As you keep on speeding up each day, you might have thought on how to measure distance when running and determine the miles you are able to traverse. If you are into a very serious training program, then accurately measuring your distance is highly essential in order for you to know the level of your progress each time you speed up. There are measuring tools available, some of which are technologically advanced in terms of computing mileage.

How far you have gone each time you run is no longer a guess work. Here are a few of the various distance measuring mechanisms you can avail of.

1. Make use of the www.MapMyRun.com website. Sign up there for free and create your own account. Find the “Start Mapping” in the home page and key in your target running area or your current location. Proceed to the “Jump To” and press the “Go” tab. If necessary, there are options like street view, terrain map, street map, hybrid map, topographical map, and even satellite map available.

   Proceed to the map route and navigate on the starting point. Continue navigating following the exact route you have chosen. What will help you in the process is the “Follow Roads” on the right part of the map within the toolbox. This tab will automatically keep your track accurately even if there are little deviations made along the way. Keep on clicking until you finally get to the end point of your route.

   Notice that the toolbox found on the right side manages to calculate the covered distance as you go through until the time you hit the final mileage of the route. Should you like to measure another route distance, you go back to the main page, and click on the “Change Search Location” along with the desired city, state, or the zip code of your place. Also, you can click “Find Run” right next to the “Start Mapping” tab. Repeat the complete process, as explained above, to exactly measure your running distance.

2. Go to the trails.com and find Google Maps Pedometer. Key in the point where you like to start and click “Enter” tab. As you click, manage to hold on the route map to go to right and left and to move up and down. If you find that a little difficult, then you can make use of the directional arrow provided so you can navigate freely.

   Increase or decrease the view of your chosen site by clicking on the “Plus” and “Minus” signs respectively. Your mouse can do the clicking more comfortably. Keep on clicking on each turn along your route until you complete the distance. There is a field under the box which contains the total distance of the route you have just traced. Hit on the “Total Distance” tab so you will get the distance computation in kilometer.

   Proceed to the “Save” tab right next to the “Total Distance” covered tab. You can save the result on the bookmarked pages in your browser for future use. Finally, hit the “Clear” tab and reset the map. Do the same process should you wish to measure another distance.

3. Go to the USA Track and Field website. In there, you locate the section containing the “America’s Running Routes” and provide your city, state, then zip code and hit the “Go” tab. You can make use of the “Plus” sign (Zoom In) to increase the appearance of the location you have chosen, and then hit the “Minus” sign (Zoom Out) to decrease it again.

   Keep on clicking until you reach your final destination. Find the “Distance” tab to reveal to you the measurement of the distance covered, both in kilometers and miles. When all else are done, hit the “Clear All” tab and start anew should you wish to.

4. Use pedometer. This tool is useful in measuring you distance especially if you are typically traversing through a consistent length. This tool manages to count your steps. When you have keyed in your stride out length, the pedometer will convert every step you make to a much smaller fraction of kilometer and miles in every completed run.

   This tool is not so expensive because you can buy a good one for $5 more or less. There are models that are embedded with calorie calculators and other measuring features. You can also find a watch that has a built-in pedometer in it.

5. Make use of the GPS. This literally means global positioning system which is believed to be very accurate in measuring running or jogging distance. One good model of it is the Garmin Forerunner 405 watch which is widely used in various athlete training runs and real running races. Some of its outstanding features include time and space alerts, automatic lap storage info, intervals, and distance covered.

For more information on how to measure distance when running, you can check on several running watch buyers guide and read them thoroughly. With the measuring mechanisms we have enumerated above, knowing the distance you have covered every time you run is no longer a problem. Happy running!