Running the Block vs Running the Track

Chart 2 of the 5BX exercise program gives me the option of running one mile for my cardio workout.  Since I've started the chart, I've elected to run around my block four times to make a mile.  This was convenient as I could get all of my exercises done at once instead of breaking up the workout where I do calisthenics in the morning and then cardio in the afternoon.  In the past few days, however, my run time got progressively worse and worse.  I owed it up to my body just breaking in the mile and left it up to time for things to sort themselves out.  Out of curiosity last night, I opened Google Maps and retraced my block on two seperate devices.  My laptop measured my route at a mile.  My tablet measured it at 1.15 miles.  Google Maps gave me two different answers, so either it was a software issue (unlikely) or I was measuring wrong (more likely).  To answer this, I decided to go to a track and run a proper mile.

On this beautiful Saturday in Eugene, OR, I elected to go to the track at Sheldon High School.  In the next field over, students were playing a lacrosse match with a rival school.  During my run, I didn't push myself too hard, being conscious of any discomfort in my right leg.  All the same though, it felt good being back on the track.  I didn't have to worry about many other people to avoid, breaks in the sidewalk, or any other possible obstacle (ie: dogs).  It was just me, a measured oval, and what my body could do, (though the sounds of lacrosse were a welcome distraction).  It was convenient.  On the other hand, I lost out on the sounds of a city awakening, the sensation of Eugene's sidewalks greeting the bottom of my Merrells and creating an urban heartbeat, the smells (mmm...fresh Voodoo Donuts), and overall ambiance of downtown Eugene in the morning.  Still, the point of this was to compare running in the city versus running on the track.

I'm happy to say that at the end of the run, I was an entire minute UNDER my previous two run times.  It was good enough that it would have passed at the A+ levels!  With that in mind, I might take up running again at the Middle School in between my shifts (so long as the gym class isn't using it) and doing the block if I can't find an available track that day.  I'm not opposed to finding another mile-long route.  A part of me feels it redundant that I'm relying on a track just to run, especially when the point of 5BX was to get a work out without needing any equipment (I know the default cardio exercise is a stationary run interspersed with other actions, but I feel I get much more out of running a mile).  But I digress, I'm sticking with my track until I find another route...preferrably one where I don't need Google Maps to figure out how far a mile is.