Mesa is always open throughout the week especially because of summer school . On 6th avenue of Balboa Park there's a nice grass loop where you can hammer some workouts .
Mesa is always open throughout the week especially because of summer school . On 6th avenue of Balboa Park there's a nice grass loop where you can hammer some workouts .
Yes, I no your frustration. My suggestion would be Hoover H.S. off EC Blvd. It is close to where you live and usually open. Patrick Henry in San Carlos also is a possibility. A lot depends on what time you are trying to get on the track?Kids are not in classes right now, but most H.S. open up Wt. Room for football and custodial are doing maintenance, so gates are open from about 7-5 at most schools Monday-Friday. Hoover has a youth track group training after 5 p.m. a lot of week nights, so you might have to dodge some little guys. For Hoover park on Highland and Monroe right next to track. If back gate is not open jog over to EC Blvd and try to enter by DerWiener Schnitzel. Good Luck.
Irishsaint is right on for Hoover. I often run there on weekend mornings. Opens around 7:30 a.m. on weekends, a bit earlier on weekdays. On Sundays there are sometimes soccer games, but they don't really interfere with the track use.
Nice track.
Do you have a sense of when you can run Hoover on week days? I've tried going there before and looking around but can't find the right place to enter. It always looks closed off or in use by folks at the high school.
I live absurdly close so I would love to work some track workouts into my routine.
Thanks!
Enter on the El Cajon Blvd side of the school. Right near the weinerschnitzel. Sometimes the side gates are open, but your best bet is El Cajon Blvd side. Run north for about 100 yards once inside the school and you'll get to the track.
On weekday mornings I've always been able to get in at 6:30am or shortly afterwards. They have summer school going at the moment. I'm not sure about access during the middle of the day on weekdays. It's generally open in the early evening too, but sometimes there is youth track or some sports practice on.
On weekend mornings, I've found it opens around 7:30 a.m. and stays open most of the day on weekends.
Not aware of public tracks in San Diego, although the SDSU track is beautiful, especially with the breeze in the evenings. NTC park right next to the airport is also a great place to do interval / repeat work as it is flat as a pancake and a lot of it is cinder, although you could run on the grass just as easily. I have gone on many a run there just before getting on a plane.
Thanks for the information on it!
I also emailed the track coach at the high school and he helped provide some additional information:
- Track is available to the public.
- The best time to have access is after 4:15pm.
- You can get a permit for team practices and these permitted teams have priority.
- Field is usually unavailable.
- Track is closed for games.
- If Hoover athletes are running, use the outside lanes. They usually use just 3 of the 6 lanes.
- Bicycles and pets are not allowed on campus.
Hope this helps anyone who's considering using Hoover's facilities!
hey transplant - i'm one, too, from the east coast.
i love the comment that guy wrote about you "knowing how to make friends quick" - that's a typical west coast passive-aggressive comment ... get used to it out here ... seek out the east coasters for direct communication and tougher skin. (imho)
we are in same boat, seeking a public track for training. all high schools here seem to be on lock-down. sucks and also just WRONG because taxpayers pay for those tracks, so technically they're public property and should be able to be used by the public when not in use for schools. (again, imho)
the track at ucsd seems more available in this neck of the woods.
any luck with the middle schools?
hang in there and find your people. fast.
Awesome guys, thanks for all the info! Me and my gf have had the most frustrating time finding a track open to the public in san diego proper
Grossmont College if you dont mind some holes in your track. Cuyamaca College if you want a brand new track. Both are basically always open.
Finding a track in the SD area is a pain in the ass. There are a few available, but from what I[m reading, you're just not fast enough to be worthy of knowing where the good spots are. So my suggestion is that you just do laps of Balboa Park.
Good luck!
Maybe re-read what transplant wrote... if you do that you might notice that, well, he began the passive-aggressive nonsense. But maybe that slipped your mind because you wanted to make your own passive-aggressive comment about the east coast somehow being better than the west coast.
It is odd that you live out here if you don't like it... is that passive-aggressive enough for you? I hope so, I'm from out here in the west, and I want to make sure I stay in character for you - you know, fit your narrative.
If you want to run on a track go to UCSD or Hoover or speak to a high school coach and get permission. There are options.
Cheers!
Reading through the answers was frustrating hahahaha. Would have been easier to just drive around and look for a track. :) Some people were like, "Don't use a track." #worstanswersever Anyway, good luck, CB, hope you found some good ones.
So did you find one open in the AM ?
Hey, I'm another transplant from the east coast. I'm having issues finding a track that is available in the PM, around 3-5 pm. This seems to be the worst time to look for track access as everyone and their mom is having practice then, however due to work and family commitments that is the only time I have available to run. I can do some kind of workout on the grass parks at mission bay if I had to, but this won't get me to my goals the way track repeats and intervals will. Advice?
What's wrong with doing intervals off the track?
contrarian on this thread wrote:
What's wrong with doing intervals off the track?
https://youtu.be/n5D0XzOcQkM?t=1272
nothing really. Its cool that Seb Coe had a road with such low traffic in his day.
Sadly I don't think there is one publicly available from 3-5. If you can wait until after 5 you shouldnt have issues using UCSD's track, and may be able to sneak onto SDSU's .
I've had to adjust my training so that my track workouts are on Saturdays. Fortunately ive found interval training on the roads to still be effective. Just measure your intervals out by time instead of distance.
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