Sunday, October 07, 2007

Let your cursor do the walking

I've been meaning to check Gmaps pedometer ever since I've moved and established new walking routes. I've had a general idea of how far I've gone, based on how long it takes and how many blocks, but it's nice to have confirmation that what felt like a mile really was a mile.

Sophie and I walk at least a mile every day, and usually more. On the rare day that we don't get a long walk in, we still do the 10-minute, half-mile loop. Now that the weather is cooling off, we can walk more during the day, but I suspect she will want to keep up the nighttime walks, too. That's OK; it's an indulgence that benefits both of us.

If you haven't tried Gmaps pedometer, check it out. It's very simple to use. Zoom the map in to street level where you are, click "start recording," and then double-click each point along your route. You will see your total adding up, and the length of each leg. Little mile markers will also appear along your route.

You can feel virtuous about the walks you've already done, and set goals for future walks.

P.S. The map above shows that Washington Park's inner road loop (bikes and pedestrians only for most of it) is just over 2 miles.

9 comments:

  1. Hey, thanks! What a cool tool.

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  2. It might be that I'm suffering a Monday, but I'm not quite getting how this works.

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  3. Okay, I got it! Wow, I've been walking further than I imagined. Sweet!

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  4. I'm with you on the case of the Mondays.

    It's not really a pedometer; it's just a way of measuring the distance of a particular route using Google maps. I like it because you can map your exact route, with all its twists and turns, instead of having to guesstimate using a traditional map scale and ruler.

    The example I show, of Wash Park, is one I had just mapped out. The red line is the route I drew around the park by double-clicking at each turn.

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  5. Heh, cross-posted comments! Glad you figured it out.

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  6. Well the cool thing is now I can plan the "A little stroll would be nice" route versus the "I really need to walk off that fried chicken I just ate" route.

    Thanks!

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  7. Cool tool. I found out that my walking route is only 1.8 - not the 2 miles I thought.

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  8. This is way cool! I thought I was walking a little less than 2 miles every Wednesday. Turns out it is a little over 2.5 miles! Yay!

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  9. This looks cool - I'm gonna check out my walking routes. Thanks!

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