Vacation! Part II

When I started writing about my recent excursions I thought it would be fun, but with this intolerable weather I am losing ambition to rehash all of these memories of places that are warmer.  My mom had a great quote the last time I was home.  We were outside scrapping the ice off the driveway and sidewalks.  It wasn’t obscenely cold out, but anyone who has scrapped ice before knows how glorious it can be.  Anyways, my mom has always held warmer places in high esteem and continues to dream of calling one of them home, much to the dismay of my little sister.  So there we were, scrapping ice when she turns to me and says confidently, “Do you realize that there are people who have the option of playing golf after work everyday?”  And now the last two days my car thermometer has read -9.

Back to the vacation idea, while in Alabama I went running a few times.  I like running in the morning, it wakes me up and I tend to feel better for the rest of the day.  I would like to coin the phrase, “church feeling,” because that is the way I describe how I feel after running in general (especially in the morning), after I leave church, after I leave some classes, and after I study for a while.  It is a feeling of release, as if someone just unhooked a yoke from around my neck so I can finally see in all directions.  I’m not saying I don’t like to do the things I mentioned above, there are positive and negative aspects to both, but for some reason I get a certain feeling after completing one of those tasks.

So like I said earlier, I went running in Alabama for three morning in a row.  I hadn’t ran in a while, due to the cold of Minnesota, so the first day I took it easy and ran to the end of a pier and back.  It couldn’t have been more than 2.5 miles but it was more straining because of the humidity.  Every morning when I would run there would be this hazy air caused by some meteorological miracle, giving the run a cinematic and asthmatic effect.  Overall I enjoyed that aspect, it seemed like resistance training.

That night I took the van and used the odometer to see how far it was to a local nature path.  It was only a mile so I decided to try it out the next morning.  So I woke up again and again the hazy air surrounded me as I headed for this trail.  The whole preserve felt as though it should be in a horror movie.  I first noticed these power-lines were making a sound at the gateway to the park, if you have never heard power-lines make noise before you haven’t lived.  For a split second I thought I might end up face down like Matt Damon’s kid in “Syriana.”

I found a trail that seemed reasonable, about 1.5 miles round-trip, so I took it and enjoyed many things about it.  The first thing was the scenery, for some reason I enjoy the trees of the swamp more than any other I have seen.  The second, and most important, thing was the surface.  This trail was some sort of sand concoction that was remarkably firm.  I would compare it to running along the water’s edge, but without the slant and risk of soaking your shoes with salt water.  I have ruled it my favorite surface to run on, and will release the best of the rest at the bottom of this entry.  The trail concluded with a nice boardwalk through a marshy, tide-pool area along the Little Lagoon of Gulf Shores. 

The last day I ran was more of an adventure.  My dad and sister wanted to go for a walk so we all drove down to the preserve in the morning.  I wanted to go on a new trail so I directed them on the one I took yesterday and had them pick me up at the end of my trail.  The trail I took was through the heart of this preserve and conjured up memories of David Caruso finding people in the Everglades.  This trail used the same surface as the prior days’ except it had a few more boardwalks due to the natural habitat.  I don’t know how many of you loyal readers have ever run over sand dunes before, but as I found out, it is a workout.  It is the most exhausting surface to run on and the last half mile of this trail was all through sand dunes.  I went up, over, around, through ruins of houses knocked over by hurricanes and neglect, it was breathtaking in more ways than one.  I finally spit out on to the Pine Street Beach looking out on the Gulf of Mexico and numerous oil rigs (which are fascinating to look at during the night).  Then as luck would have it the map was not exactly draw to scale, because I walked for about 25 minutes and could not find my father or sister, leaving me with the task of running back so I could make it to church on time.  I think I may have hit 10 miles round-trip, on this expedition, leaving myself sore and unable to run for the rest of the trip.

 As promised: My favorite running surfaces

1.) Hard sand – feet don’t slip, soft on the legs and feet

2.) Grass – not many grass trails (usually end up dirt), but when found should be taken advantage of, semi-fast depending on height, and usually soft depending on rain

3.) Asphalt – fastest surface I have experienced, softer than cement but still can hurt the legs if proper precautions aren’t taken

4.)Cement- standard sidewalks are fine to run on, I try and mix in other surfaces during long runs on sidewalks (use the lawn)

5.) Gravel – the bane of my running existence, I always feel as though I am taking two steps forward and one back, also it can get dusty on country, gravel roads and lastly, the gravel can make my feet feel as though they are being tenderized for grilling