[huntermiles3353]

I am curious about how you find locations and routes to train. I can find trails easily but I am curious how you plan your route to suit your time accurately. For example if I have a 2 hour run/hike planned how can I make sure I don’t hike too far and end up taking longer than expected to return to the car? Is it just best to use a shorter trail that you can repeat so you are never too far from the trailhead when your time is up?

Thanks

Topic

[Shashi]

Shashi on January 5, 2021 at 4:15 pm #48846

I look for trail information (if it’s new for me) online to get information on distance, elevation gain and estimate the time. After some trial and error, you can get a good estimate of when you need to turn around. I have also done laps on shorter trails, but enjoy a long hike up and then down.

Hope this is helpful.

[Rachel]

Rachel on January 5, 2021 at 4:25 pm #48847

I’ve been using Gaia GPS to map out routes in advance lately. I especially like planning the route on my computer (vs my phone) because I can mouse over the elevation profile while looking at the map. It’s been especially helpful for my “aerobic hill run” days where I have to get a certain amount of vert.

In the past I usually just head out on the trails and keep an eye on my distance so I turn around at the right time (for shorter days it’s no problem, I just choose a trail that is the right distance). The really nice thing about my 12 mile run today (planned out in advance on Gaia GPS) was I knew the route was the correct distance and I didn’t bother looking at my mileage much at all. I only had to pay attention to my HR.

[Rachel]

Rachel on January 5, 2021 at 7:45 pm #48856

Oops, I just saw you are talking about a time goal, not distance! I would probably guess my average pace in order to plan a route in that case.