Trail Runs are Dirty and Scary

Its no surprise that I love trail runs. But last night after doing my second run of the summer trail run series with the ARE, I was left covered in mud…and kind of scared.

Let me explain.

Last night’s trail run was at Thacher Park, which is also home to the Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon and Squirrelly Six Trail Race. I ran the six on Halloween last year. It was fun! But I also fell and twisted my ankle at the last quarter mile. Ouch.

Apparently I forgot about that. The trails last night were extremely technical and very very muddy. Part of the trail was even under water! I think I need another pair of backup running shoes.

The run was a 3.5 mile loop through the trails at Thacher State Park. Part of it was on a flat grassy field area, but the ground was filled with holes that were hidden under the long blades of grass. This was not good for my weak ankles. I almost rolled both of them numerous times. I felt fine, but forced myself to stop and walk through part of it in fear of twisting my ankle again.

Thankfully I finished the run without falling this time. The 3.5 miles took me about 41 minutes.

The Hairy Gorilla Half was on my list of races in 2011, but I’m re-thinking that since I don’t want to spend 13.1 miles worried about falling and twisting my ankle. But I guess I could always learn how to trail run appropriately, right?

Post run refreshment:

Post run view:

Tell me: what are the tips and tricks of preventing falls during a trail run? Anyone?