Race Training in Warminster Parks

I have been thinking about writing about this topic for some time. Many people know about the parks in Warminster. They are a great asset and many people use them. Some people, like myself use the paved trails to train for races. I am a walker.

I walk very fast for an older, overweight person. Once I did a mile in ten minutes and fifty nine seconds. I know this for a fact because I wear a Garmin 205 GPS watch when I train outside. My usual fast pace is any time under 12 minutes. If it takes me more than twelve minutes and fifteen seconds to do a mile, I must be tired or I might be going up a hill. 

When I am training for a race I do all of my training in either or the . Both are great places to train for a race.

Kemper Park is my "home park." I live less than a mile away. If the weather is nice and I have enough daylight, I do my usual four miles at the end of a work day.

The course is mostly flat. It does start out with a slight downward hill. That makes for a fast start. Just past the pavilion on the left there is a slight dip. It is another spot to pick up a little speed. Then the course is flat.

About a third of the way to the back of the park there is a large open area. If it is windy or too sunny and hot this is where you are going to feel it. Then you cross over a little stream bed and after a few hundred feet you go into the turn around. Some times when it is windy I do not feel the wind until I make the turn around. Going out, with the wind at your back might be called the down wind leg, I guess. That would make the return leg the upwind leg.

One thing about the track at Kemper Park-it is not one mile long. My GPS says it is .97 of a mile. That does not mean anything if you are just using the path for exercise.

If you are training for speed it means a lot. Before I started to use a GPS watch I used a stop watch. That only gave me my average speed and I was satisfied with that at the time. I thought I was fast enough. When I found out that the path is short all of my previous records where useless. No crisis since I am only doing this for myself.  I rarely tell anyone about my time. I do not care to try to impress people. Few people would be impressed with a 12 minute mile anyway.

In order to make up for the short track, I add a little to the path. I go up the slight hill at the beginning and I make a right heading towards the porta potty. I turn around there. That adds about a tenth of a mile to the track.

I like to train in Kemper Park. When it is hot there are long stretches of the path that seem to be cooler. If you look towards the stream there are some openings through the trees that provide some nice views of the stream.

Warminster Community Park is a great place to train for a race. You start with a long downhill leg. Then there is a long uphill part. When you pass the first half-mile the track begins to flatten out, Then you make a right turn at the back of the park that parallels Bristol road.

About a quarter of a mile into mile two, you make a right turn. The grade is slightly down hill. There is a long stretch that is shady and cooler than the open area. At the end of mile two there is a downhill part that leads to a short, kind of steep, up hill. Once you get to the top of the hill, the track is flat until you start another lap.  

The outside track is 2.33 miles long. There are other paths that are shorter and you can circle back and end up near your car. I use the paths when I am getting close to the finish of the distance I want to do that day.

I like the community park because the hills and valleys make the track more challenging. It is a nature preserve, and I frequently see some of the deer that live there. I like the fact that the tract is very long. If you are training for a half marathon you "only" have to do five laps and take a short path back to the parking lot. 

Today I finished training for the Broad Street Run. I did ten miles in Kemper Park. It took me 1:56:57. That is the fastest I have ever done ten miles. The race is next Sunday, May 6. I am ready.

If you want to train for a race like a marathon or a 5K, Warminster has two great parks you can use.