Hidden gems and the logistics of sessions

Lazare

Something I'm struggling with lately is the logistics of sessions.

Where are the good hills near me? Where can I bang out 5x 1k without getting creamed by a Thornton's truck? Where's a nice flat 300m?

With that in mind I thought it would be good for people to share little hidden gems they've found.

I've actually been meaning to post about this for a while but in Citywest hotel, on the entrance road there's a 200m two lane cycle way that is as straight as a dye and as flat as a pancake. There's never anyone on it either.

I ran up to it from my house this morning and only discovered today that the Bus Park right beside it, which has a wide tarmac footpath fully circling it is just a shade bigger than a track. You could park up there and get a really good session in.

In Corkagh park, beside the pet farm there's a little circular track that again no-one is ever on. Haven't ever ran that one but a fast parkrunner told me he uses it for his 'track' sessions all the time.

What other little gems are out there?

deisedude

In Cork, the Little Island industrial estate/eastgate has a perfect 1k flatish loop that's brilliant for interval training. It's also lit the whole way round and there is no traffic at night

Murph_D

1. Rose Garden, St. Anne’s. Just over 400m around. Great for sessions when not busy (early).

2. Not hidden, but Clontarf seafront has so many landmarks that it’s possible to mark out accurate 100s, 200s, 400s, 800s, 1k. Did sessions here for years, and still do. Also Royal Canal Phibsborough - Cabra section, Flat and Straight, about a mile+?

3. Kilbogget has a 400m cinder track. Beer no longer necessary for entry. The one in Kilbarrack is gone, but see 2. above.

Burkie1203

Murph_D wrote: »

1. Rose Garden, St. Anne’s. Just over 400m around. Great for sessions when not busy (early).

2. Not hidden, but Clontarf seafront has so many landmarks that it’s possible to mark out accurate 100s, 200s, 400s, 800s, 1k. Did sessions here for years, and still do. Also Royal Canal Phibsborough - Cabra section, Flat and Straight, about a mile+?

3. Kilbogget has a 400m cinder track. Beer no longer necessary for entry. The one in Kilbarrack is gone, but see 2. above.

Canal from m50 blanch to ashtown.
2.4k smooth tarmac but not flat.

and still ricky villa

I found Corkagh Park a bit lumpy for intervals so have been heading down to the canal lately. The gates to stop cars (scramblers) have been opened a bit wider so you can get up a good pace for a good distance. Wind is sometimes an issue but 3 miles from work so it's a perfect warm up/cool down too

Lazare

and still ricky villa wrote: »

I found Corkagh Park a bit lumpy for intervals so have been heading down to the canal lately. The gates to stop cars (scramblers) have been opened a bit wider so you can get up a good pace for a good distance. Wind is sometimes an issue but 3 miles from work so it's a perfect warm up/cool down too

Yeah, the canal is great alright. The stretch between Hazelhatch and Lyons is perfect for intervals. I'll be using that a lot in the coming weeks.

Where are you using locally for hills?

and still ricky villa

Lazare wrote: »

Yeah, the canal is great alright. The stretch between Hazelhatch and Lyons is perfect for intervals. I'll be using that a lot in the coming weeks.

Where are you using locally for hills?

I work in Citywest and live in Arklow, a town that defies physics by only having uphills. I'm still finding routes around work

Lazare

and still ricky villa wrote: »

I work in Citywest and live in Arklow, a town that defies physics by only having uphills. I'm still finding routes around work

The footbridge over the N7 at Rathcoole has ramps that are great for sprints.

AuldManKing

I'm so lucky living close to the Phoenix park - short & long hills, long stretches of flat. Intervals on the Furze.
Training for the wind on the Acres

The canal out to Maynooth from Clonsilla is grand for a long run - but not great for faster stuff.

chris85

National Sport Campus in Blanchardstown has few good things.

• Outdoor 1km running path great for running intervals with some markers on it
• Cross country course is open to public and is excellent for training on when the weather is better
• Indoor track is available for some open sessions during the week for PAYG entry. Good if you want some solid interval training

chris85

Another point to note. There is planning in for a 6 lane running track to go in at Porterstown Park. I wonder how access will be controlled to running on this track. It looks nice and hopefully it gets the go ahead.

https://consult.fingal.ie/en/consultation/part-viii-proposed-provision-all-weather-running-track-sports-pitch-porterstown-park-0

happygoose

Seen that, I'd similar questions given its only a 1.5m perimeter fence around the track. I asked Fingal Co. Co. and they said access is to be managed by an anchor tenant. I'm not sure if this means an organisation like Aura but I'd guess it might be more like MSB, given its their home. Astro Soccer pitch in the middle of it though, so no throwing, and the hassle of people walking across the track etc.

chris85

happygoose wrote: »

Seen that, I'd similar questions given its only a 1.5m perimeter fence around the track. I asked Fingal Co. Co. and they said access is to be managed by an anchor tenant. I'm not sure if this means an organisation like Aura but I'd guess it might be more like MSB, given its their home. Astro Soccer pitch in the middle of it though, so no throwing, and the hassle of people walking across the track etc.

I would have through MSB also. This does not seem to be funded by MSB so I would hope it will involve reasonable access to public at times as we are the ones who ultimately fund it.

Sorry if this is off topic also.

and still ricky villa

That is something I miss, a public track near work or home. I used to use Charlesland a bit which used to be deserted during the day but the work move made that a bit of trek. The local track in Arklow is ok in decent weather but it's open so you get dog walkers on it a lot suffering from dogsh!te myopia and lumpy stones (at least I hope they are stones)
Is the Tallaght track still not open to the public during the day?

happygoose

chris85 wrote: »

I would have through MSB also. This does not seem to be funded by MSB so I would hope it will involve reasonable access to public at times as we are the ones who ultimately fund it.

Sorry if this is off topic also.

Different Council led models around the country, some developed with a lot of funding from Clubs and some funded fully by the State. Not sure how ones already fully delivered with full funding are managed, I guess it could be through staff on Community Employment Schemes, with core hours for anchor tenants, and a pay per use fee for public hours outside of that. Clubs are probably best served developing facilities themselves, outside of LA partnerships, that way they've full control. Hard to say no to a fully funded development though.

Good to see infrastructure like this finally being delivered as public services, regardless of how they might be managed.

RayCun

and still ricky villa wrote: »

Is the Tallaght track still not open to the public during the day?

No, it's locked up. There isn't someone on staff during the day who'd be there to open it for individual runners, so there are only group bookings.

Duanington

St Anne's - as Murph mentioned, the Rose Garden is handy for 400s and the like ( but can get busy)
Loop on the field opposite the play ground is good for slightly longer stuff

Grass around the field with Clontarf's pitch is ideal in the summer for sessions ( its about 1.2km all the way around)

Hills at both bottom "corners" of the park are good for shorter hill sessions


Howth - "Corkscrew" at St Fintan's road ....great for longer hill sessions

Summit carpark, great for shorter hill sessions

Up and back from Sutton to the Summit is a good one to throw in on hillier long runs


The stretch along the coast from The Causeway up to Sutton is ideal for long reps, it can get windy obviously but you get used to it


Lucan\Clondalkin - good stretch from Ronanstown over towards Adamstown that is hardly ever used, I've used this before for km reps

Plenty of hills around

Chapelizod hill - a dynamite for hill sprints ( although I've only ever thought this as passing, I've never actually used it)

ewc78

Lazare wrote: »

The footbridge over the N7 at Rathcoole has ramps that are great for sprints.

Steep enough hill at Kingswood flyover of N7. From the entrance to Corkagh Park roundabout up to the flyover.

Lazare

ewc78 wrote: »

Steep enough hill at Kingswood flyover of N7. From the entrance to Corkagh Park roundabout up to the flyover.

That's a good one alright. Ran that quite a bit last year on the marathon build up.

Sacksian

A good tip to find hidden gems in your area is to follow the training of club runners on Strava who are doing regular club sessions. Not only for hills and intervals, but also for non-standard tempo/continuous sessions nearby. A lot of these are tried and tested by local clubs over years - they won't necessarily be saved as segments but you should be able to figure them out from sessions.

Obviously, the Phoenix Park isn't a hidden gem but I started this thread about marked distances in the Park 6 years ago, which might be of interest here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85193381

I probably should have gone back to that thread, now that I know more of them. Anyone looking for straight interval markings, Conyngham Road is marked up on the park side, every 100m from the bus stop at the Chapelizod Gate, up to 2k I think.

There are hidden gems in the Park too, particularly around the Munich Lap & Magazine Fort, including a variety of Donore loops from 600m to 2k around here. Good sprint hills here too. There are also possibilities for long & short hill sessions around the Furry Glen and around St. Mary's, as well as various xc loops on the zoo side of the Khyber.

Civil Service and Liffey Valley have loads of Phoenix Park sessions of various lengths recorded as segments on Strava, on grass and on the road. And Civil Service & MSB both do an endless hills session around the Magazine Fort in the Park, the Civil Service version of which you can find on Strava called 'The Civil Service "40 Hills Session". It's incredibly tough to follow (and to do).

But there are also sessions that aren't saved as segments on Strava, which is how I found a tricky loop around the triangle by St. Mary's in Phoenix Park that DCH use for their sessions. You could do a really interesting year's training, covering short and long hills, tempos, intervals, long runs, using the various segments of the park.

Lazare

chris85 wrote: »

National Sport Campus in Blanchardstown has few good things.

• Outdoor 1km running path great for running intervals with some markers on it
• Cross country course is open to public and is excellent for training on when the weather is better
• Indoor track is available for some open sessions during the week for PAYG entry. Good if you want some solid interval training

This is great info, cheers. I work 5 mins away, will utilise that for sure.

Lazare

Great stuff Sacksian. Was hoping someone would give good guidance on the park.

Top tip on the Strava stalking too.

ewc78

Lazare wrote: »

That's a good one alright. Ran that quite a bit last year on the marathon build up.

If you did then we definitely passed each other a few times as that road from Lucan to Kingswood and out to Tallaght is my usual route for long runs for Marathon training.

AuldManKing

Sacksian wrote: »

A good tip to find hidden gems in your area is to follow the training of club runners on Strava who are doing regular club sessions. Not only for hills and intervals, but also for non-standard tempo/continuous sessions nearby. A lot of these are tried and tested by local clubs over years - they won't necessarily be saved as segments but you should be able to figure them out from sessions.

Obviously, the Phoenix Park isn't a hidden gem but I started this thread about marked distances in the Park 6 years ago, which might be of interest here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=85193381

I probably should have gone back to that thread, now that I know more of them. Anyone looking for straight interval markings, Conyngham Road is marked up on the park side, every 100m from the bus stop at the Chapelizod Gate, up to 2k I think.

There are hidden gems in the Park too, particularly around the Munich Lap & Magazine Fort, including a variety of Donore loops from 600m to 2k around here. Good sprint hills here too. There are also possibilities for long & short hill sessions around the Furry Glen and around St. Mary's, as well as various xc loops on the zoo side of the Khyber.

Civil Service and Liffey Valley have loads of Phoenix Park sessions of various lengths recorded as segments on Strava, on grass and on the road. And Civil Service & MSB both do an endless hills session around the Magazine Fort in the Park, the Civil Service version of which you can find on Strava called 'The Civil Service "40 Hills Session". It's incredibly tough to follow (and to do).

But there are also sessions that aren't saved as segments on Strava, which is how I found a tricky loop around the triangle by St. Mary's in Phoenix Park that DCH use for their sessions. You could do a really interesting year's training, covering short and long hills, tempos, intervals, long runs, using the various segments of the park.

Some other stuff in the Park:

• OS Road from Chesterfield down to Furze Road (Furry Glen) is 0.5m
• Furze Road is 0.7m (Handy for K reps)
• Bollards on Furze are 400m apart.
• Furze to OS (Chesterfield av) is 0.4m
• CK Gate - down the North Road, turn at Zoo, back to CK Gate = 5miles
• CK Gate down to Path by the Cricket club is 2 miles
• Path around the Acres is 1.6m
• Bottom of the Khyber (Crossroads)/ S Bends/ to the St Marys XRoads is 1mile