jjjmcghee,

The bridle paths in Umstead are wide and well groomed. However, they are very hilly, so I would expect that pushing a stroller through them would be a challenge.

If you're looking for a "trail" that you could push a stroller through, you might want to check out the American Tobacco Trail. I've run on the Wake section (cary) and the Durham section (up by Fayatteville Road). The section in Cary is packed earth and there is ample parking and facilities. The Durham section is paved, but no facilities other than parking. Both are pancake flat.

I'm sure there are suitable section on any of the greenways, too - but I've yet to explore much of the greenway system (I'm new to the area).



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brook trout

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Thank you both so much. Brooktrout, I guess "trail" was a bad word! I'm mainly looking for places to run aside from the 5k route here in Fuquay (very hilly and getting a little old) without getting run over. The Tobacco trail and the greenways look inviting, so, again, THANK YOU!! And if there are any interested, slower runners in Fuquay, drop me a line!

jjjmcghee

N Turkey Creek is for masochists. Avoid it at all costs.

Re: ATT. Ah, my favorite trail, getting to know it like an old friend. There are three access points to the Wake portion. If you don't like to carry water (I don't), park at the middle access point which is at 3.5 miles and just stash your water there. You can then loop up to the northern access point (the 5 mile point on the trail) or to the southern access point. Both of those ends also have bathrooms. I used to park at the southern access point but 10 miles is way too far to go w/o water in this heat. Even 7 is pushing it so sometimes I carry water a mile south with me and stash it along the trail.

j.

Hello all! I'm new to any time of distance running (outside of the gym) - recovering from a couple injuries. I'm relocating to Raleigh. I also just committed to the Disney Half-Marthon in January. My move will most likely be late August. So, I can stay on track with a treadmill. My concern is starting the actual training up to the half-marathon. Can anyone give me ideas/suggestions of places to run? (I'll be living close to downtown.)

I did the Pfitz 55/24 2 yrs ago but got burnt out so last year I did 55/18 and got virtually the same results. The only modification I made is that when I started out I was already doing 15 milers so I did more longer (18+) long runs. This year I'm only doing 10's right now.

My last 2 marathons I've done right at 4 hrs (3:59:57 and 4:00:34) so I want to push the envelope a little. I'm sure the coaches at running camp will halp me set a goal and develop a training plan. ?Y tu?

jaysoffian
How was that August running series in Umstead? I was thinking about doing some of them, but then I read that the races weren't timed, had no post race anything - just group runs, basically. Is that so?

If so, I'm having a hard time thinking of a reason to race up and down N. Turkey Creek in the August heat!

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brook trout

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Hey Bob,

I agree about the Umstead series. Running in miserable temps seems more fun when other people are with you!
I only got to run one of them last year, but hope to run more this year.

I survived GMM. The weather was perfect, in the 50s at the start and warming up to 70s or so during the race. We all started on the track at ASU. They told us the course was changed a little because construction was not actually finished. So we didn't run the new course or the old course, but something different. Of course, I would have never known the difference since it was my first time!

I hadn't run much since the marathon three weeks ago due to recovering from that race, being busy, and having my family in town. And I wasn't sure if I was completely recovered or not, since I don't usually run marathons so close together.

I knew I needed to take it slow because of the hills, but that is easier said than done. I missed the first mile marker, but then saw the second mile marker in just under 15 minutes! Way too fast! I let the people I was with go and hit the next several miles at 8 minutes each. Much better!

Everyone was so friendly at this race. Runners all talked to each other and asked "have you done this before?" and there were people cheering on the side of the road. (Not a lot of spectators, but the ones that were there would stop and cheer and then drive up the course to stop and cheer some more. My husband did this.) The course really was pretty. You could see the mountains off in the distance and everything was so green. The hills were tough though. My legs were really burning on the uphills and some of the downhills were so steep that it didn't really help at all.

I hit the half way point at about 1:46 feeling pretty good. But about mile 17 is when I could feel my legs getting more tired.
As usual, I was very happy to see mile 20, since I tell myself "keep running and you will be done in less than an hour" at that point. We were really up on the mountain by this point and the roads were very curvy. We really had to watch out to not get hit. Traffic was picking up and there were motorcycles and cars zooming around some of the corners.

I got passed a lot in the last six miles, which was hard. But my legs were spent and burning and I just wanted to keep running until the end. Finally, I passed the 26 mile marker and decided to try to pick up the pace and kick it in a little. Unfortunately, after the 26 mile marker, we ran about 0.1 miles up the road, turned onto a gravel road, then another gravel road, up a little hill, and ran one lap around a cinder track. Way more than 0.2 miles! I kept thinking "where is the end!!??" I finished in 3:45:59. Not great, but not terrible either.

It was a hard race, I won't lie. But it's fun if you go into it looking for a challenge. And it's not one that you want to go into injured. Dealing with PF or another injury would have only made the hills that much more painful. You were smart to wait until you are healthy to run it.

Next up (after some recovery time) is training for something flatter!

Check out The Atheletes Foot at Cameron Village. I just purchased a Fuel Belt there and the staff was very helpfull and friendly. This Atheletes Foot is more a specialty running store than others in the chain. They also offer a 15% NCRC discount.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by cuinacat:
Hi Triangle folks,
Hope you don't mind a question from a newbie. I've been out of town for an extended period but I'll be returning in a few weeks. By that time I'll have completed the C25K (on week 7 now) and luckily the running shoes I just happened to have seem to have worked well for me. I've been very diligent though with the post-run icing and toe taps. However, I do want to get things checked out and get into an appropriate shoe pretty soon. Since I have no clue about pronation, stability shoes, or any of the other shoe/foot terminology, where would ya'll recommend that I visit to get fitted for a good pair of shoes? I'm in Durham but I wouldn't mind driving a little and maybe a place that's friendly to new runners would be great too. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

-cuinacat<HR>