Running log: counting kilometres

If you've been following my blog this year, you know that my big personal accomplishment was running my first half marathon in October. Running the 21.1-kilometre distance was something I’d been thinking about doing for a while. But I actually committed to that thought around this time last year.

As such, right from the beginning of January, every run I went on was with that goal in mind. And, just for the fun of it, I kept a log of every kilometre I ran.

As 2012 draws to a close, I added up all those kilometres and discovered that I ran 732 kilometres this year. That’s 732 kilometres covered simply by lacing up my running shoes and putting one foot in front of the other day after day.

And because I like to put things in perspective to truly understand it, I wondered how far that really was. And so, here are a few interesting stats (with the help of Google Maps).

From my house in Toronto, it’s:

• 529 kilometres to the house I grew up in Montreal

• 277 kilometres to the cottage we vacation at every summer in Sundridge

• 320 kilometres to where my sister-in-law lives in Brockville

• 371 kilometres to where my other sister-in-law lives in Windsor

The kids complain about being in the car for too long when we drive to any of those destinations and yet, those places are only half (or less) to three-quarters of the way there.

So where would I have to go to travel 732 kilometres, I wondered? Here are a few other interesting stats (again with the help of Google maps).

From my house in Toronto, it’s:

• 819 kilometres to Philadelphia

• 807 kilometres to New York City

• 798 kilometres to Cincinnati

• 706 kilometres to Columbus, Ohio

• 689 kilometres to Sault Ste. Marie

For me, someone who only started running four years ago and who never accomplished a race of such distance before, 732 kilometres is a fantastic distance to have covered. I can only imagine what my grand total will be if I ever decide to train for a marathon.