an evening run around Kentmere or Fairfield, much less traffic than at the weekend. thats a 3 hour round trip for a 2 hour run, but the lakes is worth it really, especially on a summer evening when the red socks are at home

    I do drive to races, and I did yesterday

    Pieface
    Full Member

    I drive to races – longest was 3 hours for a 40min race, but we were car-sharing. There’s a chap in our club who’s been up at 5am to drive to the lakes for a 30min race, driven back home in time for a pub lunch with the family a couple of times.

    Other than that I drive maybe once a week for about 30 minutes for long training runs. Plenty of trails about a mile from where I live.

    ross980
    Free Member

    Out of curiosity, where you moving too?

    I’m only moving about 7 miles to the other side of the city but crucially I’ll be outside the ring road. However, it’ll save 30-45min off the round trip to get to places like this:



    Not a patch on the Dales, Peaks, Lakes etc. but plenty of route options

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