Little Talbot Island State Park

Little Talbot Island State Park
Jacksonville, FL

I got some more time off today with a little daylight left, and I decided to head for the beach! A quick google map search revealed a state park maybe 15 miles away, and I was headed there!

After paying my entrance fee (yes they charged me 3 bucks) I got some good local info from the park ranger on what to expect along the park trail. I was told there was little chance I would see much wildlife, but they did have turtles, rattlesnakes, bobcats, and even one alligator that they knew of, although he lived in an area away from the trail. I didn't see any of these, but I did see an armadillo. I heard him rustling around the undergrowth and stopped to investigate. I could not get close enough for a photo through the foilage however.

The running trail here was ideal for me. Most of the way it was fairly hard packed sand covered over with some small fallen leaves, and only very occasionally did the sand get loose packed where it becomes burdensome to run in. All along the trail I found about 4 different signs offering some information about the local foilage.

Breaking out onto the beach I had around 1.2 miles to go to get back to the parking lot. The sand was also great for running on here and I didn't see another soul the whole run...in the woods or along the beach going back to my car. The total run was somewhere between 3.5 and 3.8 miles, and if I had been able to get there earlier in the day, I would have surely run multiple loops. In fact, I would love to be able to go back here some day and run 4 loops to make a half marathon. If I get back to this area, I will try to remember to do just that.

I have a link to a Picasa web album of photos from this run at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jetfuelburner.mike/LittleTalbotIsland
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Posted By Mike to Fit from Fat at 4/10/2007 09:10:00 PM (my other blog at www.fitfromfat.blogspot.com)