Adversity and Adaptation

 

Good stories have a plot and a moral, or a learning to take away. This one has both, which – of course – does not make it a good:)

The plot is a classic. You wish to run on a new course: for me it was from Boulogne to Joinville-le-Pont. Your look at the map, download it into your GPS, and hope for the best. This was the original plan of ca. 24.5 km.

It was a good plan, but the route went (again!) through a public park that closes around nightfall. So not only did I have to make a detour at km 4.5, but I had to realise once again that maps cannot be trusted fully. As every general (and manager) knows, plans are all very nice till the real business starts.

Abandoning the plan of running on the left bank of the Seine, I decided to follow the river. Which was amazingly simple and quickly got me to known areas. (Little did I notice that I passed Tour Eiffel at km 10). Fast forward 5 more kilometres, I knew I would get into the area where I do not know the riverside well. (Nor would I join the planned route either). I also could not follow my usual route, as that one leads through a series of parks. I chose to channel my Paris marathon experience and follow the route to the Bois de Vincennes by my memory.

Paris is big, and I did not think I had enough experience to run exactly right with certainty. I had three ways of checking I was going as I intended: for a while I could visually check where I was against the park route. My GPS was showing me that I would join the original plan, and the directional arrow was the same as my heading. Last but not least, I was running along Avenue Daumesnil, and the lake in the forest I was heading to is Lac Daumesnil. And the gradient and the flow at times felt exactly as during the marathon.

In the end, I was dead on target. And the moral – other the must-have Do not trust a GPS? It seems it does not take too long to recognize general directions and landmarks even in a city as big as Paris. Which I find fascinating. 

There is another potential take-away here. I chose to run a course I was more confident about. It took and extra 2k – less than 10% of the original target, but I did not have to backtrack or look for my way even once. This is a trade to consider in similar situations.