TrailStompers.com: San Francisco Bay Area Trail Running

On May 1st, join Barefoot Ted McDonald and ZombieRunner for an informative clinic on Barefoot Running. Barefoot Ted describes himself as an independent athlete committed to re-discovering primal natural human capacities and encouraging others to do the same. He's spent the last 7 years focused on mastering barefoot long distance running, including running 100 mile ultramarathons, such as the Leadville Trail 100 and the Angeles Crest 100.

For more information visit the ZombieRunner Events Page!

I've decided to run Skyline-to-the-Sea 50k in April.  Anyone else up for it?  I need more training partners!!  Email TrailStompers@gmail.com if interested...

The Mountain View City Council will be considering a proposal to end funding of the Deer Hollow Farm program next year due to budget cuts of "non-essential services."

Deer Hollow Farm (DHF) is an educational farm located in the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.Rancho San Antonio Preserve is the most visited in the open space district because of the unique setting including the farm and adjacent county park. The program offers school year classes in Farm and Garden, Ohlone Native Americans, Wilderness, and serves as a summer day camp. Approximately 5000 children reap the benefits.

There are several ways that you can help:

• Show your support at the City of Mountain View Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Budget Study Session.  This will occur on Tuesday, February 23, 5:00 pm at Mountain View City Hall (500 Castro St., Council Chambers, 2nd floor).
• Email the City Council using the form located here.
  

In order to optimize search engine performance, the names of the trail run pages have been updated. 

For example: www.TrailStompers.com/huddart-phleger.html has been changed to www.TrailStompers.com/huddart-county-park-and-phleger-estate-trail-runs.html. 

This means that any bookmarked links to individual runs will not work anymore.  Please go back to the main Trail Runs page to navigate to the new pages.  Thanks!

Today was an AMAZING day in the Bay Area!  Check out the new photos from the Coal Creek / Russian Ridge / Windy Hill run!  Visit the photos page and scroll to the bottom!

Everyone - check out the new photos page on TrailStompers.com!  We will be posting photos documenting the beauty of trail running in the SF Bay Area! 

Now that I have your attention, it's time for another gear review!  Last week, I headed into ZombieRunner in Palo Alto to see if I could do better than my good ol' Asics 2140's for trail running.  While the 2140's are a good shoe, I was looking for something a little lower to the ground with some better traction.  (As an added bonus, I was hoping to acquire a shoe that would not remove the epidermis from the back of my heel like the 2140's after a long run...)  Apparently, this "lower to the ground" thing is a real fad right now - just type "minimalist trail running shoe" into Google and see how much stuff you find.  Anyway, after trying on about half a dozen different shoes, I settled on the La Sportiva Crosslite.  I was immediately amazed how comfortable they were right out of the box.  Also, it's like they were made for my feet (which is amazing since I'm a size 13B - luckily this shoe seems to run narrow).  Not only is this shoe lower to the ground than any other running shoe I've had, it has aggressive tread for great traction on the dirt.  And the coolest feature is the elastic mesh that covers the laces - after tying the laces you can tuck the ends under the mesh so you don't have to worry about the laces catching on anything while running!

Today I took the shoes on their inaugural run.  In doing so, I violated the first rule of new shoes: BREAK THEM IN SLOWLY!!  But, they felt so comfortable I figured that they couldn't be any more painful than my 2140's.  So, I took them out on a ~20-mile loop with about 3000 feet of climbing.  Since it just rained, the ground was wet and there was debris on the trails.  But wow was I blown away!!  The increase in traction was apparent right away, and I finished the entire run with no blisters or sore spots!  I could not believe how comfortable these things were.  The lower profile gave a noticeable increase in control and ground feel.  Also, strangely enough, the Crosslites feel lighter than my 2140's, even though they are spec'ed as 1 oz heavier.  Bottom line: I am impressed!  I am in love with a shoe!!

Get your very own pair of Minimalist Huarache Running Sandals, made by you or custom-made by Barefoot Ted! 

"I believe that there are a growing number of runners and outdoor enthusiasts who are looking for time-tested solutions to the challenge of traveling on foot over rugged terrain. The huarache is a viable alternative, an alternative with a long history, and it is an alternative that you can learn how to make yourself." - Barefoot Ted

Click here for more info...

While poking around Runner's World today I came across this exhaustive list of info, articles, videos, and websites that discuss Barefoot/Minimalist Running.  It's a great way to kill off several hours/days of your free time at work...

Click here for the complete list.

Given all the current interest in running form, including foot strike, Runners World did an interview with running form expert Jay Dicharry. Dicharry is director of the SPEED Clinic at the Center for Endurance Sport, University of Virginia.  He has a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology, and a masters in physical therapy. The SPEED clinic works with athletes and coaches across the country to improve their understanding of proper running form.  He discusses such topics as proper running form, common mistakes runners make, and barefoot running.

Read the entire article here.