It’s funny what enters your mind during a long, easy paced run.  Today, just after I started my run, I got this crazy idea.

As usual, I did my long run at our local park, where there is a five mile loop around a lake.  It has been so cold lately here in Pittsburgh, that the lake is now frozen over.  As I started my run, I could see lots of people on the lake.  There were lots of people ice fishing, groups of teenagers playing hockey and several families just hanging around and having fun.

A few miles into my run, I was feeling good and thought… I’m going to run across the lake.  I had a few miles to go, before I would get to the best place to get down onto the lakes surface, and this gave me more time to think.  An idea popped into my mind.  The lake was a blank canvas and I was wearing a GPS watch!  Time for some GPS Art.

Given that today is Valentine’s Day, I thought I would ‘draw’ something for my wife.  I am not the greatest artist, so I settled on trying to run in the shape of a heart.  To make it easier, I dropped my beanie onto the surface of the lake, to mark my starting point. I then tried to run in the shape of a heart, using by beanie as a guide. 

As you can see from today’s photo, I actually think I did quite well.  The heart is a little ‘angular’, but I think that is because the GPS didn’t plot my exact route.  I should have run a bigger heart shape.. that would have produced a smoother looking shape.  Ah well, I am always learning something as part of my triathlon training !!