The ineffable joy of NW winter trail running (with pictures)

paraganek

paraganek

Barefooters
Jul 5, 2010
810
1,012
93
Portland, OR
paraganek.blogspot.com
#1
The recipe:

Mix a nice hilly trail in the woods with 2 weeks of rain, cover with well aged fall leaves. Make sure the mud is splashy and slippery. Sprinkle with just a bit of snow. Cool down to 35 F and run on it as fast as you can. Enjoy. Tastes like heaven.



First half a mile on forest road






Leaving gravel, starting on the trail













White powder





Soft and squishy





Slippery when wet





This section of the trail is always giving me a couple of arch bruises, working on more relaxation...







Happy feet





Happy me :smile:





Post Scriptum


For 6 months I thought asphalt was the best. Wrong. After my first run on this trail some two weeks ago I got immediately addicted to trail running. I am a total BF trail runner convert now. :love:
 
#2
I am with you on the trail

I am with you on the trail running, the gravel trail in my avatar does like yours. It turns into dirt trails with a mix of just about everything, and it's only 10 min from home lol. I definetly love trail running more than road running. It is all I do now. The only thing is on my trails you gotta watch out for copperheads, for some reason I am being told it is loaded with them. I've only saw three so far?
 
#3
 Yum.  Too bad though that

Yum. Too bad though that you don't have lots of angular ironstone, cactus, and greenbriar, to spice up your runs like I do :)
 
#4
Nice!I have to admit, I've

Nice!

I have to admit, I've never done a trail...looks like some good and dirty fun!
 
#6
At some point I hope to

At some point I hope to switch over to trail running.

Can you tell me about those things on your ankles ? What is their function ? What are they called in retail stores ? Material ? etc.......
 
#7
Humboldt-explorer wrote:Can

Humboldt-explorer said:
Can you tell me about those things on your ankles ? What is their function ? What are they called in retail stores ? Material ? etc.......
Click to expand...

Those are just Nike wrist bands, they keep my ankles warm.
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2302027-1.jpg
 
#8
Man I wish we had some trails

Man I wish we had some trails around town. The best we have here is dirt roads. But I've been up in the mountains barefoot before, and I can tell you it converted me from a road runner on the spot. And I know exactly what you mean when you say it tastes like heaven, my feet just want to eat the trail right up (and hopefully not get eaten up by the trail while they're at it.)

Zum, if you haven't been trail running, then I've got to say you ain't seen nothing yet. Its all the fun of barefooting on boring surfaces, but times a million.
 
#10
Great photographs!  Very

Great photographs! Very professional looking.

I love trail running too. It's more strategic than road running, which makes it even more of an adventure.
 
#13
Hey, I think I see my

Hey, I think I see my footprints in there. I feel like I've been to practically all those places. Leif ericson & wildwood trail, I believe?

Trails are so much more intriguing than pavement. There's a lot to engage with on a bodily level--textures, variations in terrain-- and with bare feet you can appreciate it all. I never appreciated leaf litter so much before this year. I also think you also get a more rounded workout on trails because there are so many more angles you have to apply yourself to.

Plus you learn new things, like recently I have appreciated the erosion of fine silt from higher up on the slopes, which tends to collect in the beaten down part of the trail. So much nicer to run on than the jagged gravel the trail-repairers use. It's geology in action.

Still, 34F and muddy is very challenging for me, temperature wise. The cold mud sticks to my feet and I find I need to do some wacky motions to toss it off. :)
 
#15
JT, please visit the Site

JT, please visit the Site Help Forum to learn how to add pictures to your posts.
 
#17
Oh, Ha!  I can't help you

Oh, Ha! I can't help you there. Sorry.
 
#18
stomper wrote:Hey, I think I

stomper said:
Hey, I think I see my footprints in there. I feel like I've been to practically all those places. Leif ericson & wildwood trail, I believe?
Click to expand...

You are right Stomper. I am lucky enough to work nearby so I run there during my lunch break on weekdays.
 
#19
where is this Leif Erickson

where is this Leif Erickson trail head at? i've heard about it but haven't found it. i run wildwood and others i can't think of now with some gnarly gravel on them that just appeared a couple of weeks ago. i park at the arboretum and run around that and up to Pittock mansion. the trail you posted looked nice and empty. xmas day i was dodging so many families.



on a side note on tuesday i ran there in the heavy rains wearing only shorts. only saw two people out. love it when it rains like that because almost no one is on the trails.



paragenek. if you get this and go for a run today maybe i can join you? it's 8:30 am right now.



mike
 
#20
I'm not really ready yet for

I'm not really ready yet for trail running. I'm still working my mileage up on barefoot for streets. I'm not ready for hills, and such on trails.

The problem I'm facing on the Redwood coast is how the trails are managed. The majority of the trails are state park properties. I really need to talk to a trails person, and scout areas more. However it seems to me most trails they put down a crushed rock layer on top of the trail I suppose for better drainage(California thing I guess). This is not impossible to hike on barefoot, but is slow moving. Last time I tried it anyway.

My local city park which is very big, and very close to home. Has single track trails to run on with fine surface to be on barefoot. I will have to adjust to steep hill running which is not a problem. To work my may around the various single track trails I will have to access at times gravel roads. Which are harder to barefoot on.

So while the trail running sounds really fun to me once I am ready for it. It maybe more of a challenge with the unnatural gravel surfaces. I would much rather be barefoot, but I may have to wear a treksport VFF. I really would prefer not to wear something on my foot. I'm wondering if maybe their is enough room on side of trails where no crushed rock is layed. So I need to figure out how to resolve these things. It will probably be a few months before I want to trail run.

Anyone else have these type of unnatural trail surface challanges ?
 
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