Most runners like some variety in the routes they run while others have that one route they follow every day. Others do all their running on the track where it is flat, safe and easy to measure how far they have run. Watching runner’s jog past my house, it seems many of them are following a route they know and do on a regular basis. I was a runner that liked a little variety in my runs. And since I was often training for marathons, I needed a variety of distances for training.
I had my three-mile run along the river for easy days that was one of my favorites. Then I had several “hill” routes that I needed for leg strength and increased effort. I had routes from three miles to 22 miles that I followed depending on the day and if it was for a marathon or just a shorter 5k race that weekend. Looking back at the different routes that I ran, I pretty much covered most of San Marcos. One long run had me run to Hunter, then on Hunter Road, then head to the Holiday Inn, down the access road to the Little League fields and head on home. I never thought much about it until one person commented that they saw me on Hunter Road, later downtown they saw me running by the Courthouse, then later by the ball fields, and they were curious how anyone could run in so many places at one time. It was a 20-mile route and took a good three hours, so a person would have a chance to see me at different times and locations. I never really thought about it, but I can imagine a non-runner would really find that a strange occurrence to see the same runner in so many different places. For variety, we also ran from Lockhart for a long run. That took a little planning, but it was a fun run.
For hill training, the road leading into the cemetery from old RR12 was great for repeats. A friend was going to run the Boston Marathon and wanted to be ready for the “Heartbreak Hill” that he had heard about. Since that spot is near the end of the race, I took him up old RR12, then up to the circle of homes behind Aquarena Springs, and then through the University for a few more hills around campus. Heartbreak Hill was going to be easy for him after that run.
