August 27, 2024 • 13 mins
Have you ever found yourself frustrated by walkers in the fast lanes or unsure which lane to use on a running track? This episode will arm you with essential track etiquette tips to enhance your running experience. We'll discuss the importance of following the rules (whether posted or not) to keep everyone safe and courteous.
Track workouts might seem intimidating, but they don't have to be. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned road runner looking for variety, this episode will encourage you how to incorporate track workouts into your routine, complete with additional resources for further exploration.
Resources:
Intro to Track- from Sifuentes Coaching
Know Your Oval- from The Runner Eclectic - scroll down if you are interested in the exact measurements of each lane all the way around
Track Workouts to Improve Your Speed- Very Well Fit
If you are looking for a coach to help you reach your running goals, even if it's just to start to run, take a look at my Coaching Services page on the website. I do virtual, in-person (Buffalo, NY area) and also offer single zoom sessions for those would just like to chat with a coach one time.
Find my additional outlets over at the YouTube channel and at wrinkledrunner.com. Sign up over on the blog for the once-a-month newsletter! If you would like information on utilizing a running coach, check out what I can do for you here.
If you have any running-related questions, please send an email to sherry@wrinkledrunner.com…I answer every one.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today I'm going to go over the track and how you can
use it for your own running,even if you're a beginner or
haven't done workouts before.
If you know the basics, you canutilize the track as a
controlled environment, which isbeneficial for various runs
that have some purpose to them.
(00:20):
For those of us that arerecreational runners, it can be
intimidating to even think aboutheading to the high school or
you know wherever there's atrack for you to get onto.
Until I was a coach, thethought of track workouts
actually never even entered mymind.
I figured the stops and startsof traffic road running were
just the norm, and I don't eventhink I knew anyone was allowed
(00:43):
to use a track, actually unlessthey were, you know, a high
school student or collegestudent, or you know part of a
running group that was able touse the track because they had
permission to, of course, thatwould actually be.
The first order of business isto see what tracks are available
(01:03):
to the public in your area andalso if there are periods of
time when you can't use it.
So in my area in Buffalo, thereis one about four miles from me
that doesn't get much use earlyin the morning, so that's where
I meet my clients anywhere from6 to 8 am, because I know that
there's not going to be a lot ofpeople there, a lot of people
(01:23):
trying to get workouts.
As far as I know, no schools'snot going to be a lot of people
there a lot of people trying toget workouts.
As far as I know, no schoolsuse it that early, even during
the school year.
So that's where I meet clientswho are going to be doing track
workouts there and I had to dosome research for that, to find
out what tracks allow the publicto use.
And there are some tracks eversince COVID that actually
(01:47):
pre-COVID they allowed thepublic to use and since then
they haven't.
So that's just something you'regoing to have to Google in your
area and try and figure outwhat can and can't be used.
If you've been on a track or ifyou've ever seen one, even just
on TV, you know that there arenumbers and lanes all around.
So we just finished the parisolympics, so if you watched any
(02:10):
of the track games, it'sprobably pretty fresh in your
mind that picture in your headof what a track actually looks
like.
So the biggest thing to know isthat lane one is exactly 400
meters.
The other lanes get longer andlonger.
If you were to start rightwhere the lane one start point
is and I'll link you in the shownotes to a resource that gives
(02:32):
you all the numbers.
But for this discussion we aregoing to talk about some of the
etiquette surrounding using thetrack, some of the ways you can
build a track workout foryourself and a few other things.
So the actual lanes and howmuch each one goes around might
not be important to you for thisdiscussion, but, like I said,
(02:56):
I'll link you to the show notesso that you can actually see
what the precise measurementsare for the track for each of
the different lanes.
So when you first go to thetrack, if there are others there
, you're going to need to know afew niceties.
So a big thing is that lane oneis for fast runners.
One of my pet peeves when I'mat the track with an athlete is
(03:18):
that there are some people whocome who are walkers, who they
just start walking in lane one,and I have actually had my
fastest runner already runningin lane one and in comes a
walker that will start right upin lane one and even when my
runner comes up behind them andwhooshes past them.
(03:39):
My runner is the one who willhave to go into lane two to
avoid a collision, and they'regoing to stubbornly stay in lane
one, even though it's apparentthat we are already utilizing it
.
And the track that I use haseight lanes, and so it's kind of
a peeve of mine that the peoplewho own the track don't post
(04:04):
rules that you know if, ifyou're walking, don't pick lane
one, that's not to diss walkers.
I think it's important, and Ithink people who come and walk
early in the morning, I thinkthat's awesome, but I also think
you should know the rules ofthe road.
When it comes to that, it's like, as a runner, I can't tell you
(04:27):
the number of bikers who havecome at me when there's a
clearly marked bike lane andthen there's a pedestrian lane
and there are these bikers whowill come right at me.
Had actually some bikers yellat me that I shouldn't be where
(04:48):
I am, even though I'm in thepedestrian section, but they
don't understand how, you know,bike lanes work, or like bike
lanes in conjunction with apedestrian lane, but they're
also dressed in full kit as ifthey're, you know, running the
tour, as if they're biking theTour de France.
So I that is.
Kind of.
A pet peeve of mine is whenpeople are acting like they know
(05:10):
what's what when they don't,and I'm getting yelled at for
doing the right thing whenthey're the ones who are in the
wrong.
So, anyway, that rant's over.
But if, if you ride a bike andyou're wearing full kit, please
learn the rules of the road andwhat you're actually supposed to
be doing.
So if that happens to you whensomebody is slower and using
(05:31):
lane one, just move over to lanetwo to avoid a collision,
because that will actually thengive you a smoother run so that
you're not having to jump into adifferent lane.
I tell my clients just to moveover when that happens.
So if you've never used a trackbefore, just know that lots of
walkers actually use the track.
So as a runner, even if youaren't super fast, you should
(05:53):
feel very comfortable there.
If you are fast, use lane one.
If no other faster runners arethere, if there are, settle onto
a lane and use that one.
If you happen to be using laneone or any lane, if the track is
busy and someone yells lane ortrack at you, they're just
letting you know that they'regoing to pass you.
(06:15):
They're really not trying to berude.
But if you don't know that andsomeone's like screaming, track
at you or lane at you, you mightthink that they're just trying
to get you to get out of theirway and like being rude.
But they're really not.
They're just trying to be, uh,trying to let you be aware that
they are there and if they arerunning faster than you, you
(06:36):
know, maybe move over to anotherlane so they can have that
track for their workout.
When you run on a track, thedirection is actually pretty set
, so it's counterclockwise.
There are some instances so saya runner who uses the track a
lot and needs to balance out thebody, so to speak, where you
might see someone actuallyrunning clockwise.
(06:58):
But in reality I actuallyhaven't ever seen that, but it
might happen.
So if that does happen andsomebody is running clockwise
when it's supposed to becounterclockwise, just give them
the benefit of the doubt thatthey're trying to kind of
balance out their body a littlebit and run in the opposite
direction, just so that theirbodies aren't constantly doing
(07:20):
the same thing over and over.
Because we do get kind of setin our ways and if you don't
introduce the opposite to yourbodies.
You know, say we run a racethat all of a sudden we're not
making right or left turns allthe time.
That can be detrimental.
So if others are running at thetrack, don't stop abruptly and
(07:41):
also look both ways beforewalking or exiting or crossing
over lanes.
So this is track etiquette andrace etiquette also, by the way,
because you don't want to because of collision.
So if you are in a race,protocol says to raise your hand
and kind of move off to theside if you're going to stop,
instead of just stoppingabruptly.
A lot of people don't actuallyknow that and so if somebody
(08:06):
stops abruptly in front of you,it can cause a pretty good
collision and also mess somebodyup if they're actually going
for time for things, aware ofhow many people are on the track
and that if you need to get offof the track or you know stop
running or whatever that youkind of make yourself either go
(08:26):
over towards the middle of thetrack, which is usually a grassy
area, or off the trackcompletely or into another lane.
It just depends on where youare oriented and you know, of
course, as always, just be awareof your surroundings Every once
in a while you might see a conein lane one especially, and
this is because that lane mightneed some love, because a lot of
(08:49):
people use that lane and withthe running shoes pounding on it
and you know, just going aroundand around.
Sometimes that lane will need tohave some work done on it.
So if there's a cone in laneone, don't move it and don't run
on it, just pick a differentlane.
That lane is going to begetting some maintenance and
(09:09):
it'll be ready to go, probablyin the next week, two weeks,
whatever.
So those are some basic rulesand after learning that, maybe
you do want to try a trackworkout.
So what would that look like?
If you want an easy intro totrack, you could run a mile easy
, which would roughly be fourtimes around the track, and then
(09:32):
run hard for one lap, which is400 meters, which is a bit less
than a quarter mile if you'reAmerican and then run another
lap easy and then run anotherlap hard and do that four times.
So that's going to give youanother two miles.
So you're going to finish upwith a mile cool down or four
laps easy.
(09:53):
Now, if you're not in lane one,that distance isn't going to be
exact, but like if you don'tunderstand the stagger system
and the lines associated withthat, it's kind of hard to
explain that over a podcast.
So check the link to understand.
You know all the differentmeasurements for around the
track, but unless you're supertype A OCD, the beauty of that
(10:14):
type of workout is you only needto remember the specifics of
how many times around the trackand what your pace range is, and
then you can duplicate thatworkout, whatever track that you
may be on, to see how youprogress.
So the only lane you'd have toremember is what number you're
in.
So say you ran that workoutwhere you're running four laps
(10:37):
in lane three and then you'rerunning one lap hard, one lap
easy four times and then runninganother four times easy at the
end for a cool down.
You can always go to any trackavailable and use lane three, do
that workout and then look backat how you completed it the
(10:58):
last time you did it to be ableto see your progress.
You can duplicate that trackworkout.
So in the show notes I willalso give you links for other
track workouts that you mightwant to try.
The main thing with this episodeis just to get you to
understand how to utilize thetrack and the different rules
(11:19):
associated with it and to maybegive you some confidence to go
and try it out.
I mean, you can always go to atrack, run your run your workout
and try it out.
No matter what you do on thetrack, if you do it confidently,
no one is going to questionwhat you're doing.
So get some confidence inutilizing that.
It's a different way to run andit doesn't have to be
(11:43):
intimidating and can be a funway to introduce speed training.
Variety is great for keepingyou interested and running on a
track is a new thing to explore.
So try that out and see ifincorporating track workouts is
something that can motivate you.
Today I'm going to go over the track and how you can
use it for your own running,even if you're a beginner or
haven't done workouts before.
If you know the basics, you canutilize the track as a
controlled environment, which isbeneficial for various runs
that have some purpose to them.
(00:20):
For those of us that arerecreational runners, it can be
intimidating to even think aboutheading to the high school or
you know wherever there's atrack for you to get onto.
Until I was a coach, thethought of track workouts
actually never even entered mymind.
I figured the stops and startsof traffic road running were
just the norm, and I don't eventhink I knew anyone was allowed
(00:43):
to use a track, actually unlessthey were, you know, a high
school student or collegestudent, or you know part of a
running group that was able touse the track because they had
permission to, of course, thatwould actually be.
The first order of business isto see what tracks are available
(01:03):
to the public in your area andalso if there are periods of
time when you can't use it.
So in my area in Buffalo, thereis one about four miles from me
that doesn't get much use earlyin the morning, so that's where
I meet my clients anywhere from6 to 8 am, because I know that
there's not going to be a lot ofpeople there, a lot of people
(01:23):
trying to get workouts.
As far as I know, no schools'snot going to be a lot of people
there a lot of people trying toget workouts.
As far as I know, no schoolsuse it that early, even during
the school year.
So that's where I meet clientswho are going to be doing track
workouts there and I had to dosome research for that, to find
out what tracks allow the publicto use.
And there are some tracks eversince COVID that actually
(01:47):
pre-COVID they allowed thepublic to use and since then
they haven't.
So that's just something you'regoing to have to Google in your
area and try and figure outwhat can and can't be used.
If you've been on a track or ifyou've ever seen one, even just
on TV, you know that there arenumbers and lanes all around.
So we just finished the parisolympics, so if you watched any
(02:10):
of the track games, it'sprobably pretty fresh in your
mind that picture in your headof what a track actually looks
like.
So the biggest thing to know isthat lane one is exactly 400
meters.
The other lanes get longer andlonger.
If you were to start rightwhere the lane one start point
is and I'll link you in the shownotes to a resource that gives
(02:32):
you all the numbers.
But for this discussion we aregoing to talk about some of the
etiquette surrounding using thetrack, some of the ways you can
build a track workout foryourself and a few other things.
So the actual lanes and howmuch each one goes around might
not be important to you for thisdiscussion, but, like I said,
(02:56):
I'll link you to the show notesso that you can actually see
what the precise measurementsare for the track for each of
the different lanes.
So when you first go to thetrack, if there are others there
, you're going to need to know afew niceties.
So a big thing is that lane oneis for fast runners.
One of my pet peeves when I'mat the track with an athlete is
(03:18):
that there are some people whocome who are walkers, who they
just start walking in lane one,and I have actually had my
fastest runner already runningin lane one and in comes a
walker that will start right upin lane one and even when my
runner comes up behind them andwhooshes past them.
(03:39):
My runner is the one who willhave to go into lane two to
avoid a collision, and they'regoing to stubbornly stay in lane
one, even though it's apparentthat we are already utilizing it
.
And the track that I use haseight lanes, and so it's kind of
a peeve of mine that the peoplewho own the track don't post
(04:04):
rules that you know if, ifyou're walking, don't pick lane
one, that's not to diss walkers.
I think it's important, and Ithink people who come and walk
early in the morning, I thinkthat's awesome, but I also think
you should know the rules ofthe road.
When it comes to that, it's like, as a runner, I can't tell you
(04:27):
the number of bikers who havecome at me when there's a
clearly marked bike lane andthen there's a pedestrian lane
and there are these bikers whowill come right at me.
Had actually some bikers yellat me that I shouldn't be where
(04:48):
I am, even though I'm in thepedestrian section, but they
don't understand how, you know,bike lanes work, or like bike
lanes in conjunction with apedestrian lane, but they're
also dressed in full kit as ifthey're, you know, running the
tour, as if they're biking theTour de France.
So I that is.
Kind of.
A pet peeve of mine is whenpeople are acting like they know
(05:10):
what's what when they don't,and I'm getting yelled at for
doing the right thing whenthey're the ones who are in the
wrong.
So, anyway, that rant's over.
But if, if you ride a bike andyou're wearing full kit, please
learn the rules of the road andwhat you're actually supposed to
be doing.
So if that happens to you whensomebody is slower and using
(05:31):
lane one, just move over to lanetwo to avoid a collision,
because that will actually thengive you a smoother run so that
you're not having to jump into adifferent lane.
I tell my clients just to moveover when that happens.
So if you've never used a trackbefore, just know that lots of
walkers actually use the track.
So as a runner, even if youaren't super fast, you should
(05:53):
feel very comfortable there.
If you are fast, use lane one.
If no other faster runners arethere, if there are, settle onto
a lane and use that one.
If you happen to be using laneone or any lane, if the track is
busy and someone yells lane ortrack at you, they're just
letting you know that they'regoing to pass you.
(06:15):
They're really not trying to berude.
But if you don't know that andsomeone's like screaming, track
at you or lane at you, you mightthink that they're just trying
to get you to get out of theirway and like being rude.
But they're really not.
They're just trying to be, uh,trying to let you be aware that
they are there and if they arerunning faster than you, you
(06:36):
know, maybe move over to anotherlane so they can have that
track for their workout.
When you run on a track, thedirection is actually pretty set
, so it's counterclockwise.
There are some instances so saya runner who uses the track a
lot and needs to balance out thebody, so to speak, where you
might see someone actuallyrunning clockwise.
(06:58):
But in reality I actuallyhaven't ever seen that, but it
might happen.
So if that does happen andsomebody is running clockwise
when it's supposed to becounterclockwise, just give them
the benefit of the doubt thatthey're trying to kind of
balance out their body a littlebit and run in the opposite
direction, just so that theirbodies aren't constantly doing
(07:20):
the same thing over and over.
Because we do get kind of setin our ways and if you don't
introduce the opposite to yourbodies.
You know, say we run a racethat all of a sudden we're not
making right or left turns allthe time.
That can be detrimental.
So if others are running at thetrack, don't stop abruptly and
(07:41):
also look both ways beforewalking or exiting or crossing
over lanes.
So this is track etiquette andrace etiquette also, by the way,
because you don't want to because of collision.
So if you are in a race,protocol says to raise your hand
and kind of move off to theside if you're going to stop,
instead of just stoppingabruptly.
A lot of people don't actuallyknow that and so if somebody
(08:06):
stops abruptly in front of you,it can cause a pretty good
collision and also mess somebodyup if they're actually going
for time for things, aware ofhow many people are on the track
and that if you need to get offof the track or you know stop
running or whatever that youkind of make yourself either go
(08:26):
over towards the middle of thetrack, which is usually a grassy
area, or off the trackcompletely or into another lane.
It just depends on where youare oriented and you know, of
course, as always, just be awareof your surroundings Every once
in a while you might see a conein lane one especially, and
this is because that lane mightneed some love, because a lot of
(08:49):
people use that lane and withthe running shoes pounding on it
and you know, just going aroundand around.
Sometimes that lane will need tohave some work done on it.
So if there's a cone in laneone, don't move it and don't run
on it, just pick a differentlane.
That lane is going to begetting some maintenance and
(09:09):
it'll be ready to go, probablyin the next week, two weeks,
whatever.
So those are some basic rulesand after learning that, maybe
you do want to try a trackworkout.
So what would that look like?
If you want an easy intro totrack, you could run a mile easy
, which would roughly be fourtimes around the track, and then
(09:32):
run hard for one lap, which is400 meters, which is a bit less
than a quarter mile if you'reAmerican and then run another
lap easy and then run anotherlap hard and do that four times.
So that's going to give youanother two miles.
So you're going to finish upwith a mile cool down or four
laps easy.
(09:53):
Now, if you're not in lane one,that distance isn't going to be
exact, but like if you don'tunderstand the stagger system
and the lines associated withthat, it's kind of hard to
explain that over a podcast.
So check the link to understand.
You know all the differentmeasurements for around the
track, but unless you're supertype A OCD, the beauty of that
(10:14):
type of workout is you only needto remember the specifics of
how many times around the trackand what your pace range is, and
then you can duplicate thatworkout, whatever track that you
may be on, to see how youprogress.
So the only lane you'd have toremember is what number you're
in.
So say you ran that workoutwhere you're running four laps
(10:37):
in lane three and then you'rerunning one lap hard, one lap
easy four times and then runninganother four times easy at the
end for a cool down.
You can always go to any trackavailable and use lane three, do
that workout and then look backat how you completed it the
(10:58):
last time you did it to be ableto see your progress.
You can duplicate that trackworkout.
So in the show notes I willalso give you links for other
track workouts that you mightwant to try.
The main thing with this episodeis just to get you to
understand how to utilize thetrack and the different rules
(11:19):
associated with it and to maybegive you some confidence to go
and try it out.
I mean, you can always go to atrack, run your run your workout
and try it out.
No matter what you do on thetrack, if you do it confidently,
no one is going to questionwhat you're doing.
So get some confidence inutilizing that.
It's a different way to run andit doesn't have to be
(11:43):
intimidating and can be a funway to introduce speed training.
Variety is great for keepingyou interested and running on a
track is a new thing to explore.
So try that out and see ifincorporating track workouts is
something that can motivate you.
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