ShareThisOne way to make recreational athletes feel old is to ask them how, back in the day, they used to figure out the mileage they ran, biked or hiked.If they mention pedometers or GPS devices, you know they are young 'uns.We, ahem, veteran runners used to jump in our cars and drive the course to get an odometer reading. Of course, it wasn't completely accurate, if the run included trails or areas not accessible by automobile.But now, even your fancy Garmin GPS watch is passe.A new Web site, www.mapmyrun.com, lets you find out exact mileage, chart the course, add pithy comments and place icons noting the location of drinking fountains and restrooms.With a few clicks of the mouse, a runner or cyclist can draw a course, street-by-street, with the exact mileage calculated as you go. You can save courses to your personal profile, share them with others on the site and send them to friends. You also can edit the course to add or subtract mileage.The software also is available to log your workouts, everything from elevation gain to heart rate. The interactive map and satellite views are helpful to gauge terrain. If you want to get more specific, sister sites include www.mapmytri.com (for triathlons) and www.mapmyhike.com (for hikers).It's all free, too, except if you want to print a hard copy. Then, you must shell out $2. Once you know the mileage, though, who really needs to print it out?Other sites, such as the Google-created WalkJogRun.net, offer similar services -- but, in our opinion, not as easily navigated as mapmyrun.com.(Contact Sam McManis at smcmanis(at)sacbee.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
New Web site can help you map the perfect route
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