Running in the UK

I have a Verizon, CDMA phone. I knew it wouldn't work in the UK before I arrived for this trip (I found out in July). However I was sure I'd get wi-fi from the hotel and could plan a route. No such luck, and it was a mistake to count on it.

No problem, I thought. I'll just run a simple route. It worked, mostly, in London, though I did miss a turn and run about 1/2-3/4 of a mile more than I expected. I thought I'd be more careful in Liverpool, but I wasn't. Or, I got confused.

I was traveling for about 24 hours of real time. According to the clock it was closer to 30 hours, but I'd had some sleep, and when I started out at 8pm, I was tired. I left the hotel, thinking I'd stick to one road, but after a half mile I hit a large intersection, one that didn't look like it had a good straight route, so I turned left. I thought I'd stick with that, but 1/4 mile or so that hit a large highway I didn't want to cross and I turned right. No big deal, I thought, thinking I'd recognize both intersections on the way back.

I went 9 minutes out, thinking I'd come back quicker, and not wanting to hurry. However I realized that I was also enjoying the run. When I came back, I think I hit the first turn to the left correctly, but then when I got to the next large intersection and went right, I knew I'd made some mistake. I backtracked a little, still jogging, but things looked funny. I think I looped around in a few circles, blowing past my 20 minutes to about 26 minutes before I knew I was lost and looked for a map. I found one and stopped my run at that point, trying to figure out where to go. I thought I had a route, but once I started, I knew I'd made a mistake again, and stopped jogging again to ask someone outside a pub which way to go.

I got pointed in the right direction, which wasn't the way I thought I should go. I wasn't far off, but I was off, and I'm glad I asked. I jogged back to the hotel, arriving only slightly late. Not too tired, and not an outrageous run since I was going slower than expected the majority of the time. I'd been warned about Liverpool being dangerous, but I never really worried about that while I was running. I stuck to well lit areas, and busy streets and things were fine.

The biggest issue was not really studying a map of the area I was in for 10-15 minutes and noting some large street names. I knew my hotel, but I hadn't even gotten the name of the two streets that crossed by it. A mistake, and one I won't make again.

Definitely an adventure, one I didn't want at 9pm at night, but which worked out OK and I had a good run that night.