Voltaren Emulgel, Deep Heat, and Ice Packs. No, this is not an article about the effect of any of these, but it’s our post workout equipment for this week’s run, the Kangaroo Creek, Uloola Falls, Karloo Loop. It was a rough run!
Run report
Similar to the Heathcote and Audley Circuit, this trail starts at Heathcote station and is very similar to the Heathcote circuit. The track starts and end at the same spot, and is similar in length; while the Heathcote Circuit is 14.6km, the Karloo loop is 16.6km. 2 Kilometers more fun!
I currently train for a half marathon. Today was, also a bit by accident (I selected the wrong route on my Garmin Fenix 6 watch…), an extra rough run. While the track is only 16km, I was aiming for a 2 hour run, which we didn’t make. And this is fine. I never run for speed, I run for endurance. I run for health reasons, but most importantly, I run for fun and companionship. Every trail run is an amazing day out. In my experience, aiming for a specific time doesn’t benefit the experience.
Breaks
So, to prevent injuries, recover a bit, and sometimes enjoy the view, we have small mini-breaks. We usually drift apart a bit during our runs, since we don’t run at the same pace. Most likely we never will, and that’s fine too: these mini-breaks are a good way to catch up. We check that everything is still okay and nobody is injured, and we’re on our way again. The run this time was an amazing one. The weather, while Winter (Australian Winters are most likely the best Winters on the planet), was perfect. It was sunny, around 15 degrees (which felt like 20 at the time), and while we left Sydney at approximately 7 am, thanks to our handy trail running checklist, we didn’t forget to use sun-cream, or bring sunglasses.
Today I was running in my new Brooks Cascadia 15 and my new Salomon Advanced Skin (my running vest). I’m aiming to review both soon, once I’ve used them a bit more.
My Brooks Cascadia experience
So far, I’m not deeply in love with the Brooks Cascadia yet. I used to run on the Brooks Mazama 2, which seem no longer available. We’ve contacted Brooks on this, to see if there’s ever going to be a replacement, but never received a response. The new Brooks Cascadia seem to provide less control, less grip, and is more fragile (after 2 runs, the sole is already damaged). This is probably personal, but the shoe gives me pain after 5-10 km of running. I have never experienced this with the Mazama 1 and 2 shoes.
Unfortunately, Brooks doesn’t provide the same service in Australia as in other countries. In Australia, Brooks doesn’t provide the True Blue Guarantee in Australia it seems.
1 Dec 2020 update: despite having tried the Brooks Cascadia numerous times now, I keep getting injured while using them, and I’ve never experienced such pain while running before. I’ve not used these shoes again and will most likely give them to someone else, or throw them away, but they’re not compatible with my shoes, and I’ve switched to Saucony now.
Besides the issues with the shoes, the run was amazing. After running for more than 2 hours, we again we finished our race at one of our favorite lunch places, the 7th Heaven Cafe in Sutherland. This place lives up to its name and provides a wide selection of vegan and non-vegan options.
Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you next week, but for now, back to my frozen peas icepack.
