Posted at The Loop, the blogs at Runner’sWorld.com
By the time you read this I will have flown to North Carolina, and hopefully I will have run in a new place. Not an official race or anything, just a set of streets I’ve never been on before, in a city I’ve only visited for the first time.
(Of course, strictly speaking “by the time you read this” I could be dead and in my grave for a few hundred years. I have no idea when it is that you’re reading this. That’s the trouble with looking ahead to the future- there’s probably more future left then there is past. Or not, I don’t know, I’m not a chronoastronomist).
I could wait until I’ve actually been there and done the running before posting about it, which would make a kind of sense, but what if I go and don’t run for some reason? We’re going there for a baby shower, and who knows if I’ll have time to strap on my Nike Frees and pound some asphalt for 30 minutes or so. Writing now, this way, I get to talk about it even if I don’t do it.
For me, running is about the adventure. It’s about exploration, going from here to there, it’s about streets I haven’t been on, finding new ways to connect where I’m at with where I want to be. A few months ago I was at my sister-in-law’s place, looking out their window at the gorgeous view. I spotted a distant hill, and decided I would try to find a way to run to it.
I hopped onto Mapometer.com to see where I was and where I was going. I love maps, love looking at routes and puzzling out how to defeat rivers, elevations changes, busy streets with no sidewalks. I figured out how to get to that hill, then took off running– and got lost.
I have a horrible memory (my excuse: I have an excellent imagination). You’ll have to decide if that’s a blessing or a curse, when it comes to exploring while on a run. But, for what it’s worth, I still had an excellent run, and I did make it up that hill. The view was fantastic.
So by the time this weekend has past, I’ll have run around a bit of Greensboro, North Carolina. I’m looking at Mapometer right now, trying to figure out what streets looks the most interesting. We’ll be near Buffalo Lake and Philadelphia Lake, so maybe I’ll trot down and see those. Greensboro Country Park isn’t too far away.
Most likely, whatever I plan, I’ll get lost, and have to call my wife to come find me (she’s never been there before, either). Talk about an adventure! If I survive, I’ll let you know. I mean survive my wife’s wrath. Pretty sure I’ll survive the run. Pretty sure.