You know how at carnivals, there’s always some yahoo putting together balloon animals? In the end they always look snakes. Well what if you could take that idiotic joy and use it for your run?
While it’s not my experience, I’ve come across many people who don’t like to run.
“It’s too hard.”
“It’s too sweaty.”
“It’s boring as hell.”
The first two, I can’t help you with. But for those of you who may have uttered the last phrase a time or two, I’d like you to meet Claire Wyckoff.
Claire found a really cool way to spark up her runs. She’s using the Nike+ running app to draw different routes. For example, say you’re out for a run and thinking about stripper poles (just go with me). Claire, who according to her website lives in San Francisco, has found a route that lets you draw a person dangling from a pole.
Or, say you’re in the mood for aliens. You just saw Guardians of the Galaxy and creatures from other worlds are on your mind. Claire has found a route that looks like a space invader. This one you can tell she paused her run to do the eyes.
But far and away, Claire’s most popular posts are phallic. Because in the end, we’re all 13-year-old boys, even those of us without wangs. So far she’s got four penises on her Tumblr page and she shows no signs of slowing.
Claire is running about three to six miles and having fun with it. She’s actually mapping out new courses and taking time to enjoy her workouts. I applaud her. Running the same route over and over can be mundane and sap the joy out of your workout.
I’ve said before that you’ll be taking tons of small steps to reach your goal. So why not have fun in the process. Map out a run of an angel, or a horse, or a penis.
I’m going to try it out on one of the running apps I use. I’ll let you know how it goes.
photos courtesy of Running Drawing
I'm Skinny, Now What? 
Now What?