Silver River State Park

“Are you a runner?”

I beamed as I responded that I was, and forked over the $4.00 park admission to the ranger.

The next thing I knew, she was at my car window, trail map in hand, gleefully pointing out her favorite trails.

As I drove into the park my head swelled with the certainty that I had accomplished so much as a runner that I must certainly exude . . . runnerliness, a state of being in which it is immediately apparent to all who see me that I AM RUNNER! (Well . . . ok . . . so maybe she figured it out due to the fact that I was wearing my race shirt from last year’s Gasparilla Half Marathon which is a retina piercing shade of lime green; or maybe it could have been that my four bucks were clenched in a hand weighted down by a Garmin wristwatch so large it looks like it was intended for a radiation engorged giant from a 1950’s sci-fi movie. I prefer the whole “exuding runnerliness” explanation, so don’t burst my bubble.)

The Silver River State Park is a gem of the state park system located just off SR40 in Ocala. It has 15 miles of primitive hiking and biking trails arranged in a network of interconnected loops. On the advice of the amiable ranger I decided to start with the River Trails which, she reported, would provide me with spectacular views of the Silver River.

Just disregard the warning sign about black bears ;-}

The trailheads were easy to find, located near a small museum and a Cracker village.

This was my third run in my new Merrell Trail Glove shoes, and my second trail run in them. My calves still ached from a downtown run in them three days earlier. Wearing these shoes on city streets and sidewalks helped me to truly discover forefoot running for the first time. That discovery was followed, about two miles later, by the discovery that my calves are not ready for sustained running on my forefoot. I have been hobbling around ever since. Inactivity seemed to worsen the ache, so I was anxious to get this run started.

I quickly studied the trail map, grabbed my hand held water bottle, stashed my phone in my spibelt and set off on the River Trail.

The surface varied widely, including very hard limestone, sand, crushed gravel roads, and sometimes a thick layer of leaf litter that felt like I was running on down pillows, (except when it was concealing tree roots).

The River Trail is about 1.5 miles and leads to a canoe launch and a view of the River. The river, by the way, is spring fed and crystal clear. After reaching the river, I doubled back and took a detour onto a bike trail where I found one of the highlights of the run, a small loop trail called the Ft. King Military Loop. Here, the trail narrowed significantly and was often indiscernible. I had to rely on pink ribbons and yellow blazes on the trees to find my way.

If you look real hard you can see the pink ribbon marking the trail.

You feel everything in these shoes, so it does take attention to your foot placement to try to avoid uncomfortable encounters with rocks and roots. They performed well though and provided good traction, even on limestone still moist from the morning mist. About three miles into the run I felt a disconcerting pain in the top of my left foot after crossing a long and uncomfortable maze of roots. The pain wasn’t severe, it was just different from anything I had felt before. I slowed to walk it off but it seemed to matter little whether I was running or walking. So, of course, I ran. I felt some discomfort for the rest of the run but it did fade the longer I continued.

I followed the bike trails for a while and then doubled back to explore another trail recommended by the ranger, the Swamp Trail. The Swamp trail is a two mile loop that leads to a boardwalk passage through a swamp (no mystery there) to get to another view of the river. No venture into the Florida wilderness would be complete without a swamp.

I didn’t see very much wildlife during the run, other than birds and squirrels. I did see a lot of tracks. I reached the park around 8:30 am and had the feeling that if I had been able to start closer to sunrise there would have been a lot more to see. This is a great time of year to be outside too. The temperatures are still cool which means – no bugs!

The trails were almost deserted. Over the course of the morning I saw only a half dozen people and I think if had had explored some of the upland trails I could have run for hours without seeing anyone at all. I sometimes enjoy that kind of solitude.

Completing the Swamp Trail returned me to the trailhead where I was parked. I had run a little over five miles and was feeling great, even my foot, and would have loved to move on to one of the other trails. Unfortunately I had a full day of non-running activities ahead of me and a quick look at my watch confirmed that I needed to move on. I reluctantly left, but I will definitely return to explore the rest of this park.

Test Driving the Merrell Trail Glove

The local marathon season is grinding to a close so I am planning to give trail running a go. This of course means – NEW SHOES!

As usual I agonized over the decision of what shoes to get for this purpose and after way too many hours spent researching and perusing reviews I narrowed my options to three.

1. New Balance MT 101. This seems to be an extremely popular and well tested trail runner. While it is more minimalist than many trail shoes, my main concern with it was that it seemed to be a step backward from the Saucony Kinvaras I have been wearing for the past few months. It is a very light weight shoe but it has a 10 mm heel drop that is more characteristic of more traditional running bricks (whoops - I meant shoes).

2. New Balance Minimus Trail. With a 4 mm heel drop (equal to my Kinvaras) and endorsed by ultra-marathoner Anton Krupicka (who supposedly contributed to the design) I am excited about this shoe and hope to try it someday. Unfortunately, it will not be available for another month (and I have a “thing” about instant gratification).

3. Merrell Trail Glove. Weighing in at a featherlight 6.2 oz., with a 0 mm heel drop and a Vibram sole, the Trail Glove is part of Merrell’s Barefoot Collection and is creating a lot of buzz. The decision to choose this shoe seemed inevitable when I received word that my local running store, Front Running Sports, just got them in stock (remember my “thing” for instant gratification). My only hesitation was the price (I also have a “thing” about parting with my hard earned cash). It retails for about $105, which seems pretty high for a shoe whose closest competition is supposed to be bare feet. A WVR discount at Front Running Sports helped to ease my pain.

(After purchasing my Trail Gloves, I was informed that Saucony is now offering a trail version of the Kinvara called the Peregrine available at a significantly lower coast than the Trail Glove. I don’t think this would have affected my decision though. I’m on my second pair of Kinvaras, ready to try something new, and I’m excited about trying a perfectly flat shoe. I also learned that Saucony has another new offering described as the Kinvara with “a touch of support” which makes me worry they are losing sight of what made the Kinvara successful in the first place.)

My first impression on seeing the Trail Glove was that it looks a bit like a clown shoe with its oversized toe box. The fit was almost as exactly as described in the product literature, snug around the mid-foot with a toe box that opens up wide to allow your toes to splay. It is cut low around the ankle and is very flexible. It is designed to be worn without socks and I ended up with a size 10, a full size smaller than usual.

The feel of the perfectly flat shoe was strange at first walking around the shop. I took it for a test run outside, both on pavement and on grass, and found that I was almost instantly up on my forefoot, especially on pavement.

The upper is a loose woven mesh that gives the shoe a pleasant ventilated feel on my sockless feet.

Armed with my new purchase I decided on the Lyonia Preserve for my first trail run. I was warned not to overdo it in my first runs or my calves would pay the price. I ended up running 4.8 miles on a mostly sandy trail with just a few challenging hills.



They performed well and I was pleased to find that I had no calf soreness afterward or any unusual leg pain at all. I think this is due to the many miles I have already put on my Kinvaras. I’m not convinced that the shoe, in and of itself, changed my stride significantly although I was very aware of how my foot was landing and the shoe provided a good feel for the ground. The sandy trail was very forgiving so I will have to wait see how they perform on less ideal surfaces and pavement. This run didn’t really test the shoes traction or its effectiveness as a barrier against roots, rocks, water or other hazards I might encounter off road. It was a great first test though and rest assured I plan to put these shoes through the ringer over the coming months.

Base of "Mt. Lyonia"

I did pick up quite a bit of sand and some debris from the run. In addition to sand that makes its way into the shoe around my ankles, I think it can also work its way in through the loosely woven upper. On a longer run I may need to stop to shake them out every once in a while.

I had some concerns about running without socks and was pleased to find that I didn’t suffer any rubbing on my heel. I did notice a small abrasion on the top of my left foot after the run, near the base of my big toe. Feeling around on the inside of the shoe I noticed a rough spot where the tongue is sewn to the shoe that may have been the culprit.  I think more careful attention to the lacing may prevent a repeat but I will have to keep an eye on this area in the future.

View from the summit of "Mt. Lyonia"
Elev: 49 ft*
*per my Garmin elevation profile ;-}

I’m very pleased so far and I’m looking forward to putting in many more miles on local trails in these shoes.

Update (5/3/2011):

I thought I should update my experience in the Trail Gloves now that I have more experience in them. I now have well over 100 miles in them including a 50k trail race. I absolutely love these shoes.

The chafing I experienced on the top of my foot, which I also noted in other reviews of the shoe, ceased by the 3rd wearing and after that they got more comfortable every time I laced them up. I don’t know if the shoe softened up or my foot calloused, or both, but the abrasion never returned, even during the 50k. I didn’t even suffer a single blister during that race.

My experience in them is limited to trail use with the exception of a single 4 mile run on pavement that really gave my calves a workout. I do plan giving them some street time now that the Florida racing season is basically over until the fall.

I have also become so infatuated with running sockless in the Trail Gloves that I tried, and now prefer, to do that in my favorite road shoe, the Saucony Kinvara.

You can read more about my experiences in them here (Silver River State Park) and here (Croom Fools Run 50k).

Deleon Springs Half Marathon

One of the highlights of this race occurred at packet pick up. Standing in line about 45 minutes before the start, the guy standing next to me looks over and says:

“Hey, are you Running Bird?”

How cool is that? It made me feel like a celebrity.

It was great meeting and talking with you Brian, thanks for introducing yourself. I hope you have a great race at Disney!

Now it’s time for a little confession.

I have written in this blog before that I race for the t-shirts. That’s not exactly accurate. It isn’t the shirts or the medals, nor is it a middle aged struggle to get fit or a pursuit of the mythical runner’s high.

I race . . . to satiate my pony tail fetish.

So why (oh why!) would I spend the first hour of this race, over 7 miles, pacing behind a shirtless, balding, hairy backed SOB in his 60’s. Yes, he set a good pace and for as long as I could keep up with him I averaged about 8:30 per mile (yes, he beat me). With the myriad beautiful women that I could have been chasing, I got stuck behind this guy. So dude, no offense, but when I look back to fondly remember this race, I will recall that you were female, 40 years younger, 75 lbs lighter, wearing compression shorts and a sports bra, with your hair tightly bound high on your head, locks seductively swaying back and forth . . . .

What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I just got distracted for a moment.

. . . and of course, with not a single hair on your back.

I finished in 1:55:36, 94th overall and 12th in my age group. That’s about 3 minutes over my PR but well under my goal for the race. I tried to keep my expectations low because I’m running the Charleston Marathon in less than two weeks and didn’t want to overdo it. I figured I could shoot for two hours and be satisfied. That being said, you always hope to PR at any race and a PR was easily attainable on this course which is a very fast, flat out and back. Abstaining over the New Year’s weekend might have helped. Cooler, drier weather might have helped. Hydrating a little better might have helped. Taken as a whole though, I‘m very happy with how the weekend shook out.

It was a relatively small event but with a really competitive field of runners. The overall winner was a woman who finished in 1:23:26. WVR had over 30 people in attendance running the 5k and half-marathon, and many who showed up to cheer. That was a real boost in the final stretch.

I should also acknowledge Bill aka Swingbelly of the Lake Monroe Roadkillers who kept me entertained in the early miles of this race. He is always quick with a good story, even though the one he told me Sunday made me throw up a little in the back of my mouth. Congratulations on your age group award Bill, and for the record, you were not the shirtless SOB referenced above.

Saucony ProGrid Kinvara – First Impressions

I decided to risk straying from my usual support running shoes and try a more minimalist shoe. After a lot of research and several recommendations, I chose the Saucony ProGrid Kinvara.

As you can see, I opted for a little flare.

I was unable to find a local source for this shoe, so this was also the first time I ordered shoes online. I ordered them from Running Warehouse for only $65 after a 15% discount (thanks again Jim). That great price even included free 2 day delivery.

My current favorite shoe is the Asics Gel 1150, classified as a support shoe. I was fit for these using the traditional treadmill gait analysis for pronation and they have proved reliable and comfortable. I was happy enough with them to buy a second pair. With well over 300 miles in them between the two pairs I have no complaints, but probably like most runners, I can’t help but wonder if there is something better out there.

The Kinvaras are classified as performance neutral. They are very light, weighing in about 4 ounces under my Asics. That is the first thing you notice when you try them on. They offer some cushioning, but noticbly less than my Asics. They also are much flatter with a smaller heal rise (4mm as compared to 10mm on my Asics).

I think this shoe runs a little narrower than my Asics. The fit was a little snug wearing my usual thick Thorlo running socks on my size 11 dogs. When I switched to thinner Experias, the fit was perfect. The Experias could become my new favorite sock if they prove to be as durable as the thicker Thorlos.

I wore the Kinvaras for the first time on a 4 mile run this morning. There is a lot of hype about these shoes online, and about minimalist shoes in general, but I tried to keep my expectations reasonable.

I was very pleased with the feel of the shoe while running. My online buddy and fellow DoppelLaufer Virtual Racer, JimDo64 from the Active.com running forums, described the sensation as being able to “feel the roadness,” eloquently stated and I don’t think I can improve on that description.

Will these shoes automatically improve my running form? Probably not, but the shoes did make me feel more aware of my form. It was easier to feel my footstrike and to therefore make adjustments. I didn’t miss the extra support at all, but time will tell whether this will still be true during longer runs.

I ran the first two miles at a fairly comfortable 9:00 pace and when I pushed that up to 7:41 for the third mile, the shoes performed really well. The faster pace did seem easier, but that could be equally attributable to cooler temperatures. Still, I’m excited to try these in a race.

I am looking forward to testing these on longer runs and if they work well, I may even wear them for the Daytona Beach Half Marathon at the end of the month.

More to come.