The Occasionally Misguided Runner

I'm a runner and I travel. It's a great combination. Most of the time. There is no better way to see a city than on foot. Plus a morning run keeps me from languishing in bed half the day and I seldom binge out on the hotel's free breakfast buffet (Admittedly, the bacon yesterday was a poor pre-run choice but it smelled too good to pass up). The best part for me? I don't gain weight on my vacations or lose fitness. The even better than the best part? It's free. 

Ok, it's mostly free (I'll come back to this...). Or it can be. Strap on your running shoes, zip your room key into an inobtrusive pocket (that hopefully opens easier than mine does, especially with frozen fingers), and hit the road. Look, if you're female or merely safety conscious, you've gotta have a knot in your stomach by now. "Let me get this straight, Stacee... I'm supposed to run in a strange city, on strange roads, where I probably don't know where I'm going, in places that may or may not be safe?" Yep. "Even though I could risk rape, plunder, and become irretrievably lost?" That's how I've always done it. You may want to ask the front desk or concierge about safe places to run. They'll know and I've never had one not invested in my safety. If you really fear getting lost, take your phone and boot up Google Maps (You may want to drop a pin at your hotel just in case you forget it's name or location. Hey, I've heard stories). 

Because I refuse to run with my phone (If you ran for years carrying a cassette deck or CD player. you'd relish hands-free running, too. More on that in a moment...), I have historically done out-and-backs when in a strange city. Decide how long you want to run, divide it in two, start your watch, and go. It's easy and the chances of getting lost are (usually) pretty low, but it's also boring. And I don't know about y'all, but out-and-backs do something to my brain. Every step I take on the way out is a step I have to take on the way back...which makes the run, both out AND back, seem way longer than it really is. That said, I'd rather run an out-and-back than get lost in a strange city. Getting lost REALLY does something to my brain and can turn a short run into a Gilligan's Island-esque adventure.

So, here I am in Gothenburg, Sweden, and I want to run. Usually on  my first day in a strange city, I like to take a guided running tour. They aren't free (Just ask my travel budget), but I always find them to be well worth the expense. Here's what you get -

•  A city tour that generally hits all the highlights. I've gone back to check out a few sights but usually I check the box and get on with my vacation (For reference, it's the best way to see the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen). 
• The Cliff's Notes (Do they still exist? I didn't read one book in high school and wouldn't have passed English without them) for the city, ie. the layout, where to eat, drink, party, shop. 
• Safe places to run AND, if you use your Garmin (or Fitbit or Apple watch), you can download a route you can run the rest of your stay or on future visits.

The problem with Gothenburg? No running tour company. 

Onto Plan B. As I sat contemplating yet another strange city out-and-back, I looked at my new Garmin Forerunner735xt smart watch (I bought it for my birthday the week before I left on vacation because my old one wasn't measuring my heart rate correctly) and remembered that I'd read something or seen something about creating courses. I hit up Google and discovered that I was right. I can use the Garmin Connect App on  my phone to design courses that I CAN SEND TO MY WATCH, allowing me to run hands-free AND not get lost. And get this - the courses are NOT out-and-back!

It's actually pretty easy. The app asks the distance you want to run (in miles or kilometers) and the general direction (random is also an option). It then creates a course for you based on that information and puts it on a map. If it looks good, one click sends it to your watch. Bada-bing. 

[Perfect, right? Sort of. A few caveats to remember - Garmin doesn't know where it's safe to run or roads that might be too busy or impassable due to construction. It might be best not to go off too blindly. For example, I deleted one route that took me over a bridge I knew I didn't want to go across. It's high and it's a windy day. Ok, so my fear of being blown off by a strong gust might be irrational, but falling feels like flying until...well...until you hit the freezing cold water below.]

I programmed a couple different courses - short, long, mid-range - and decided that before I attempted a ten mile long run, I should figure out exactly how it works during a run. I was pleasantly surprised. I found the short course I'd downloaded to the watch (Navigation - Courses - Goteborg Short) and clicked. "Do course" appeared on the screen. Another click brought up a tiny course map. The course was marked in green with an arrow indicating running direction. I clicked again to start the run (all run stats are available as always in addition to the course map). As I ran, the part of the course I'd run turned black. When I went off course - to avoid a little construction mess - the normally blue arrow changed color and I could see where I veered off. It was surprisingly easy to read and follow. Other than heading into a part of the city where I've never been on my ten miler, I trust that I'll be able to stay on course and not get irretrievably lost.

Thanks, Garmin. As if my watch wasn't already my workout Woobie. Seriously, though, that little course hoodad is going to come in handy in my future travels. Hell,  I might even decide to skip guided tours in the future. 

Just kidding. Garmin doesn't know the best sightseeing routes and Wikipedia can only tell me so much. Plus it's way more fun to have someone tell me about the city and lead me near-mindlessly around. 

Well, I'm off for a (misguided) run. Let's hope my Woobie doesn't let me down. 

*** P.S. Gothenburg, you're a fabulous city with great things to see and places to run. Get it together. ***