Adventures in Running and Hiking in Gulf Shores

We are going to be home from our trip in a few hours, and I wanted to talk about the running, hiking and “trails” in Gulf Shores.

A newer thing for me, the past five years, is checking out the running when I go somewhere. It’s a neat way to get to know the area you’re staying in and you get a feel for the terrain. I was excited about Gulf Shores because I remember it being flat. That’s a good thing because I was just given the full go from my doctor. My injury has healed and I can go to my threshold. I figured the flat ground would be nice. And it was for the first two miles of my first solo run. Then it got pretty boring pretty quick. I’ve had a similar sensation running half marathons. When you get a long stretch of flats it can be a nice break, but it sure gets tedious after awhile. And it’s not like I’m one for hills. I dread going uphill. But I love going downhill. I gain speed, I’ve been told to go down hill more freely and it breaks up the monotony. There was little to none of that this week. I would take weird turns, hoping I’d find hills. There were none. I ran a 10k yesterday and I “gained” less than 20 feet of elevation. It may as well have been an ant hill. I saw the “hill” during this run and it wasn’t exciting at all. I was up and down it within seconds. It was a drag. But that’s how it was everyday I ran, which was 3 of the four days we were there.

On the second day of the trip, after a day of swimming in the Gulf, I decided I wanted to do some trail running. There was a state park about four miles from the condo we stayed in, so I drove out to a trail head that had about six connecting trails. I figured this would get me into the three digit elevation category. It wasn’t even close. I ran four miles on three separate trails and my elevation gain that day was 60 feet. Again, I’m not a big elevation fan, I tend to walk uphill, but still, it’s a nice break to have that walk. At home I average a bit over 200 per run. When I run with my buddy, a small elevation run is about 500 feet. My body is used to going up and down. That’s not the case in Gulf Shores.

Also, they need to be very loose with the term “trail”. I talked to a park ranger about how most, if not all, the trails are paved. She told me that’s the way they like it in Gulf Shores. She said most people walk or bike the trails, so it’s better for them to pave them. I’m not a fan of this idea at all. Trails need sticks and roofs and rocks and should require some technical work. I trails I ran on had none of those. The bridges on the trail were a nice touch, but those were all pristine. They were too nice, not worn down enough, didn’t seem used very much. It was kind of a bummer. When I hear trail I think woods. I’m sure most people do. But these trails were simply flat, paved walkways.

The same problem with the “trails” is what irked me about hiking. My son had I hike together a lot. He’s a good hiker too. I let him talk and talk and he likes to climb and pick up sticks and get in a good sweat. The only thing he got on our hike this week was the sweat. He openly complained about the lack of sticks. He asked why this trail was so easy compared to home. He didn’t have to drink much water because he said it was “too easy” for him. I couldn’t agree more. Our two and a half mile hike only took 40 minutes. It was a breeze. And the lack of tree coverage was a big letdown. Tree coverage is a big time help, especially as it gets warmer out. There was no coverage at all. It was hot, bright and brutal at times. For a place that has so much vegetation the trees are practically nonexistent. The lack of shade crushed any good time I had all week.

Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to run, I’m glad I saw some new parts of town I missed, but it wasn’t the highlight I was hoping it might be. It was kind of a letdown. Props to people that run marathons in that swamp though. Those people are bosses. But no elevation and no shade is not for me I suppose.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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