I am mildly amusing myself. Firstly ....some background.....
I discovered Parkrun. British by origin (and massive there), it's now all over the world. It's a free timed 5K that happens every (non-pandemic) Saturday morning. Open to everyone -runners, walkers, people with strollers, dogs and in wheelchairs There are 47 (and growing rapidly) locations in the USA, small and friendly events in the main. When I first learned about it -from my sister in the UK then a BBC article the same week, I looked it up and found one of the USA locations was right on my doorstep. So I started doing it after I recovered from my foot surgery almost a year ago.
They got covid-cancelled in March, but My group kept in communication first by doing a virtual run each week -where we ran solo each Saturday and then posted times, pictures, maps etc and a volunteer combined them in a "report".... Then by doing a monthly Bingo card with elements to add to your lonely workout and then an amazing google sheet where we can all keep track of ourselves and everyone else.
Lots of parkrunners use a phone app called Strava to record their runs, and one of the regular Bingo squares is "Strava Art" (i.e. make your run route look like something) so I got the app because the whole planning and execution of runs to look like something appeals to me
, and it's a really handy way to record your time too. Like every other app, it's also a wannabe social media platform and I am not interested in that, but some of the regular parkrunners have started following me regardless and "give kudos" for each run/walk/whatever. One, Marie, I teased that I only turn on strava because I know she's "stalking" me on there, so if I don't make it, she'll know where to direct the emergency services to recover the body. So I've been plotting for a while to do a "chalk outline" run/walk.
Today (a non-run day for me*) I decided to take a Sunday evening stroll with a small petunia I'd grown from seed to check off the "take your pet/houseplant for a run/walk" bingo square (already did Strava Art this month). Which was amusing in itself, not to mention the undertone of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which is very dear to me)...
......and this was my route, which I titled "Marie, you know what to do":
I'm just waiting for her to see it on Strava, but all y'all know I hate keeping secrets that amuse me to myself, so I'm boring you with it because that seems slightly less insane than sitting here chuckling to myself..
(I swear I went around that circle properly, Strava is just a bitch)
*since gyms closed and I became jobless, I try to run 5K or more 2-3 times a week. The other days I walk by myself or socially distanced with others. Sometimes a 5K, some times just an evening stroll. My total solo runs total almost 200 miles now
I have probably walked half as much again