I’ve recently moved into a new neighborhood and it’s time to go exploring! Often times, figuring out your new surroundings means driving new routes to work, or heading to a different grocery to find “your store”. That will, of course happen, but running is also a really great way to explore your new surroundings.
Find a Local Running Group
One way to explore via running is to find a local run group. They’ll be familiar with local routes and can introduce you to exciting new places. Bonus if you make some new running friends as well. Of course, my favorite group runs are the ones that end in brunch. 🙂
Plan Ahead
When running in a new area it’s a good idea to plan out your routes before hand, so you don’t end up in any dangerous situations. Online resources such as Map my Run can be useful to see routes that other people have already created.
Planning ahead helps ensure that you don’t get too far lost, or end up in a bad part of town. Looking online can also help discover neighborhoods that might be out of your comfort zone that you wouldn’t otherwise explore.
Get Lost
While planning is helpful, getting just a little bit lost isn’t so bad either. As long as you know roughly where you are, getting lost can turn into discovering a beautiful new view. I recently ran in a familiar place I’d run many times before, but got lost down a side street and stumbled across an adorable little hidden gem of a community I didn’t know about before!
Take Your Phone
Whenever exploring, make sure to take a phone with you in case you get really lost, or need to contact someone. I also recommend letting someone know where you are going when heading out into new territory.
If you do end up lost, there are apps you can use to retrace your steps or view a map of your surroundings to find your way back home, to the car, etc.
Release the Stress
Moving is STRESSFUL! No matter how far away you go, moving comes with a lot of stress. Running a fresh route in your new location is a great way to both get out and explore and relieve some of the pent up stress after you’ve moved. Of course, make sure to give yourself plenty of time to recover especially if you’ve been doing the heavy lifting.
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