That’s what I thought to myself during the last mile of last Sunday’s
long run, as my soles ached from 20 miles of asphalt and concrete, from San
Ramon, CA, south along the Iron Horse Trail, east through the bustling city of
Dublin, north along the still partly undeveloped Camino Tassajara to historic Danville,
and back to San Ramon. The soles ached even though I was wearing my more cushioned
New Balance Minimus 10V2 Trail (NBM) shoes compared with my Vibram FiveFingers (VFF), which I’d worn in the Golden Gate Headlands
Half (GGHH) race the prior weekend. The soles were reminding me that the
effects of the beating they’d taken during that race still lingered.
The GGHH was a really fun trail race, a race of opportunity, i.e., I
was visiting in the San Francisco Bay area, and the race date was convenient.
The course was within the GG National Recreational Area just north of the
Golden Gate Bridge.
(From Google map, with annotations)
Weather was just about perfect, a beautiful clear day, with a slight breeze and temperatures in the 50s, a single-long-T-shirt-and-shorts weather, plus hat and sunglasses. The start of the race was one of the funniest I’ve experienced, a comedy routine of sorts put on by the starter/announcer, also the race organizer, Dave Horning of EnviroSports and Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon fame, who had a voice like a human microphone. With the total number of participants at some 400 and about 200 who ran the Half (the rest either marathon or 6-mile), the race was generally low-keyed: two traffic cones marking the same start and finish line; no chip timing (not that it mattered much for such a race); BYO-bag-and-FYO-corner-somewhere bag check; two support stations at Miles 5 and 10, where road access was available, with water and sports drink offered up by smiling volunteers; and a course that was mostly clearly marked by orange ribbons (couple turns left some doubt, and the final right turn to the finish line was a sign lacking ribbons that I missed until another runner pointed it out). I brought my own water bottle, which I refilled at Mile 10. There was no finisher's medal. There was a cotton T-shirt, though not year-specific. Plenty of food was available at the finish.
It was a hilly course, winding up and down through the GG Recreational Area. Somewhere between Miles 2 and 3, the course got so steep that a section of it was over a flight of stairs.
But, the hills were not the main obstacle.
I was planning to bring both my VFF and NBM to the race, with the intent to run in the NBM. But, when I left my parents' place around 6:30 that morning, I inadvertently left the NBM in the dark, predawn foyer behind the just-locked door. I didn't have a key and didn't want to wake them up. So, I decided to just go ahead and run in the VFF. I mean, I've been running in minimal shoes for over three years; what could go wrong? Well, I love you, Vibram, just not for a trail race! Wearing the VFF that morning easily costed me some 15-20 minutes for the
walking I had to do only because of the rough trail surface. The critical path, despite the tough hilly course, was not musculoskeletal nor
cardiovascular and pulmonary; the critical path was footwear! A pointedly painful--though not an entirely unexpected--lesson
learned.
It was quite frustrating at times, especially as other runners were
passing me only because I had to walk due to the rough surface. It wasn't too bad in the early miles, along the Coastal and Wolf Trails, parts of which had asphalt surface. It got worse along the Marincello and Alta Trails, after the Mile 5 support station, where much of the surface was dirt and gravel. It was most frustrating, after the Mile 10 station, along the return Coastal Trail, which was generally downhill. There I was, totally ready to power down the course, at probably a 9-minute pace; instead, I had to tiptoe along at a 12-15 minute pace. And, still, every now and then, an errant foot placement would remind me how bruised my soles were.
Even so, I tried to remind myself to not let my footwear problem detract from the enjoyment of the race. The scenery was gorgeous, starting with the run across the sandy beach next to Rodeo Lagoon near the start, and increasingly so, as the course climbed above the coast, with views of the Pacific Ocean and Golden Gate Bridge around Miles 2-3 and of Richardson Bay adjacent to Marin City and Sausalito around Miles 7-9. I stopped for several minutes to take in the views.
In retrospect, I think my soles probably would have fared only somewhat better, if I’d worn the NBM, whose bottom would still not have been thick enough for the GGHH course surface. I do have a pair of Vivobarefoot trail shoes, but I didn't bring it on the trip (takes up more room in the suitcase; plus, I've some issues with the fit). I am looking for a new pair.
Anyway, I am glad that I bruised it out and didn't, e.g., take that right turn off of Wolf Ridge Trail between Miles 3 and 4 and shorten the run to end up as a 6-mile race. I finished with a time of 2:34:46, which was good enough for 102 out of 207. Plus, I finished first in my age group ... well, OK, OK, I was the only one in that group--which, I guess, also makes me the last one in the group!
There was a course photographer located at the top of a hill towards the end of
the race, around Mile 12, probably because most everyone would be walking and a nice smile could be
coaxed out of each runner.
Despite my footwear, I had a lot of fun running this course. I'd like to run it again, with the right trail shoes. There's an upcoming set of races in July, organized by Coastal Trail Runs, which has a Half that covers almost the same course as that of GGHH and just precedes a conference that I'm planning to attend in the general area. Hmm ...
