Sunday, July 3, 2011

Jacksonville-Baldwin Trail

6/11/11
I got started early while my family was sleeping and it was cooler. It’s hard to believe that the temps were much better here in Jax then they were in Memphis at the time. There were a lot of people there when I got there and they were all bikers. I guess since the paved trail is 14 miles long, it makes a great path to ride on. They had porta potties at the parking area which was really nice. 




The first 3 miles is out in the open but since it was early the heat and sun wasn’t an issue. I thought the temps were really nice and cool especially once I got to the covered part. 
 I saw a lot of countryside with cows and big empty fields. Some of the homes along the trail had decorations on their fences or neat things in their yards. The picture of the fake mirror is one I call Self Portrait of a Runner. LOL 

This was a 5 foot tall Rooster made of tin pieces. I thought it was cool and step off the trail onto this street to get a better look.

Since I stepped off the path I noticed a couple of beautiful male peacocks flirting with the girls. I wasn't able to get a picture with their tails fanned out but they were really pretty.

I was pretty much the only runner out there this particular morning. I did see a few walkers but they were only in the first couple of miles.
Not used to being around so many bikers, there were big groups of them and the posted speed limit was 20 mph. Never really had an issue with them since they were very vocal about coming on the left. Once I got to the covered part of the trail it really cooled off nicely. 


The vegetation is so much different than back home and seeing all the Palm trees and sandy trails next to the path. It really takes your mind off of your running as you take in the view.





You could run on a trail that was along the side of the paved path that was for the horses. I decided not to do it since it was very rooty and sandy. 
 My goal today was to do 12 miles doing 3/1s. Run 3 minutes and walk 1 minute - the Galloway thing. I am trying to get back into running again after racewalking for the last 2 years. I really enjoy running on the trail more than I do walking. I carried my Nathan camelbak and it was nice to have the pockets in the front and not having to take it off to get to my fuel. I only took in one Gel for the whole twelve miles and carried 50 oz. of water but only drank about 30 oz. in the 2.5 hours it took me to do the loop.
I stopped a bunch of times to take pictures. I really liked this trail and the mile markers were every half mile on the road and they had mile marker posts for every mile. There were trash cans next to the benches which were also approx every half mile. When I reach the 6 mile mark, there was another parking lot but this one was smaller but it had the bathroom (which was closed) but also had the porta potties too like at the beginning of the trail.  
I still had another 8 miles to go and explore but decided to make it another day on my bike. I did some research to see how to get to the 6 mile mark and park there so I would be in the shade for the most part. I didn't get a chance to get back there since we had some heavy smoke in the area from the wildfires in Ga. One morning I had ashes on my car windshield, that is how bad it got. I had to go to St. Augustine to ride but I didn't get out of the smoke but it wasn't as bad. 
I really wanted to do the rest of the trail, maybe the next time I am back in town visiting family, I will get a chance to see it. 
I highly recommend going to this trail to run, walk or bike. Most of the roads I crossed over where not high traffic areas at all. 
I uploaded my Garmin to mapmyruns and here is the link. Next time I will start at the Halsema Rd. location and be in the shade. Just don't know how miles going out is shaded but would find out.
Thanks for reading 
Sherry

No comments:

Post a Comment