Why would anyone want to live in the New England???????

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

John Clendon wrote:

I hate southern belles. That is why. Get out of here with your southern accent. I assume every person I meet with a southern accent is dumber than me.

As someone with a southern accent, I actually prefer this way of thinking. In my line of work, it can be very beneficial to be underestimated due to something as trivial as an accent. It gives me the upper hand, especially when I'm actually the more intelligent.

Colorado runner wrote:

I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

I've lived in MA for 33 years and absolutely love running in Nov, Dec, Jan, Mar, Apr. The only month you can't count on is February, but even then local rec paths are plowed after a snowfall. What's the problem?

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont are among the best states in the US to live. Maine and RI admittedly have issues:

Business Insider's Ranking of state economies (http://www.businessinsider.com/state-economy-ranking-q4-2015-2016-1/#35-south-carolina-17):

Massachusetts: 6

New Hampshire: 14

Connecticut: 17

Vermont: 24

USA Today's State by State Public School Rankings:

All 4 states are in the top 10 (Massachusetts #1, Vermont #4, New Hampshire #5, Connecticut #6)

All New England States allowed gay marriage *before* the supreme court made it the law of the land in United States v. Windsor. Massachusetts was 1st, Connecticut 3rd, Vermont 4th, and New Hampshire 5th.

Americas Health Ratings puts all 4 of these states in the top 10 healthiest US states:

Vermont #2, Massachusetts #3, New Hampshire #5, Connecticut #6

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/12/18/10-healthiest-and-least-healthy-states-in-us.html

Violent Crime rates (larger numbers are better)

Vermont #50, New Hampshire #47, Connecticut #39, Massachusetts #18.

Housing prices are high because people want to live there, for good reason.

Colorado runner wrote:

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

Worked ok for Bill Rogers

People that feel they need to work out on an indoor track can usually find one, the rest of us sack it up and train through it

Colorado runner wrote:

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

Why would you do this workout on any track? I'd more likely take a 10-mile progression to a treadmill than a track and I'd do it on the roads otherwise...

Eric Blake has been on many world mountain teams and does his workouts on a treadmill in hard hittin New Britain CT

Colorado runner wrote:

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

The winter is the worst time of the year to run here, but even then, its very doable for base. You probably wouldn't structure your year where you would be doing a 10 mile progression run in February, at least I wouldn't. Its cold and can be miserable, but its not bad if you don't try to fight the weather, no different than if you ran in Florida in July.

Colorado runner wrote:

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

A few years ago Knut Kvalheim posted here about why he thinks Norwegian distance running has declined so much from his time to the present. One reason he gave was that in his day Norwegians pretty much spent the winter doing big miles at comparatively slow paces because the footing and natural selection removed a lot of people who tried to run fast.

Then, he said, the oil money came and every decently sized municipality built a recreation center with a nice track. Runners began doing track workouts all year round and also began shortening their winter miles by having "rest" days before and after the days of their track workouts and performances plummeted.

I think it may be advantageous to have a stretch of time when you're forced to do fairly easy distance work and CAN'T always do stuff like progression runs, reps, etc. But if you really feel the need for harder running you can always find indoor meets in New England and race yourself fit and there's always a hill somewhere where the snow's been cleared and you can do reps.

Anyway, to answer your questions, it's not possible to give a meaningful number of days when you'd have to change a workout due to footing or weather. Last winter it may have been zero. It was really mild. The winter before that you might have needed to change plans almost every day from mid January to mid March. But it's something you can manage. The Greater Boston guys from the 70s and 80s ran very well despite the winters. Johnny Kelly got through them well enough to win Boston once and come close to winning several other times.

And yes, if you're really committed to running on an indoor track you'll have access at least if you're around Boston. All the major clubs have arrangements with a track. You'd probably need to join one. Other towns will have health clubs with indoor tracks. But sure, if you're in some remote village in northern Maine or Vermont there may not be one.

I live in New Hampshire, specifically the Dartmouth College area. Here are all the terrible things I can think of about the area:

-100's of miles of hiking trails within an hour drive, including the Appalachian Trails, White Mountains and Green Mountains.

-endless miles of dirt roads, rail trails and other good running trails.

-beautiful, thriving small towns with good economies.

-great local food availability (and cheap!).

-several ski mountains within 30 minutes, dozens within 1-1.5 hrs.

-1.5 hour drive to the ocean & delicious seafood.

-no income tax.

-no sales tax.

-no liquor tax.

-no traffic. ever.

-no violent crime.

-autumn foliage.

Pretty much the only downsides are the long winters (I love winter, so this is a positive for me) and somewhat high cost of living.

Lots of inheritance parties in New England. That can be good or bad depending on your anticipated level of inheritance.

Maineiac wrote:

The winter is the worst time of the year to run here.

Nothing rivals running outside in a pristine, cold, snowy landscape.

where do you suggest living beside New England? Basically anywhere beside the east coast above the Mason Dixon line and Silicon Valley seems pretty worthless to me.

The Drunken Clam wrote:

Colorado runner wrote:

Fair enough, so how many days per year do you have to move your workout indoors? If you were planning a 10 mile progression run, I suspect you change the workout if you have to move indoors? And does everyone in NE have access to an indoor track any day of the year? Sell me on the fact that it is great place to train year around. I trained for a summer in New Hampshire, and it was terrific. I suspect it is pretty nice May through October, but how about the rest of the year?

Worked ok for Bill Rogers

People that feel they need to work out on an indoor track can usually find one, the rest of us sack it up and train through it

Joan Benoit as well. as far as going indoors, there are no facilities close where i live, however the local recreation field has a 1/3 mile blacktop oval around the soccer field that they plow in the winter............so save the few days where we get a heavy snowfall, its pretty much clear...........and lit at night.

No fire ants or flying cockroaches. Winter is the cleansing kill.

I loved Cali, except for the people (airheads, mostly).

I don't like nosey ppl, so Boston beats DC-south.

I loved DC, except for the summers (and the crime and the bums). Did I mention that winter cleanses?

Boston, N'Orleans and Montreal: America's most European cities (Yes, Canada is part of the Americas) -- but N'Orleans sucks for anything longer than a visit.

FL breeds softness wrote:

Maineiac wrote:

The winter is the worst time of the year to run here.

Nothing rivals running outside in a pristine, cold, snowy landscape.

Yeah, that is pretty nice. I would also add the first few days of fall when the heat/humidity drops off and the first days of the spring where the women's clothes fall off.

The most white racist police are in the North East US.

I live in the south now and hate it. I miss the Northeast. There is a LACK OF RIGOR with many things in the south. Intellectually, over 90% of the people I encounter still believe the world was created in 6 days. Over 90% of the houses and commercials buildings look like a bad interpretation of historical buildings from 200 years ago. Most people truncate their work day/work week for church activities and college football. I'm not opposed to any of the above, but when you're from the north and get this in high doses, it's nauseating.

Reasons New England is awesome:

1. Well above average education, as previously pointed out (plus 4 of the 8 IVY's)

2. Very easy access to both Beach/Ocean and Mountains

3. Super close to another non-English speaking Country (Quebec)

4. Progressive politics (but not "stupid progressive", to quote last week's Simpsons episode)

5. Hands down best health care in the Country (Boston has 2 of the top 5 hospitals in the US)

6. Great sports culture. Yeah the fans can be annoying but have you ever been to Philly or NY? I'd take a Pats fan over an Eagles or Jets fan anyday.

7. Above average "culture"--museums, etc

8. BY FAR the healthiest region of the country in terms of major health markers (obesity, smoking, etc)

9. NO BULLSHIT. People are stereotyped as mean or short tempered but the reality is people don't believe in faking their feelings. They tell you what they're thinking. Kind of refreshing.

10, Real seasons

No part of the country is without it's issues but I moved to Boston 15 years ago and have no desire to leave. Yea it's expensive and places like New York or SF are better in many ways, but I'd say only for visiting. Boston is walkable, vibrant, and super close to literally thousands of miles of trails and wilderness.