Are your tracks closed? Where are you doing intervals?

Believe it or not I believe any long interval at 5 minutes a mile pace or slower is best done on a treadmill. But what i've been doing is going extreme with dieting to make up for the fact that I'm not training. Apple cider vinegar is my legal doping. it totally changes my ability to draw from fat instead of carbs.

pedant wrote:

The interval is the rest period between repeats. You can probably rest just about anywhere. Finding an appropriate place to do the repeats themselves is probably a tougher task than finding a place to rest.

I feel for you pal....

I'm on lockdown in the mountains, uphill fartleks & downhill strides.

Disko Eric wrote:

I haven’t even tried to see if the two tracks near me are open. One is at a HS. The other is a university.

I used to do longer intervals (1k/1mi) on a paved trail near me. That is near impossible now because it’s packed with people. I might still be able to do Tempo runs there, but there would be lots of people dodging.

There’s a park near me on the ocean that no one ever visits. 200m access road with a loop at the end to give me ~400m. One speed bump as an obstacle and the occasional vehicle snooping through. Not too bad.

Your best bet is probably on the road itself. Far less traffic (at least here UK)

On roads and paths, as I have been for decades. :eyeroll:

Just run early (5:00-5:30 AM). I see maybe 4 people out during a 10-12 mile run at that time on a trail in a major metropolitan area.

I don't really have anywhere to do proper intervals, unfortunately. I'm in Canada and my city has two indoor tracks for use. Neither of them are open. It is warming up to be slightly above zero during the afternoon so I could head to an outdoor track, but I'm not the only runner with that idea. I made the trip and saw about a dozen people bunched ignoring social distancing to flop about their intervals. Same deal with any good running trails, often packed with dog walkers and couples seemingly not caring about the pandemic. Early mornings where no one is around is still too cold to do intervals at any speed worth a damn. My training right now is easy runs of 6-7km, if space allows for it, and some strength at home. Maybe I power up the last hill before home to get some speed in.

There are bigger priorities right now than me doing 1km repeats or 60s-on-60s-off. I'm not about to overly exposing myself to the public and risk infection for a sport I'm only national level at and nowhere near elite. I'm still early 20s so I'll have plenty more track seasons to compete later.

Rhodium Nights wrote:

Flat section of road - a loop consisting of 4 streets in the shape of a rectangle, about 1 mile around, and before 7am it is completely deserted and perfect for speed work or TTs

This is what I did. Found 4 streets that work out to 1.5km. It's pretty perfect. Even at 8am it's pretty dead. I can run hard without fearing cars coming in the intersections.

NYBoy wrote:

Tracks in Manhattan seem to be open--I've gone by a couple. But I'm doing 200s on a rolling stretch of boardwalk by the Hudson--mostly deserted but sometimes picks up wind off the river.

The tracks near me are all filled with dog-walkers, grannies and kids learning to ride a bike.

Granted, that was the same way before covid but now I'm the a$shole if I yell at them to get off the track for some reason... (although I was apparently the a$shole for yelling at them before too...)

- I cant believe a$shole is a censored word. What is this grade 5?

I just yesterday did a ‘track workout’ at a corporate complex and parking lot nearby because tracks are closed not to mention patrolled by concerned citizens, security or campus police. Google Earth Pro (free download) helped me plan the runs is the best thing I have found to create a precise for design for intervals and jog sections. I have 400s, miles, 800s, etc mapped out all around my neighborhood. The difficult part is putting the sequence to memory before heading out. Yesterday was 800,200,600,400,400,600,200.

https://i.imgur.com/SwP66PR.jpg

The same track that I usually use but now I cross train as a high jumper.

They've locked the gate at my local HS track but that only keeps out the hobbyjoggers. I can squeeze through. And can we talk about how f'ing idiotic it is to close a track?

radical atheist wrote:

Hopefully the closest track will be open in a couple weeks because it'll be impossible to get a 5k time trial in otherwise.

5200 Brits last week each found a quiet stretch of road and had a hell of a race!

Who cares if you are 100% accurate?

All of the HS tracks here in Ohio are open. I did a 16, 16, 8, 4 last week and a 4800 tempo run today onnthe track.

Tracks here in the South Bay, at least the four near my house, are locked. I refuse to be that guy who jumps the fence. Instead I'm that guy who paints his own marks on a bike path. Lonely two mile segment on a bike path near where I work. Deserted since there is no residential near there. Long ago I painted 100m hash marks for 3200m with every 400m a kind of Chevron looking mark. Flat and straight, can be a little windy. Perfect for doing repeats up to 3200m.

The track near where I live is open but covered in snow. The earliest I see myself running on it is Late April or early may. I usually run on the track in the early morning or late at night before dark due to not being bothered by people with pets,kids etc

Diso Stu wrote:

All of the HS tracks here in Ohio are open. I did a 16, 16, 8, 4 last week and a 4800 tempo run today onnthe track.

The track here in Norwalk Ohio is locked due to teens hanging out. The North Coast Inland Trail is open but areas near parking lot can get crowded. I passed 22 people within 3/4 miles of the parking lot one day. Now I run more remote sections or at sunset when few are on it. I have not checked other area high school tracks.

Our tracks are closed and covered with police caution tape along with any park or grass field with the town. I had to talk my way out of a $92 trespassing citation for running on town property for 200m.

im lucky. i live a mile from my high school track that is completely open. sometimes u'll see twenty people at once, crazy