I have been running in mile fun runs and around the neighborhood with my parents since elementary school. However, I started to actually train as a runner when I joined Ascension’s cross country and track and field teams in eighth grade, and I am still on those teams now. Since we are in the heat of the cross country season, here are my reviews of the different places I train at: Moncus Park, Shannon Road, Sugar Mill Pond, Youngsville Sports Complex, school, my neighborhood, and just using treadmills.
Moncus Park – 7/10:
I find that training at Moncus Park is the best for hard, tempo workouts specializing in distance; this includes workouts like mile repeats, or one and a half mile repeats, with hills or strides as a conclusion. Running there also provides a reasonable distance for warming up and cooling down with these types of workouts. This is because the team meets at Red’s, then runs to Moncus, allowing around a fifteen minute warmup.
Shannon Road – 8/10:
From Red’s the team would also run to Shannon Road, a neighborhood about a mile away, also providing a good warmup and cooldown for tempo workouts. This neighborhood itself would be best for tempo workouts that are timed repeats or workouts repeating middle distances like eight hundred meters or a thousand meters.
River Ranch Neighborhood – 9/10:
Even though I do not like the idea of running tempo workouts in the River Ranch neighborhood, it is my favorite place to run the easy long distance runs. The longest lap I know is three miles and the neighborhood has a lot of shady spots and turns, so it is never too boring or too hot. It is also very nice to run around the neighborhood and see decorations for Halloween when that time of the year is coming up.
Sugar Mill Pond – 8.5/10:
Another good neighborhood to run in is Sugar Mill Pond. The team does a fifteen minute warmup starting at school, where we meet up for practice, and goes around the neighborhood. Then we run eight hundred meter repeats around the pond as a tempo workout with four hundred repeats to follow. The longest loop around the neighborhood that I know is three miles, so I also like to run around the neighborhood for easy, long runs.
Youngsville Sports Complex – 6/10:
Running to the Youngsville sports complex from school provides a good distance for a warmup, and the one mile loop is good for workouts like mile repeats or when we have to run two hard miles. However, I do not like running easy long runs there because it gets repetitive, and there is no shade, so it is very hot to run there in the beginning of the fall.
Ascension’s Practice Field – 5/10
Sometimes the team will just run to a point in Sugar Mill Pond then turn around and come back to school for a warmup and we do our workout at school. At school, we do repeats of distances ranging from two hundred meters to a mile and sometimes do fifteen to twenty minutes for timed tempos. Because we do so much tempo there, and the running teams have always practiced there for both cross country and track, it gets really repetitive, aka not the best condition for long runs. It doesn’t help that there is also no shade there, so it is hot in the beginning of the cross country season and amidst the track and field season.
My neighborhood – 6/10:
Because I have run in my neighborhood for so long, it can be repetitive and boring, however, it is nice to be close to home for my runs. I do not like doing tempo in my neighborhood at all, but I enjoy long runs some days when the weather is nice. My neighborhood has a good bit of shady spots and the houses are pretty spread out, so I can get a good bit of distance without repeating any roads.
Treadmills – 3/10:
I do not like working out on treadmills for tempo workouts or long runs because I am going absolutely nowhere. I can usually only stand a mile or two, no matter what speed, before I start getting bored, even with the TV that is in the room. However, I do think having a treadmill is nice for whenever the weather conditions cannot be run in, and I do not want to lose fitness.
