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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Where the Streets Have No Name

I'll give you a moment to get the U2 song into your head (or click on it so you can actually hear it). It will set the tone for this post. Then you can be mad at me for the rest of the day when you can't get it back out of your head.

One of the many things that just leaves me staring in amazement is the way streets are named in Massachusetts. Many streets do not appear to have a name. That's not to be confused with streets that change names every block. I've had quite a few debates with people over the names of streets. They will insist that a road may be called Belmont Street or Boston Turnpike, while I will point out that if I follow the signs for Route 9 and ignore when it is called Belmont Street, Boston Turnpike, Highland Street, or any other name, I will get to Natick and see the fabulous new mall with the Cheesecake Factory. Quite honestly, if it takes you to cheesecake, does it really matter what it's called?

This brings me to this past Sunday. I decided to take a second stab at running the course (literally) for the triathlon. Well...most of the course. I didn't do the swimming. I did the biking again with no problem. Then armed with the handwritten list of street names for the running course that I had copied from the triathlon website, I took off. Everything seemed fine, until I realized I was back at the main street without having run through every street on my list. Based on the amount of time that elapsed, there were two possibilities: I had doubled my running speed or more likely, I had somehow lost a mile of the course. How weird does that sound? It's true though. The same thing happened the week before when my triathlon training buddy and I also attempted the running part of the course. The only difference was that time she had written the directions.

Determined to find where I took a wrong turn, I retraced my steps. That's when I realized the third possible explanation. I had stepped into a Harry Potter book. You HP fans know that in order to get to Diagon Alley, someone (usually Hagrid) has to tap a strange pattern of swipes onto what looks to the average person like a brick wall with his umbrella. The wall then magically disappears revealing a magical town. I believe that the triathlon course is similar. I needed Hagrid to bring his magic pink umbrella to tap on one of the luxury driveways in this neighborhood to magically cause another street to appear. I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside.

Of course in this very nice neighborhood it is hard to distinguish driveways from small streets; I suspect one of those non-driveways may be the missing link on the secret triathlon route. I did take a gander down several driveways, but after getting weird looks from a homeowner or two, I decided it was better to hedge my bets that the course will be marked on race day than spend the next several hours in jail after the cops were called on me for trespassing. That would make me want to run and want to hide. This does impact my race gear. In addition to needing shoes, a bike, a swim suit, a helmet, brown and a bag to wear over my head or throw up in (but not in that order), I also need a magic pink umbrella.

Alright, I am sure the prosaic among you may have come up with another explanation for the missing mile on my triathlon route. It is possible that the map on-line was wrong. It could also just be my mistake. My spinning instructor told me that she missed the microscopic street the first time she ran that triathlon while waving back at a friendly (or mischievous) neighborhood kid who waved at her. HP magic sounds way more fun. My favorite explanation remains the possibility that I developed superpowers and ran the until course in record breaking speed...

All I can do is what I told my training buddy. "When I go there, I go there with you. It's all I can do."

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: The amount of time required to finish a triathlon depends on your speed, the length of the route, and the amount of the route that you follow.

Cross posted at New England Mamas

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posted by Alex Elliot @ 5:50 PM   6 comments
6 Comments:

  • At 4/29/2008 10:17 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    See? Now it's things like that that make me appreciate the (mostly) grid pattern of my city. It's so easy to find places.

    Maybe the wizards just don't like Minnesota though.

     

  • At 4/29/2008 10:55 PM, Blogger painted maypole said…

    i like magic as an explanation for just about anything. ;)

     

  • At 4/30/2008 12:10 PM, Blogger Kami said…

    I think your HP one is the most logical! Next in line is that you doubled your running time... or maybe both ;-)

    I am hoping that the route is marked on race day!

     

  • At 4/30/2008 6:45 PM, Blogger soccer mom in denial said…

    If you don't know the street names, then you don't deserve to know them. That is the logic in this here parts right? :)

    I like the HP logic. I will remember it the next time I'm missing a street.

     

  • At 4/30/2008 8:54 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Damn, I adore you.

    Also, there will be a Cheesecake Factory just down the street from us during the BlogHer conference. I am hoping that the other attendees somehow do not notice or like cheesecake so we will have an easier time getting a table. Or we can just get it to go and eat it in our hotel or wherever. (I've done that before, too.)

     

  • At 5/01/2008 9:49 AM, OpenID cablegirl said…

    One of my most confusing automobile navigation moments was when I was living in Boston and was trying to get a friend of mine's house on the other side of town. I stopped at an intersection and looked up to see signs designating the corner of Tremont and Tremont. Ahhh, the days before GPS.

    I was scratching my head over that one for quite awhile. :)

     
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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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