Where to Run: Creating a Route

I have to say that I'm a little weird about choosing my running routes. See, it either has to be a loop or it has to have a destination at the end. Also, I've found that knowing where I will stop is a good motivator to keep going. This is especially pertinent if you've been following the Couch-to-5K plan. For simplicity, I ran for time instead of distance. But after a while it got to be mind-numbing. There was no end in sight - literally, it turned out that my problem was not being able to see where I would stop. For me, it is a lot easier to keep going if I know that its only 2 more blocks, than knowing that I still have 8 minutes. Plus, by running for time, I found myself slowing down and just waiting out the time. The result: when I got to the part of the plan where you're not walking anymore, I wasn't making anywhere near the distance that I was supposed to in the time given for each workout.

So now, I carefully map my routes. There are lots of sites online that will let you map out a run and will tell you the distance, elevation gain/loss, and all sorts of other things. I recommend the one on Livestrong.com . You've heard of this before, right? Lance Armstrong, yellow rubber bracelets, etc, etc. Well it turns out, that as part of the foundation's activity they curate a whole site devoted to healthy living. They have a section called 'My Plate' that works as an online food journal and has an insane number of foods in its database. And if a food you're looking for isn't in the database, you can add it. On top of that, you can set daily goals for total calories, fat, carbs, all sorts of things. But back to the loops...On the homepage of Livestrong.com, at the top of the page, hover on 'Get Fit', to the right of the drop-down are 'Get Fit Tools', click on 'Loops'. From here you can create your own loops, view loops created by others in your area, and add a loop to your 'My Plate' (if you have one). A free account is needed to create loops, but even if this is the only part of the site that you use, it is totally worth it.

To create your loop, first follow the directions above to get to the 'Loops' page. Then, under 'Create a Loop', click on 'Create'. Now, center the map over where you want to run. Ok, here's the little bit of a tricky part: first, click on your start point, then click your end point and a line will appear between them - now drag the line to where you want your route to go. So, for example, if you are planning a route that will start and end in front of your house, click for the start in front of your house, then click right next to it for the end. It is most convenient to put your start pin to the side where you will be going to, and the stop pin to the side you will be coming from (so that the route line doesn't have to cross itself). Then, grab the little line and pull it where you want it to go. Along the route line will be little boxes - use these to drag your route around and fit it to where you want to go. Also, below the map will be a graph of elevation change. The dots on the elevation graph correspond with the boxes on your route - so you'll know in advance where you go up and where your route goes back down again.

How about you? How do you plan your routes?