I have a pretty good sense of direction–better than my husband at least–but Arlington, Virginia always confuses me. There is a 16th Street and a 16th Road and they are not related. You could be on 16th Street, drive straight through an intersection, and be on a different road altogether. The roads twist and turn, end suddenly and begin again a few blocks over–it is just not a place you can navigavte by feel.
When my friend and I made plans to meet up for a run this weekend, I thought we should meet at her house in Falls Church and run along the Nelly Custis trail to get some hill work in. I thought we could pick up the course that I ran for the July 4th Go Fourth 8K, which started at Bluemont Park and then picked up the Nelly Custis trail for some shady hills.
I got to my friend’s house a bit before 6:00 and we headed out. We cut through the back of the park and picked up a running/biking path, and then followed signs to the Nelly Custis trail. After a brief segment, the trail ended at a neighborhood street!
Clearly we had taken a wrong turn, but how? My friend figured that we had cut over to Nelly Custis too soon, so we ran along some neighborhood roads, trying to keep heading in the right direction. We reached an overpass and saw a path below us, so we cut through another neighborhood to get there. After a little while, the path looked familiar. We were approaching Bluemont Park!
It turns out, the park in her neighborhood is Banneker Park, not Bluemont!
Bluemont … Banneker … now I know the difference!
We picked up the course I had intended, and got in a few more hills. We weren’t sure how far it would be to run straight back to her house, so we turned around at mile 4. We got back to Banneker Park at about mile 6, and added a loop so we hit 7 miles by the time we got back to her street.
It was a bit more of an adventure than we had planned on, but it was all good. The detours didn’t really impact our pace, although the humidity and hills took a toll.
Garmin Data
Total Distance: 7 miles
Total Time: 1:05:30
Averae Pace: 9:22 min/mile
Split Times: 9:23, 8:57, 8:55, 9:24, 9:31, 9:21, 9:55
(I was definitely feeling wiped out and whiny during that last mile!)
Have you ever gotten “lost” on a run?
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I haven't really gotten lost because I'm a huge freak about that sort of thing and won't run anywhere I'm not totally familiar with. In fact, I usually run in the local parks. I did explore the running trails around the college campus my husband works at, but thankfully I didn't get lost and was able to stay in an area that looped around and made sense.
I haven't gotten lost on a run either, or really ever. But, I usually run alone so I pay attention to where I'm going. I would think if I was with a buddy and chatting and in an unfamiliar place, then maybe I'd get a little turned around. If I was biking, then maybe.