Politics. Running On Water, Vanity Run Mapping.


It’s a done deal, Australia.

www.smh.com.au
We’re going to be having an epic, all day sausage sizzle back to vote July 2 in a double dissolution election.
And it’s a done deal, New York City.
www.newsday.com
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are your winners.  I’m deeply concerned about what an America with The Donald at the helm would look like.  But I also believe that a woman’s place is in The White House, y’all.
MapMyRun has gone one better about where it thinks women belong.

It decided that I did my run Superwoman style today.  Not only was I running in the manner of Jesus across the water off Elizabeth Bay, but I also did it at a pace of 2.24 minutes per kilometre.  Oh, and i ran a total of 18 kilometres doing the Double Bay to Rushcutter’s round trip.  Vanity run tracking, much?  It’s only meant to be a 5 kilometre run.  I don’t think I got lost to the tune of 13 kilometres either.  Perhaps MapMyRun was measuring distances based on the photos I kept stopping to take of the horizon? Or was I pumping the arm that held my phone too vigorously and adding kilometres that way>

It started so well, this afternoon.  I managed to find the first landmark of the run I was following and then, well….

It’s actually harder than you would think to try and map out a running route in a new suburb.  The places where you want to run aren’t necessarily along the same streets that get you between point A and B the quickest or with the fewest tolls.  As good as Google Maps is, it still doesn’t have a Google Run function.  So I had a look at a few runs that people had mapped through the area on running sites.

Image via Map My Run

It looked so easy.  How hard can it be to follow a thick red line on a Google map as you run at a leisurely pace?  Not very if I’d done the Bay Run as per this map but pretty much impossible when the road you’re looking for isn’t actually painted red in real life in a part of the city where there’s numerous cul de sacs, lanes and private driveways that often look like actual streets.

I got a bit lost but hey.  Lots of mini hill runs and that glimpse of the Harbour Bridge in the distance did help me remember to keep breathing.
As they say (when they’ve had a chance to catch their breath, rehydrate and stretch their aching legs), half the adventure is getting there.
I ended up abandoning all thought of ever getting to Rushcutter’s Bay the scenic way along the water and decided to follow the train line instead.  Hurrah for seemingly ugly public transport related structures looming large on the skyline.

And then I forgot all the wrong turns and dead ends it took to get me here.  On my own two feet.

I stuck to the footpaths on my way home.

And only hit one major dead end on the return journey but it was after this view so it didn’t hurt as much as it could have done.

And then the familiar trees and fences of nearly home crept up on my forward gaze.  After all this time treadmilling my runs, I’d forgotten how good it feels to have done a long outdoor run and hit that last street before the one that’s home.

I’m tired in a good way and achy in a good way.  And also full in a good way from all the bread, butter and soup I needed after my run on water.

Have you ever had a MapMyRun fail?  Did the app over or underestimate your run?  Did it map you running on an unusual surface like water?


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