I have run many times at Garin Regional/Dry Creek Park. It's a fairly small open space preserve compared to the Ohlone Wilderness Area of Sunol & Mission Peak Regional Parks. But its a real gem! Most of the trails are very gentle and can be run by beginners. Since I am running in Vibram 5 Finger shoes, it was a perfect transition from the gravely Alameda Creek trail. Actually, it was much easier since the gravel was not hurting my tender feet.
The trails meander across old bridges, broken down barns, open meadows, and across creeks. The mud felt so good under my feet. I did not have to worry about the mud getting stuck to the bottoms of my 5 fingers since I have "treadless" KSO model. It's tread is more like a Sperry Topsider boat shoe than a beefy trail running shoe. That is the reason why I chose this model over anything else that Vibram makes. And yet I desire something even less aggressive. If it were not for the gravel fire roads, I would have taken the 5 fingers off.
When I mention to people that I am running in the 5 Fingers, I get some strange looks. I was talking with the trail Diva, Catra, of Fremont while shopping at Trader Joe's and she does not have anything positive to mention about these shoes. She said to me that she has seen many people getting injured running barefoot and in Vibram's. While this is truthful, I did not mention to her how many of her shoe clod running friends have running injuries. See my point? Two years ago, I thought barefoot runners were insane!
I will be heading back to Garin Regional Park this Saturday as my feet are not ready for a full blown 2-3 hour trail run up Mission or Rose Peak. Garin should be beautiful to run early in the morning. We usually arrive an hour before sun rise. It's supposed to be in the 70's. It's going to be an awesome spring time run.
My Invisible Shoes (Huaraches) should be in my mail box today. If I can get them made before the run tomorrow, I will be bringing them with too!
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