Walking and Running Routes in Darien

Okay, so if we can make this work it will be one of my first visions for this site realized … I mean, I love to walk through the neighborhood, and I get bored with the same old route but never have time (or remember) to actually clock the whole variety of them when in my car at a later date … so I just kind of trust my “instinct” on how far the walk is.

Problem is, when I run into a neighbor who walks the same route and she tells me the actual distance, it’s always about 2 miles less than my “instinct” had told me.  So, my instinct, driven by how tired my legs are and/or how out of breath I am, tells me it’s a good solid 2.5 mile walk, when, as it turns out, it’s only half a mile…?!  (I mean, don’t you have to factor in things like hills and winding sidewalks and how out of shape-i-mean-breath you are when you’re done with the walk?  Odometers miss subtle, mile-equivalent nuances like that …)

So when thinking about the components this website should have and/or how it can be most useful to people, one of the very first ideas I had was to have a place, online, where everyone can share their walking, running, biking and strollering routes and distances for each (and/or ask if anyone else knows the distance).   This way, if we’re looking for some variety, or have moved to a new neighborhood, or just need a little inspiration to get our butts outside and moving, it’s all right online in one place.

And, speaking of inspiration, if anyone wanted to start a little group and/or throw out an invite to others in the neighborhood who were interested in walking/ running at the same time, how warm and neighborly online community-building of them would THAT be?

So I came across a cool site this weekend called MapMyRun, but I think it’s going to appeal to the more passionate and technology-inclined exercisers of the group because it requires actually creating maps of your routes.  For those who enjoy it, the good news is you can post a link to your map right back here on the board.  For those of us who would rather just check to see who has maps and/or describe our route in a few sentences, the good news is we can have the best of both worlds on this board.

I’m going to send you off to the Ask & Answer Forum for this: you will need to register there if you want to post.  To post your question or route, simply click on “New Topic.”  It’s just like composing an email.

RUNNERS: USE THIS BOARD ~    WALKERS: USE THIS BOARD ~ BIKERS: USE THIS BOARD

And, if you can’t figure out how to post to the board, don’t want to register or just plain don’t want to cooperate, you are free to post your route by commenting on this post or emailing it to me and I will post it for you.

Tags: Good to Know, health & wellness

Category: Home & Family