Finding the right running program style to fit your personality
The good thing about the sport of running is that the person and be almost any shape or size. Runners can be short or tall, skinny or hefty, man or woman and young or old. It just takes the effort to put one foot in front of the other. For the benefit of exercise, the pace can be fast or slow. Running is one of those sports that almost anyone can do and reap the benefits of moving.
While the physical characteristics are one thing that makes running a good sport to try it also fits the personality of the runner. The advantage of running is that it has a tremendous variety of forms for a runner’s personality. For the runner that likes a set routine, there is a form of running for them. I had a friend that paced out a 400-yard path around his yard and ran it on a daily basis. The same path every day at the same pace. He ran a 10 minute pace so he didn’t have to count laps for three miles. He just knew when he ran for 30 minutes he had run three miles.
For a runner that likes variety in life, running can fit that personality as well. I tend to fit the variety style more. I had a three-mile route around my neighborhood, another route that included the River Walk and that trail behind the Little League Fields, and one in my neighborhood that had a stretch where I could do a little speed work for the middle mile. I had distances from the three-mile range to the 22-mile range. Looking back at some of the routes from earlier days, many can no longer be tried. A speed workout on Wonder World Drive was trying different paces between telephone poles. The first pole was a slow jog, the next a training pace, the next was a race pace, and then a sprint pace and the last pole was recovery. Today there are no poles and the two lanes are now about four or five with buildings instead of telephone poles. And lots of traffic with a faster speed limit.
One of my favorite middle distance runs was to Hunter and back for 13.5 miles. It used to be one of my favorite bike rides down Hunter Road on the way to Gruene. Now traffic on Hunter Road is a real hazard for runners and bikers. My last run to Hunter and back took place when on my way back, a cyclist on the other side of the road was going slow and had a car behind the rider, the next car tried to pass in the next lane where I was running. I dove for the side of the road, he did a fish tale slide in front of the car following the runner and managed to not roll over. I decided that was going to be my last run to Hunter.
As much as I hated running up hills, there were several routes that were considered hill runs. The safest one was at the short hill leading up to the cemetery. Not much traffic and short enough to try and sprint to the top. I could do 10 sprints to the top for a good workout and enough distance running back home to recover. Then there was Oak Ridge for a real leg burner. Oak Ridge is very steep and you think your face is almost a foot from the pavement leaning into the climb. There is a loop at the bottom to recover before you ran it again. For longer hills, there was Old RR 12, Sessoms, and LBJ past Grin’s Restaurant. Sessoms is now a traffic problem and it was a little steep going downhill to stress the knees and low back as you had to brake going downhill. RR12 was a good hill to practice running faster leg turnover but the blind curve at the mid-point distance made it hazardous.
We had a good 15K route (9 miles) starting at the high school (now the junior high) and headed out Staples Road to Old Bastrop Road, over the river three times, through the neighborhood and back to the school. Then traffic from subdivisions along the road, traffic lights, more development and once again another favorite route disappeared. We had a popular 15K course there for several years until traffic became a problem.
From my house to McDonald’s out Hopkins Street was a good run. It can still be a run because of the sidewalks. The increase of buildings, businesses, HEB, and stores makes it not as scenic as days gone by. And once again there is a huge increase in traffic.
The Better Half Marathon started at Tanger Outlet and headed out Center Point Road and back on Old Bastrop Road to Tanger. Development and traffic made this run a limited time to be held safely. It closed after 33 years of popularity. The handwriting was on the wall for how long it could continue.
Routine runs versus variety is still an option. It just takes a little more effort for variety.
