Don’t Be Too Adventurous after Dark!

So last night I decided to take a run and get some exercise. Normally I leave the hotel and follow a sidewalk around the mall and down the road for 1.5-2.5 miles turn around and return to the hotel. The problem with this route is that you must cross at least one busy road. I have already almost been hit by a truck pulling a long trailer and a garbage truck. Therefore I wanted to find another route; possibly a large loop around the mall that starts and ends at the hotel. I think this is a good Idea. Still do actually. The problem is I don’t know the area very well and maps aren’t going to be a great deal of help. So last night I decided to try a new route. Of course after living in a city for more than 5 years I am used to streets being laid out in a grid. I had completely forgotten about the fun twisty, winding, and unnavigatable roads in suburbia.

So I started out kind of late. That was my first mistake. It was already dark. I ran part of my normal route. Out of the mall and down the road around the mall. After I had passed the mall instead of going strait I decided to turn right at a stop light. After ½ block or so this road started to turn right, it looked to be a 90 degree turn, so I took another right to continue to head in what I thought was the same direction. Then the new road twisted and turned a bit. It seemed to be going in the same heading and I could easily back track on is so I kept running. So after a while the road started to turn to the right further and I figured to continue going in the same direction I should take a left. There is a pattern developing at this point that I should have stopped.

Each road, at this point, that I took made some funny turns and got me partially turned around. Then I would assume to continue on that I should make a turn and run down another road. At first this was ok because I could back track. But there was another problem there were no street lights and the houses had little lamps in the yard that provided just enough light to keep my eyes from adjusting to the night. So I could only see at best shapes and very quickly I was unable to remember important features about my surrounding. This is a problem if you want to back track because you are unable to recognize where you came from in the first place. So in typical Matt fashion I just pressed on making the assumption that I would run into some sort of main road. Hmm. The problem with this assumption is that you can’t continue in one direction easily because the roads go every direction!

Now to add to my predicament, I had not wallet, ID, Cell phone, money, or anything of use. I had my hotel key and the running clothes on my back and that was it. I really didn’t want to go up to a stranger’s house and ask for help yet. I figured I could do that if the situation – which BTW was that I was lost in suburbia around midnight – didn’t improve within a hour or so. Yes I am that stubborn, if I get into trouble I like to try to find a way out if possible, at least for a while. So I just kept going in what I hoped was the same direction. Eventually my legs didn’t want to let me keep running so I did have to start walking though I had no clue where I was. After a while I felt pretty lost and didn’t really know what to do. But since I didn’t need to be anywhere until morning I figured the worst case would be that I took me a few hours to find my way back or to get help

So finally after running for a total of 35 or 40 minutes and walking another 10 I saw a commercial building through the trees. I had to walk through a trail someone had made with a truck or off-roader but finally I came out into a strip mall area. I was still very very lost though. The area was at an intersection of two roads, real normal, strait, semi-busy streets. I did what anyone in my position would do. I picked one and went left. After walking on sidewalks part of the way and through ditches part of the way – because the side walks disappeared for blocks at a time – and 20 minutes had passed I ended up back at the main road I had originally deviated from. Wehewww. So there rest of the trip back to the hotel was easy. All in all a 25 minute run turned into almost a 2 hour trip! I guess it is not very smart to be too adventurous after dark in a strange town.