Using Google Maps to Analyze My Run
With the warm temperatures, I no longer have any excuse not to exercise. There is a nice loop in my neighborhood that I try to run once every two or three days. After my run last night I dediced to use [Google Maps](http://maps.google.com/) to see a bird’s eye view of my route. I took screen captures of the satellite images, and put all the pieces together using Photoshop. For a full size image of my run, you can click here. I run counter clockwise along the red line. The small red circle is my house.
I time myself every time I run, but until now, I didn’t really know how far I go. Once I had the map on screen, it occurred to me that I could use Google’s scale to figure out the distance I travel. At the distance I am zoomed to, 111 pixels represents 100 meters. Measuring the red line, it looks like the loop I run is about 4,460 pixels. That translates into 4,018 meters. As luck would have it, 4,018 meters works out to be exactly 2.5 miles. That seems to be the perfect distance for me now, and as I get in better shape, it is easy to add extra loops to increase the distance. Wish me luck as my running season begins!
