Public Safety Memorial Park

An unfortunate experience for me on this run, although I suspect it would not be uncommon if I took subsequent trips.  A true shame too, because this is a really nice park that they are upgrading at this very moment.  The location near Midtown inspired me to go ahead and make my trip to Public Safety Park on a day when my wife couldn't join me.  It's a good thing too, as we wouldn't have lasted long enough to get around the whole park once.

Long story short, after seeing a few drug deals once I was asked for money the second time, I went ahead and left the park after only a handful of miles. Finished at another park that I'm consistently pleased with.

Again, it is a shame because the location is in a great spot geographically, despite the few blocks that are sketchy.  Close enough to getting downtown, it would be a great experience to get some miles here and then walk downtown for some tacos at Bicycle Shop.    This being said, I spent the whole time watching my vehicle, which tends to kill the running mojo.

The park is located in a very convenient spot with entrances and parking on both Government and Airport, so wherever you are coming from in Mobile, you can reach the park with ease.  Close to The Loop, it is also convenient to get to other parts of town.  It is also close to a Mellow Mushroom........

The facility is well equipped for families and children, with several pavilions and a playground.  The trail is just under a half mile if you take the entire route around the park.  You can switch up your route as much as you want, which makes it possible to keep a half mile trail interesting on a long run.

For safety, I wouldn't mind running the ironically named Public Safety Memorial Park again, but certainly not in the evening and I won't be inviting my wife to get the miles in with me.  A nice little park, but I won't be rushing to get back.

Well, another week down and a week closer to my 2015 mile goal.

Dauphin Island, 10 Miles, and 200 on the Month

To hit my 200 miles in the quest of 2,015 in 2015, I wanted to hit the mark in a different spot.  I figured at the beach in the middle of winter was far too appropriate.

Dauphin Island is the barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay.  A very small island at 166 square miles and a population of just under 1,500 it is hard to believe that this place plays a huge role in determining the climate of the entire southern part of the state.

The smaller picture under the map of Mobile is the GPS of my run on the beach.  5  miles out west, 5 miles back.  After the first two miles, the beach becomes uninhabited with jetties on one side and sand on the other.  As you can tell, there is a ton more beach to go and as it can only be reached on foot, I'm sure that even in the summertime it is a desolate area to get a run in and hang on the beach.

There are a ton of shells on the sand, but it is perfectly compact to run on where the high tide sits and if you hit the beach at low tide, I can't imagine a better place in the area to run, both for comfort and for beauty.

The weather on this run was cold as all get out. The wind was insane and made it even worse.  I had on some long pants, long shirts, a buff, gloves, the whole nine.  Still wasn't enough and my nose was running as much as I was.

Either way, crossing 200 miles is a big deal.  I was hoping to hit 20 by the end of the month.  To hit it with a few days to spare is very encouraging.  Every day is a day closer.

I definitely recommend adding Dauphin Island to any running list, no matter where you are in the Mobile area.  At least once a month I'll be out here to log in a long run.

Herndon Park

Today takes me to a new park located in a fairly central location in Mobile, Herndon Park (also known as Sage Park).

Not too far off I-65 and intersecting with Dauphin Street, this is a park that is pretty easy to get to from wherever you are in town.  Although it is a bit sparse, the layout is nice for running and I don't imagine the park is ever crowded.  The park itself looks like they put as few designs and extras in it as they could in order to fit as much play space as possible.  Containing baseball, softball, soccer, and football fields, the paved track is moreso for people-moving than running.  Despite this fact it is still a nice track to run around, again because it is so empty.  

The outer circle of the track at Herndon Park is nearly 3/4 mile, so for long distance running, you find yourself trouncing the same ground over and over again.  I find this a comfort though, because at 3/4 mile I know I can push myself to do "just one more lap" much easier than a course that is continuous or just much larger.

Safety didn't seem to be an issue here, although I may hesitate to run around the park at night as the perimeter of the park goes out near several areas of woods and broken down fences.  In the daytime, it looks perfectly safe.  I also would not recommend any mid-afternoon summertime running at Herndon Park as there is very little shade if any at all.  In the Mobile sun, you may find yourself crawling to the water fountain.

There are a few pavilions in the central portion of the park and there are bathrooms for both ladies and men.  There are also refreshment stands that are presumably open during league play at the park.  Despite its sparse nature, I'll definately be back to this park and enjoy its paths again.

Another great benefit of the park is that it is across the street from Foosackley's.  If you're feeling especially good about your distance and can handle some fried chicken, that'a not a bad spot to pick some up.

My run at Herndon Park was pretty simple.  10.3 miles down on a cool and beautiful Mobile day.  This takes me to just under 140 miles for the year, so I am creating a good pace.  Will most ikely take my first day off this year tomorrow to let the legs rest.  Been in some pretty decent pain for a while, so I'll probably shut it down for a day.

Langan Park

My first run for the 2015 Mile Challenge was in Langan Park.  This is a very large park located in Spring Hill with tons of activities.  In addition to having plenty of running trails there is a full playground for kids, gazebos with grills, an amphitheater, and a disk golf course.  It is also surrounded by The Azalea Golf Course, The Mobile Tennis Center, The Mobile Botanical Gardens, and the Mobile Museum of Art.  A great spot to start a challenge and a park that I'm sure I'll be running in quite a bit this year.

 There are several elevation changes in this park, so if uphill running is important, the option is there.  There are so many different paths to take though, so if you want to avoid the hills, it's easy to do so.  The variety of paths here also make it nice to keep your surroundings ever-changing.  I believe you can probably do a 5 mile run here and not have to cover the same ground twice.  However, if you wanted to do one small continual circuit, there are plenty of small loops that allow you to do that as well.

Another nice aspect of Langan Park is the ability to cover some historical ground for education.  The park itself is 720 acres, and mixed in those acres are several side-paths to take with signage to guide you along.  Pretty cool to add to your trip there.

I don't see safety being an issue here but the park closes at dark, which is probably a good idea.  There are tons of families taking in various activities there as well, so it looks like you can be comfortable with your children there as well.  I didn't see lighting near the paths, so it looks like the "close at dark" rule is held pretty tight.

As far as my run goes, after 4 months of no running and way too much beer and wings, it went pretty well.  I got over 6 miles in without getting worn out or losing pace.  The pace was pretty slow, averaging about 10.5 minutes per mile, but that will solve itself in time.

I stuck to my Dream Theater soundtrack for the entire run, leaning pretty heavily on 14 minute songs so that I could say "I only need to run 5 songs to get through this."

The weather was pretty ideal, being slightly cold for wearing shorts, but warming up quickly after about a half mile or so.  Cloudy, but no threat of rain.

All in all, good day, good park, good run, and Langan Park will be seeing the bottom of my shoes many times over 2015.