Running my way around...not always the best idea

So far when I've gone for a run I've stayed on a pretty straight path knowing which roads I've turned on so I can find my way back. This has been an excellent way of touring the area that I'm living in and has given me a grasp on how the city is laid out. Well today I decided to just run. Not really keep track of where I was going and figuring my sense of direction would lead me back home when I wanted to. That was my plan, and for the beginning of my run it was fabulous! I was running in a gorgeous area where the houses or apartments (You can't tell the difference) were very well kept and a few even had patches of grass! Now outside of a park you don't find grass patches let alone yards, ever! So I just kept going and hit an even more secluded gated area but up ahead it looked like a gateway to a park, so I continued forward. I was right there was a park filled with trees and people and their dogs (which I absolutely love) So I ran around it and found a path that was on the outside of the park but it was paved and it had that narrow look to it with trees draping over the fence. The smell of the fresh air without any exhaust from a car was invigorating. I kept thinking how happy I was running down in this area. Well I kept running only to start running out of the park and into, what seemed like a not-so-nice part of London. But I just kept going assuming I'd see a landmark that would lead me back - I had thought I turned around in the park and even though I didn't exit through the same gate, I thought it was in the same direction as the way I entered. Well after going probably another two miles uncomfortably, I stopped to ask how to get back to Barons Court. The lady directed me back down the street I had just run for so long on until I hit Notting Hill Gate, where she told me to ask from there. Now, I know this is a long story but I eventually got back, obviously otherwise I couldn't be sharing my story, but it was definitely a good hour and a half run. I think this was my mind telling me that I haven't been running enough to satisfy this runners mentality I have built up in the past 6 months. Moral of my story, its okay to get lost in London as long as you aren't a pansy to ask for help when you are too lost to find your way back. Except be careful because two native Londoners had quite a bit of trouble explaining the rest fo the way from Notting Hill...maybe its a hint to the UK stop making streets turn into streets turning into other streets that you can never find your way out!!