Takin' it to the streets

Wow, I forgot how good it felt to get off the track and into the real world (or so to speak). Today, my room-mate Dana and I decided to go for a run, and get out of our track loop rut and explore the streets of Rohnert Park.

Considering it was such a gorgeous day out and the timing was perfect, hitting the city blocks was a great precursor to my future marathon challenge. Since last week, (and my last post) you are all aware of my newest accomplishment- reaching those dreadful three miles. By getting away from both the indoor and outdoor tracks, I was able to run through those three miles with much more ease than before, making my motivation for running in the first place, go up!

A secret that my room-mate showed me was this great website that allows you to calculate the mileage you wish to run and the different paths that allow you to run it. The site is called, mapmyrun.com and it is the greatest invention since sliced bread! (ok, maybe not, but it sure is a God send).

You simply find the streets you wish to run, connect the points with your cursor and let the site tally up the miles each course spans. Whether you are just starting out and looking for a mile, or a hard core runner and looking for ten, mapmyrun.com can help you achieve your goals and get you there faster and easier, all at the click of a button.

Of course, you still have to be the one to actually complete the run (there is no website yet that has the ability to do that), but feel free to get creative and map some fun runs along familiar streets in your current town.

Dana and I started our run at Sonoma State University, jogging down west on East Cotati Ave, turning left down Camino Colegio (past Windsong and Emerald Pointe). Continuing down all the way till we hit Bodway, where we turned left and headed north back up to school. This run was calculated on mapmyrun to be 3.2 miles, a good estimate to what our legs were feeling afterwards.

While certain parts were harder than others, the time seemed to pass quickly and there was many distrations for us to ease our minds. Instead of counting laps or checking our stop watches every few feet, Dana and I seemed to find the street running a huge success.

Being that Dana is an all-star and has already successfully accomplished a half-marathon last October, I keep her by my side at all times possible and get the ins and outs of long distance running. I would most definitely urge anyone to take a running buddy along with you, no matter the time of day you go running. This is proven to be much safer and rewarding. Set goals for the both of you, and stick to them week after week, and soon you will look back at when you started and laugh at how hard you once thought this challenge seemed.

So don't allow yourself to stay in your same old running routine! Get off the track, step away from the treadmill and plant your feet on some good ole' concrete. It will all pay off, and you can show off your skills to all those who stop to stare while driving by.

run-sarah-run!