I am posting this because I've just discovered a wonderful resource online. I'm probably the last to know, of course!
Anyway, I run (plod, really) for exercise and stress reduction, since it's the cheapest and quickest form of exercise I could find. I especially like getting out in a new city or town early in the morning when at conferences or even job interviews and exploring a bit, but I'm always handicapped by not knowing the area and not having a good sense of distance (e.g. when to turn back, whether to make that loop or not, etc.). I've just discovered a couple of great sites online where you can view a map of any area, *draw a route along the various streets and trails you see there*, and have the distance calculated for you automatically.
Some sites show cumulative distance as you draw. One even offers a "sideways," elevation view so you can gauge the number and difficulty and placement of the hills! Of course, I will still ask around to make sure the run is safe. But this allows me to map out a loop, for example, or run toward a landmark, rather than the mindless out-and-back that I usually do in order to keep within the time/distance I have before my first meeting.
Even better, you can see runs that other people have already created at your location, and save your favorite runs (for your private or for public perusal). (Caveat: the sites do sometimes act a little buggy on my Safari browser if I try to revise the loop too much).
Hope you enjoy these, too! Here they are, and please post if you know of any others like this.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/http://www.walkjogrun.nethttp://www.usatf.org/routes/
