Running from home to the Greenbelt Trail

 

Section of the new bike trail I covered today

Today's run (Street + Greenbelt Bike Trail): 5.25

There's nothing like the promise of a Saturday morning training run. It's the start of the weekend and a break from business obligations. On those rare Saturdays where my schedule is open-ended, I usually go to a local park or Preserve. It's a treat to run among interesting scenery, rather than gazing at my neighborhood's expanse of manicured lawns and avoiding careless drivers. 

The drawback to park and Preserve running is the need to travel to those locations. It bothers me that I have to drive my car to get to my running destination. Stillwell Woods and Trailview are only five minutes from my home (and Bethpage is ten), but getting to them still involves logistics. If I could only get to the Greenbelt trail without needing a car...

Well it looks like my wish has been granted. This morning I decided to explore the area near my house where the town has paved some bike trails. These trails run along the busier roads that I'd always dismissed as too dangerous to run. I started from my front door and did a loop around some local roads before cutting through the middle school into neighborhood #3. This neighborhood has an exit out to Woodbury Road, exactly where the new path starts.

The trail along Sunnyside, heading north

Suddenly, I was on a protected multi-use trail that would theoretically connect me all the way to the Massepequa Preserve trail head, 13 miles to the south. I ran along the path and saw evidence of progress, with construction signs and a few short gaps in the paved surface. Sunnyside Boulevard, the road that parallels the path, has a long hill that goes for 3/4 miles. It's steeper than Waterside Ave. on the Cow Harbor course and will be a good local training spot to prep for that challenge.

Once I made my way past the Northern State Parkway just north of the LIE, I stopped to figure out where the path continued south. There were a number of "No Trespassing" signs around this area that I took more as a suggestion than a warning, since I was seeing lots of cyclists zooming by. I tried to understand the safest way to get across to the paved path that continued on the other side. At that moment, two riders came across, and I asked them how far the bike trail went. They spoke the magic words, "All the way to Massepequa Preserve." Awesome.

Truth be told, I wasn't feeling my best on the run, and the long uphill section on Sunnyside had worn me out. I'd considered reversing direction and heading home at that point, but now I had to continue long enough to see where the path would lead. I crossed the street and followed the trail south until I reached the point where the service road diverged from the LIE. I then doubled back and crossed back over to where the path continued north.

The run back was easier, even though there were some short hills to address. Most of the next mile was downhill and that helped restore my energy level as I went along. Shortly before I reached Woodbury Road, I took a tangential path to see where it led (it terminated a block west) and ran to the the crosswalk that led me back into neighborhood #3.

It was exciting to know that I could actually run to Bethpage from my house if I really wanted to. It would be about 6.5 miles - doable - but then I'd have to run home. I've run 13+ miles a few times, so it's in the realm of the possible. However, I think I'll need to do a lot more base training before I take that on.

Encountering a broken path

Today's run (street & mixed terrain): 5.6 miles

Today's run took me to places where I haven't run in months. It was a nice change of scenery. I didn't go far from home but I covered a few different neighborhoods and enjoyed the minor thrill of knowing that I ran from one town to another (and back again).

I started my run by the middle school and then cut over to the business park loop that provides a decent hill challenge that's steep or gradual, depending on which direction you run it. I cut into a local neighborhood from there and saw the landscaping teams out working hard to erase any evidence that we were hit by a hurricane five days ago.

I targeted 5 miles in an attempt to grow my base for the Cow Harbor race but ended up covering more distance. Part of the reason for that was a miscalculation I'd made when I followed a main road that I knew would connect me to the neighborhood that sits directly south of mine.

Along the way my pathway degraded to the point where I was negotiating broken sidewalk, overgrown weeds and branches that had been dislodged by last weekend's storm. That section added distance and cost me speed, as I needed to be especially careful where I stepped with my Hattori's that provide very limited protection. Once I made my way out of that mess I circled the southern neighborhood and completed my route home. I won't be revisiting that route anytime soon.

It was a tough and tiring run but I was glad to have moved up my distance closer to the 6.2 miles that I'll be racing in just a few weeks. I'm not sure what workouts I'll do over the coming long weekend but the weather promises to be good. I need to work on speed so perhaps I'll visit the track tomorrow.