It looks like my final marathon tempo will take place away from God’s country (Arvada, CO). Any suggestions for a ~6 mi loop (or just a 3 mile out & back) that is flattish and will have low traffic in the Hollywood, CA area? WIlling to drive 30-40 minutes if needed. I’m going to have to do the run at sunrise on Monday AM, so heavily traveled roads might not be an option. Should be very informative to run an altitude conversion-free workout. I promise to reciprocate for anyone that needs run/riding recommendations in CO.
Mike, You’ve got plenty of options with the willingness to drive.
Take Wlishire west, under the 405fwy and make your first left on San Vicente/Federal. Curve around in to Brentwood, through 4 lights and park on the curb - you can run around the Brendwood Golf Course (San Vicente, Gretna Green, Montana, Burlingame) for a flat, 2 mile loop that’s mostly dirt http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5172637 or run out and back towards the ocean on San Vicente - a bit of a false flat but still good http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5172639
lastly, right near you in Beverly Hills - there’s a green belt that runs beside Santa Monica Blvd - if the out and back bores you then consider “the flats” of Beverly Hills just north of Santa Monica Blvd. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5172649
Thanks guys. The 3.3 mi loop around the reservoir will be perfect, since I need to set up a pretend aid station. I’m only sightly ashamed to state the purpose of my trip is to take my wife to see a taping of “Dancing with the Stars”. She’s home all day with a magnificently rambunctious 2 year old and this is going to be a fun chance for her to get dressed up and not be a Mom for a couple of days. It is also a great excuse to do a dress rehearsal at sea level though…
That’s a very nice run - flat and there’s only traffic on one part of the loop. Bit of a bitch to get there, but worth it.
Griffith Park runs are nice, too - there are a lot of them to choose from.
When I lived in Hollywood, I’d run a loop starting at Fountain and LaBrea, go up to Lexington, run to Gower, turn around and run Fountain back to the starting point. Only a few lights, and early in the morning there’s no traffic.
LOL, My wife entered a contest to get us into the grand finale show, which includes hotel room and limo service to the studio, and, I think, the post-party. I’m game!
My ex brother in law trained for a marathon by running laps around the Hollywood Reservoir. Looks to be 3.3 miles.
Halfspeed - Thanks for the recommendation for the reservoir. I had no idea how crazy the topography in Hollywood was. The road to the resivor was like something out of the thrid world. Homes seemingly screwed into the mountainside and roads just wide enough for one car at a time. The loop around the reservoir was partially closed due to a land slide, but there was a reasonably flat (and most importantly, closed to traffic) 2 mile stretch I ran back an forth on for my 22 miles. Somebody decided to help mother earth by throwing my water bottle and gel into the trash for me when I still had about 10 miles left, buy luckily I had already taken 1/2 the gel and it was not hot enough to get into trouble hydration-wise. It is totally different experience running at sea level at marathon effort. Easy to see how folks dig their own grave in the opening miles of a marathon… I broke my 1/2 marathon PR without meaning to, and still had a few miles to run. Many thanks again!!!
YQW! I’ve personally never been up there. He told me he’d run by the same people lap after lap and they thought he was crazy… well marathoners are, in a way.
If you can get to Santa Monica, you can run a loop on San Vicente from Ocean up Brentwood Country Club. It has a bit of an incline, but you have choice of sidewalk or the grass in the median. Or go ahead and run on the beach bike path. In the AM you should have plenty of space.