USVI-On-Line

Need some ideas on where to get in some runs while on island in September. Will be staying in Coral Bay. Any tried & true runs from 4-10 miles?

coral bay to the east end would work

My fist advise is to be careful with the hills. If you are not use to them then you could get injured or have soreness for several weeks that could set your training back. I run most days when I am on St. John. We are Cruz Bay people so that is were I have done most of my running. I have a one mile loop in Cruz Bay that is very flat. I start at Grand Bay and then run past the Fish Trap and towards Mongoose Junction. I then run behind and around the National Park service and then return towards Grand Bay Via the Ferry Dock. I like the run in the morning because you get to see the town waking up. I also like to run the Lind Point trail to Honeymoon and Solomon Bay. The Lind Point overlook is nice in the morning and usually I step out onto the beach and am the only one there. I also like to run in the Francis Bay area. It is flat if you run from Francis to Annaberg and then you can run the Liestner Bay trail which is very flat. The entire distance between Francis and Liestner Bay is about 1.6 miles so an out and back would be 3.2 miles. If you have been doing some hill training just about any trail is fun to run on.

What Half-Marathon are you training for?

Totally concur with Hoosierdaddy...big fan of jogging and I've trained for halves too. Since we go in June, I'm usually between races and haven't started the fall session yet. But last time we went, a friend that went with us was doing early marathon in the fall and needed to get a 12 in, which I thought was nuts. She did Francis to Leinster, which is relatively flat and then took the Johnny Horn trail over to the Brown Bay cutoff and then did the Brown Bay trail all the way to its trailhead over in Coral Bay. That gets pretty hilly but you can jog just about the entire way. If you start from Francis beach, it's a little over 4 miles to the Brown Bay trailhead. That would get you 8 round trip and then you can run from Francis to Annaberg and back and that would get you your 10. I think that's easily your best bet for your long run because a lot of it is flat and the short stretch of road you have to run on is usually not real busy, especially early in the morning.

Also would definitely reiterate Hoosier's warning about the hills, especially going down them. Very, very steep. And also hydration. It's humid. You will sweat a lot more than you do at home and lose electrolytes quick. I'd bring some nuun or saltstix or whatever you like to use to stay hydrated. Oh and run on the right side of the road so you can face traffic that is driving on the left.

Good luck.