With over 2,900 acres and 24 miles of trails, Conservation Park is a gem for the city of Panama City Beach. I hadn't been unfamiliar with it; Debbie and I had walked there several times.
And on each occasion, we'd managed to get ourselves somewhat lost. Since we always found our way back, these were not big deals. But to manage such a thing when all the trails are wide, flat, and marked is quite a feat.
The markings were the problem each time. Color-coded trail marking should have helped, but it seemed inconsistent, and the names were very confusing. My plan today is to not get lost at all. I'll do this by staying mostly on the orange trail that circumnavigates the park.
Despite the huge area, there doesn't seem to be much variety, or even much wildlife within the park. Besides some cyprus wetland areas in the interior, there are mostly tall but sparse pine trees with a lot of scrub vegetation in-between.
It's foggy when I begin. I even encounter a little rain. Even though the trail is wide and flat, I encounter a few muddy areas. I'm not a big fan of mud, but today it's not too bad a problem.
I start slow, but by the time I'm about half-way around the 9.5-mile loop, I'm picking up the pace. It helps that the fog has now burned off, the sun has risen, and I can see my way through.
Not that there's that much to see. Just more scrub, pine trees, and straight-ish, flat trail. Just when I'm thinking that there couldn't be any less wildlife than this, a humongous gray bird flies closely over my head. It's going the same direction as me, but it just keeps going until it's out of sight. I think it's an osprey.
There are no other major surprises as I complete the circuit and stop for a drink. It felt good to gradually increase my speed (such as it is) throughout the run. Now I was ready for more. But how much more?
I could just jog a bit more to make it a double-digit mileage run. Or I could run a lot more (like eight-plus more) to make it a long run. Or I could take the goldilocks approach and run just a few more - not too much, not too little.
I have the time to do more than the minimum, but not quite the maximum. But most importantly, even though I feel alright at the moment, after some decent mileage and even speedwork over the past few days, I may regret trying to do too much. Goldilocks it would be.
And it's a good thing. Taking care to not get lost, I venture onto the interior trails, some of which are nice, soft wood-chips, for about three more. Now I'm really done. (Or, done done, as we used to say at work.)
The advice was accurate; it's a good place to run. I'll be back.
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