I was just searching here to see if I had ever written anything about trail running, but I couldn’t find anything. That surprised me, because I have tried it a couple of times in the past few years, and when I try something new, I often make an entry here as a way of keeping notes. Oh, well. I’m going to guess that the last time I tried trail running was about 3 years ago. What I remember most about it was that I tripped — a lot. I didn’t fall, but I stumbled so often that I stopped counting how many times something caught my foot. The experience was enough to convince me that I was too clumsy for trail running, so I stopped doing it — until this morning.

About once a year, I run to work. I would do it more often, but it’s not as practical as I’d like. For one thing, when I’m running, I prefer not to carry a heavy pack with laptop, lunch, and change of clothes. Also, it’s 6 to 8 miles one-way (depending on route), and most days, I’m not going to be interested in running that distance twice (although I have done it before). So, running to work requires advance preparation: the evening before, I have to stop at the office and drop off lunch, laptop, and clothes. Then, I have to arrange to get a ride home. I guess another option would be to leave a bike at the office, which introduces even more logistics. But, I digress.

This morning, the weather was really nice for a run. The only issue was, it was the first day of school for both Howard County and UMBC (Baltimore County schools get one more week of summer this year). I usually try to stay off the roads for the first week or so of classes, but I really wanted to run today. It seemed like a conundrum, but then it occurred to me that I could run the Howard County portion of my commute on trails through Patapsco Valley State Park. And thus, I decided to give trail running another shot.

I do most of my road runs with Vibram V-Runs. I never tried them on trails, because I always just assumed that they would be awful off-road. Instead, I used minimalist hiking shoes like my Xero Mesa Trail WPs. The Xeros are great for hiking in wet and muddy conditions, but as I mentioned earlier, I tripped constantly when I tried to use them for trail running. I suspect that might be because the toe box is on the large side, so there’s more surface area to catch on roots and the like. Today, I decided to give the V-Runs a shot on trails. I was a little trepidatious initially, because the V-Runs have a kind of glove-like fit, and don’t offer much protection if I were to, say, ram my toe into a rock. I also worried that dirt and rocks would get stuck between the toes, and/or work their way inside the shoes, given their low profile.

Well, at least today, all of my fears seemed to be unfounded. I went 8 miles, about 3 of which were on trails. I didn’t trip once, and nothing got stuck in the shoes. Granted, I paid very close attention to the terrain I was running over — there’s no zoning out in trail running, that’s for sure. The trails were damp and muddy in spots, and I wonder if drier conditions might lead to more pebbles working their way inside the shoes. Either way, it was an enjoyable run, which means I’ll likely try it again. Time will tell if trail running eventually works its way into my regular running routine, but I do have a number of routes through PVSP that I could easily do from home.

Notes for next time:

• The evening before, I stopped at the office and dropped off lunch, laptop, clothes, and prescription drugs.
• For the run, I wore a hydration vest and carried a office keys, wallet, 2 energy bars, and a liter of water in the vest. Phone was in my shorts pocket.
• Need to remember to bring Correct Toes to wear during the day with regular shoes.
• If getting picked up, leave a small backpack in the office to avoid having to carry a lot of loose items to the car.