Two months ago we moved to a new neighbourhood, I wasn’t really worried about the back-breaking work associated with moving furniture – mostly because my husband is the one who did all the back-breaking work and all I did was stand at a distance looking pretty. However, what I was concerned about was coming up with a new running route.
This can be tedious to do especially if you are like me and you want to be accurate to the last centimetre. There are many ways I have used in the past to come up with a running route and I thought it would be helpful to share some of the methods I have used to come up with running routes.
- You can just run around the neighbourhood (like a headless chicken) and then when you get home, use google maps to calculate the distance. Of course, if you are like me and you run around in so many loops and twists and turns that getting back home without getting lost is a miracle in itself and calculating the distance is as hopeless as trying to heat up ice cream without melting it.2.
- You can use GPS on your phone to calculate the distance. This is similar to the first step, except you are using the GPS before the run – which is obviously the smarter way of doing things
- You can download running apps like Sports Tracker and Map My Run. Before my previous phone decided to quit the land of the living, I used Sports Tracker and it was extremely useful. I do have Sports Tracker on my new phone but the phone is so big that if I run with it, I might be tempted to throw it away in the road, as the bible says, “…strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight)” Hebrews 12 vs 1 (Amp)4.
- If you can’t afford internet for google maps or can’t afford a phone but you own a car (although if you can’t afford a phone you probably don’t own a car but that’s not the point here) you can calculate the distance using your car by just putting the mileage counter at zero. My husband and I did that to calculate the distance of my new running route.
There are also some general guidelines I follow when mapping my running route..
- Safety first! You must avoid, as much as possible, running in bushes, unsafe parks, abandoned golf courses or places with very little or no human traffic. Yes, humans can be annoying because they sometimes look at you like you are crazy or they make unnecessary comments – but there is safety in numbers
- Safety second! Try to find a route that does not have heavy traffic. I myself have had a couple of close encounters of the death kind from cars, buses and trucks. These WhatsApp days you should always assume that the person behind the wheel is texting and cannot see you. Even if you are running on the side of the road, be prepared for the car to suddenly swerve in your direction. When crossing a traffic light, assume someone is going to run a red traffic light.
- Safety third! Try to have two or more routes and vary your running pattern so that you cannot be stalked.
And now for the most important tip:Be sure to smile and wave at other runners!