Testing new Nathan Intensity pack at Toolangi Forest

I had yesterday morning free so went out to Toolangi Forest for a short trail run. This was also a good opportunity to test out my new Nathan Intensity pack, which is the women's version of the HPL20.

This pack is soooo comfortable I can't believe it beats my Camelbak! The bladder is easy to fill up and so easy to seal without air to stop the water sloshing. The shoulder straps are so soft and comfortable and do not need to be adjusted tight. As with my other Nathan pack, this one doesn't bounce at all! It's just incredible. It feels so light and I think I've found my perfect pack. There's a pocket on each shoulder strap so you can store your phone/food/supplies and access them easily. There is also a decent amount of storage space in the pack itself and I think it would be possible to do long ultras in this and still carry all the mandatory gear. If I can get my running fitness up, then I will try to get away with just this small pack for the long stuff.

It was such a beautiful day yesterday. It was sunny but there were patches of thick fog in the valleys. I ran up to the top of Mt St Leonard and you can see the fog below in the picture. It looks like I'm in some high altitude above cloud level! Lesson learned though: Be cautious when climbing metal stairs that are iced over if you don't want to slip over.

Unfortunately my achilles has been giving me grief again. I think it's because this week and last week I ran some intervals at the track. I go there because I like to push myself to go as fast as I can, but I really can't run on flat ground. My achilles can handle up hills and down hills but nothing in between. It was so painful still after the initial climb and run back down the hill that I considered getting in the car and driving straight home but I knew there would be more hills I could do.

I hobbled along the Quarry Walking Track to the Wirrawilla Rainforest Walk, then went south back down the Tanglefoot track. The Tanglefoot was so overgrown. The few runnable sections were barely runnable as you still had to clear branches and try to avoid tripping over huge strips of bark. There were so many black cockatoos about. I have never seen so many before! I reckon they were all stripping the bark from the trees. I also saw a couple of lyrebirds for the second time in my life! They are so elusive. I tried to get a picture but they were too quick for me.

After about 8km my achilles seemed to warm up, but I think maybe I just found a way to hobble that was comfortable. All up I did 12.6km. It was pretty short but it took a long time due to the hills and overgrown trees on the Tanglefoot track.

I'll have to get out there again soon as I saw a small single trail from Mt St Leonard and I think that would take me down to Healesville or the Maroondah Dam. Parks Vic doesn't have a map of that though, and the DSE maps stop there.

Nathan Synergy pack

Recently I ordered a Nathan Synergy pack for longer ultras. The main feature is the bladder which has two reserves so you can fill one up with water, and the other up with your sports drink of choice. This was not the reason I got the pack though. My Kathmandu pack that I used for longer runs is very uncomfortable and causes the worst chafing ever so I really wanted something that was big enough to carry all the mandatory gear and be comfortable too. Everyone raves about how comfy the Nathan packs are, and I like the pockets, so that was my main reason.

This morning I took it for a test run out in the rain. I filled the bladders up and after spending about 5 hours trying to get the air out, in the process squeezing most of the water out, I gave up and decided to use my Camelbak bladder. I don't know why the air just wouldn't get out of the Nathan bladder. This was really annoying, although I have heard many reports that the Nathan bladders suck and a lot of people use a Camelbak bladder in a Nathan pack. So unfortunately this time I did not get to try the double bladder, which would be really handy in long ultras so I don't need to pack my special drink at aid stops.

I loaded the pack up with just over 4kg as I think that is what it weighs when I carry the usual mandatory gear, food and water.

Once loaded, I couldn't believe how comfortable it was! There is NO bounce! At all!! Even the sternum strap was comfortable, and usually I don't use it on any of my packs. It wasn't needed this time either but it was in a comfy position so it didn't bother me.

As usual, I found I had to do the shoulder straps up as tight as possible, but unlike my other packs, I could take the pack on and off without dislocating my shoulders. The pockets on the shoulder straps were just perfect. I can fit my phone (which doubles as a camera) and there is also room to carry snacks. There are some other side pockets on the main body of the pack which are easily reached without taking the pack off. These will be perfect for carrying my ultra food.

The pack didn't feel heavy at all. I don't know how it works, but it doesn't weigh down on your shoulders and I didn't feel my form suffer from it. Usually even 2kg is too heavy for me but over 4kg felt like nothing.

I am so happy to finally get a large pack that is comfortable and doesn't chafe. I hope I can get the hang of getting the air out of the Nathan bladders so I give the whole 'Synergy' thing a try with two drinks. Although I am a bit scared of the bladders bursting like many others have reported.

I am really looking forward to using this pack for my next ultra, but the weather has been terrible and the road to Wilsons Prom was washed out this week, with people needing to be rescued by boat. I imagine the tracks will be a wreck but hopefully the run wont get cancelled.

Garmin Forerunner 410 review

For the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of trying out the Garmin Forerunner 410, courtesy of Highly Tuned Athletes. My usual running watch is the Garmin 305 but it’s over 2 years old now and the battery life isn’t what it used to be. This was a great opportunity to see if the 410 was for me.

Click here to read more

Five Fingers Trek Sports

Yesterday evening I took my new Trek Sports out for a walk. There was a fair amount of rocky gravel and some single trail too. Conditions were perfect so there was no mud or anything slippery to really test their limits.

The aggressive tread on the Trek Sports (with upper made of coconut fibre, not kangaroo skin like the KSO Treks) gave excellent grip and it was very easy to get around on the gravel and trail. The coconut fibre is super comfortable and it felt like I was wearing lovely soft slippers. I like how the strap does up, without putting pressure on my achilles. There is a 4mm EVA midsole plus the 4mm Vibram outsole. Because of all this stuff in between you and the ground, there is almost no ground-feel. Although it really doesn't feel like a whole 8mm, for those who like the 'barefoot' feel of the thinner Five Fingers, the Trek Sports probably have too much sole material. Most of the tread is built up around the forefoot and toes so it strangely felt like a negative heal drop. I haven't given them a good go running yet so can't comment how that might affect things.

I will give these a good go running sometime soon. I can see these being great trail shoes in perfect conditions, but we'll see how they handle rain and mud. Without a doubt these will be my new bush walking shoes! You don't need super tough feet to handle tough terrain in these and I have always said I am too lazy to bother building up my feet toughness. I can't wait to hit the trails more in these.

New Five Fingers: Bikilas & TrekSports

Hope everyone is having a great Christmas! You can never have too many Vibram Five Fingers and Santa knows that too, so I was pretty happy to get not one but two pairs!! The Bikila and the Trek Sport:

Straight away I noticed both have excellent grip. Both my Sprints now have holes in the upper, and since I am wearing FFs on all my runs at the moment, the Bikila and the TrekSport will be my new shoes of choice.

I took the Bikilas out for a spin today. These are designed specifically for running. The grip is just amazing compared to my old Sprints. They are sooooo comfortable. The material is super soft and the heal just fits around my tender achilles perfectly, making my (hopeful) recovery a smooth ride. There is much less ground feel than the Sprints, but that is not an issue for me. I just need something super light, super flat and super comfy. The Sprints will stay as my walking shoes and the Bikilas will be my new road racing shoes.

The Trek Sports have a more aggressive tread and are better suited to rougher conditions. I will test them out on some trails soon.

 

Sri Chimoy 5km at Williamstown

Today was the last Sri Chinmoy event of the year so I entered the 5km. I love 5km races because they are short and fast, and are a good gauge of fitness. I wanted to see how slow I had gotten from a) doing little running training and b) running too many ultras this year. I think I only ran 3 ultras this year but they always slow me down, plus my achilles has been giving me a lot of trouble this year and during my last ultra 2 weeks ago I had a revelation about fixing it, so hopefully that's behind me now.

For the first time ever, I got to Williamstown without missing any turns and actually managed to get a park early enough with ample time to sign in and drop my bag off. It was a perfectly sunny morning, although being Williamstown, there was a breeze, meaning there'd be a headwind for 50% of the run.

Thanks to Rob at Highly Tuned Athletes, I have a Garmin 410 on loan to test out. Last night I was playing with it but I didn't bring it today because I'm technologically retarded, and wasn't used to the bezel, and thought I'd stuff it up while running. Then I'd look like an idiot with 2 watches on my wrist, (for later comparison) and I wouldn't even know how to use one of them. My own Garmin 305 is playing up, thinking it's fun to turn itself on randomly while it should be charging. So when I turned it on this morning, it immediately warned me the battery was nearly dead. Fortunately it lasted the 5km run, but it turned itself off soon after. Stay tuned for when I learn how to use the 410. I'll post a review.

I lined up at the start in my regular place in the middle of the pack. We were all told everyone would get some chocolate at the end and there would be other spot prizes too! I was so glad I came today!

I started at a pretty good pace, overtaking lots of people. The weather was just so perfect and I was really enjoying it. After the first turnaround we got the headwind. It wasn't too bad but it did slow me down a bit. I was checking my watch for my pace. I wasn't expecting to go fast today, but I was expecting to get under 25mins so I really had to force myself to put in the effort here. I slowed to 5:20min/k for a while and just couldn't seem to pick it up.

At the next turnaround there was no wind (or maybe it was an unnoticeable tail wind) and I picked up the pace a bit. This was going better but I never made up the time I lost earlier. Once the finish line was in sight, I picked it up to around 4:20min/k. It felt so easy and I don't know why I couldn't do it earlier. According to my watch, I crossed the line in 25:10. A bit disappointed in those 10 seconds, but I shouldn't be surprised. I felt nauseous afterwards, so at least I know I put in a good effort!

I wore my Five Fingers shoes and my achilles was behaving perfectly! I saw guy in FFs overtake me so congrats to you!

I stuck around for the awards at the end coz I thought there was a pretty good chance of getting a spot prize. I got a new cap to add to my collection and that made up for my bad time!

I ordered 1 tshirt from Ron at Punk Rock Racing. He's such a bad businessman that he sent me 3. This is his new technical tshirt. I'm not usually a fan of running in tshirts but this one is really comfy!

New trail shoes: New Balance 101

This week I received my latest order from Zombie Runner - the new WT101 (MT101 for men). I really wanted something lightweight, minimal and that could handle tough terrain.

At 175g they are fairly light, slightly heavier than the Nike Free 3.0, but not as heavy as the Nike Waffles. It's interesting that a trail shoe can be lighter than a racing flat.

They do have a noticeably raised heel, but I think it's probably only noticeable for those of us who usually get by with dead flat shoes. It actually works out quite well for me while I sill have achilles issues. The insole is not removable though so if I want something flatter for the trails, I'll just have to wait for the New Balance Minimus line which is due for release next year. These are also higher off the ground than I am used to (15-25mm) but it didn't take me too long to forget about it.

I took them for a short run on the trails around Blue Lake. They've got excellent grip on the technical sections, although there was no mud for me to give that a go. They fit a bit snug for my liking but I don't think anything will fit as perfect as my Adizero Pros. I'll wear thinner socks next time. I can't wait to give them a go on a longer trail run with more technical bits.

New lifting shoes

I've been on a bit of a shoe shopping spree over the past week. Recently I got some new Do-Win weightlifting shoes. They are basically the same as the Pendlay shoes but cheaper. And even cheaper still since I get them at trade price :)

It may seem strange for a runner who likes flat shoes to get lifting shoes with a heel but for someone with long femurs and who is totally inflexible, these have been so helpful in making sure I achieve proper squat depth each time. I'm sure I would miss depth at least once in each squat session. Of course now I've had to take a piece of humble pie and drop the weight a bit since I'm going full range each and every time. The shoes are also great for cleaning, or specifically for me at least, catching the clean.

So now I am the poser at the gym who goes in with two pairs of shoes coz I don't want to get my lifting shoes dirty from the carpark to the gym floor and so I can do my crazy conditioning work in my Volleys after I'm done lifting.

But it's not all in vain. I'm improving in all lifts and getting better at the explosive lifts. I am generally as explosive as a snail so in time this work should translate to better running efficiency and speed.

Things I learnt from the GOW

Trail running is not about taking it easy. It's about getting out of your comfort zone. It's character building.

Racing in bad weather is not nearly as bad as it sounds (see above point).

My unconventional training is effective. I don't need to spend hours and hours running each week.

Training on similar terrain would have helped immensely (although where to find mud during a drought, I don't know. Then suddenly La Niña popped up, turning the course to mud).

I need to carry less food - my pack is heavy enough as it is.

It is possible to run for a long time on fats and little carbs. Perhaps even preferable.

Making the Garmin 305 go the distance

I'm not sure what the battery life on the Garmin Forerunner 305 is supposed to be but mine only lasts about 6.5 hours now. This is no good if you plan to run longer and you want a pretty map and all the graphs that come with it.

Today I got this recharger that will charge it on the go with either 2 x AA or 2 x AAA batteries! You can also recharge your batteries with it from the computer and it comes with lots of adapter thingies to make it useful for your phone, camera, or whatever else you have that needs charging.


The only problem with running a long way is I've read that Sporttracks wont upload files longer than 18 or 20 hours or something like that. I'm not sure but there may also be a limit on the length of time the Garmin will record. I plan to hit the lap button when I plug the charger in so that hopefully I can split the laps for upload and stick em back together.

Anyone have any tips on this?

Run home from work

For the first time in a while I had a weeknight free so ran home from work last night. The plan was to hit the trails and follow the river all the way home so I could test my new headtorch on the single trail, and also see how it felt using the middle strap over the top of the head.

I took a favourite route that I don't get to often.


And took some new trails in too.


I wasted time on a trail that went in a complete circle so I decided I couldn't be bothered running along the river all the way home coz it would be pretty late by the time I made it so I just hit the streets for the rest of the way. I forgot that the purpose of this run was to test the torch on single trail and it wasn't dark yet. I'm not concerned though.

It got dark as I got closer to home and I saw some people running around with headtorches on. Damn! Missed another Street-O. One day I will go! This would've been the perfect opportunity to run around with my headtorch.

I put my headtorch on for the last few kms when I got to some dark streets, including a short cut that's rough underfoot and has no lighting. It took a minute to get used to the extra strap but it felt pretty secure and surprisingly comfortable.

The lighting is pretty good. Last year at GOW I used dad's headtorch which you can either set to a focus or diffuse beam. I couldn't see much. My new Fenix has a focus spot, but also a broader beam at the same time. Since I can't see anything at night, this is perfect for me. The lighting settings are also very good and I surprised myself by not needing the brightest setting on the streets.

The torch also turned out pretty handy because usually I am blinded by oncoming traffic and everything just goes pitch black for me and I have to stop. Last night was great, because I could still see the focus bit of the beam on the ground and didn't have to stop every time a car went past.

When I got home I was so exhausted. Maybe it could be to do with having DOMS in my calves. Or maybe it could be from eating low carb. I will post more about my nutrition experiments later.

How to prepare for a rogaine?

On Saturday I got my VHBOS run in (Volcanic Hills Balls of Steel), which was around 25km including Reynolds and Allendale Rds from the Wattle Glen end. It was much easier starting at this end. I plan to take in part of the VHBOS every weekend possible to get as much leg strength and mental strength from the hills as I can. My hamstrings were still pretty sore from stupidly doing RDLs on Thursday (way too late in the week for hamstring work with a long run on Saturday). I wore my Adizero PRs to see how my feet would hold up in flats over that distance. I love those shoes so much but the soles of my feet were pretty fatigued so unfortunately that means I will have to wear the Nike Frees next weekend for a rogaine.

So... this coming Saturday I will be doing a 6 hr rogaine! The course will be 60% state forest, 30% historical diggings and 10% private land. I've been orienteering once about 15 years ago but that was very quick and easy. I'll be in a team of 3 and one of the girls has done a lot of this stuff so I will be in good hands.

I have been told to wear long pants and gaiters because the scrub can scratch up your legs. Well I don't have any long pants, because who runs in long pants? I have small roc bloc gaiters for running and I have big bushwalking gaitors, but I have been told there are special orienteering ones too! The little gaiters aren't suitable but I don't know how uncomfortable it will be running in big bushwalking gaiters! But then, I've also been told it will be quite easy going walking and jogging, because obviously you can't go at proper running speed while bush bashing. I have all the other gear - waterproof jacket, first aid kit, compass etc.

This will be my first long distance event of the year, although at an easy pace. So I'm not sure if I should be tapering or not. In any case, I am not going to risk the event with DOMS from weight lifting or any fatigue from running too much so my week will look like this:

Monday - Kettlebells
Tuesday - Gym (squats, rows, push ups, most likely followed by intervals on the C2 rower)
Wednesday - Hill sprints
Thursday - Something easy to recover from, probably kettlebells
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 6 hr rogaine
Sunday - Rest!

So... anyone reading this done any long distance orienteering or rogaining? Should I do more of a taper or not worry? Do I need to buy long pants? Or will 3/4 tights and bushwalking gaiters do? Any tips?

New shoes! Adizero PR

I was so excited today I got to try out my new Adizero PRs. I have been wanting these for sooooo long and they are now discontinued but I managed to find them online. (They still crop up on eBay if you're interested). When they arrived, the box felt so light, it felt empty! They even felt lighter than my Five Fingers but I couldn't believe that was possible. So I weighed them on the bathroom scales but they were too light to register! So I got out the kitchen scales and weighed all my shoes. From lightest to heaviest, this is what I have:


Overall I find the fit of the PRs pretty good. I like the fit of the PROs better as they are slightly wider around the ball of the foot. But the PRs are not too narrow and I had no blisters.






I took the PRs out for 14km - a mix of road, trail, hills, rocks and a water crossing. They are really stable on rough ground and being such open mesh, they dry quickly after being soaked. After the run I checked the sole and saw signs of wear already after 1 use! So I'm a bit concerned how long they will last, especially as they are to be my main shoe of choice (FFs still for track and short races). We'll see over time.

Vibram Five Fingers - Where do you wear yours?

I've been running in Vibram Five Fingers for a couple of years now. I mix up my footwear a bit during the week but always wear them while training on the track and in short races.

A few weeks ago I saw some people wearing them at an outdoor dance party. This was the first time it occurred to me that people might wear them for a non sporting activity.

Sometimes I wear mine gardening.



Where do you wear yours?

So it's Sunday and I finally managed to drag myself out for my second run this week. It was about 27 degrees at 6:30am so instead of the max effort runs I've been focusing on this month I just took it easy. I was sporting my new unbelievably cool Punk Rock Racing cap that Ron at PunkRockTriGuy.blogspot.com sent me this week. His Punk Rock Racing website will be up soon with some super cool racing gear and I can't wait to get some.

Adizero PROs on the trails

For quite some time I have wanted some flats to run on the trails. The Vibram Five Fingers do not have enough grip and my Nike Frees are too far away from the ground which causes instability. The other day I noticed there was some slight wear on the soles of my Frees (after over 1600km) so I went to the Adidas factory outlet and bought the PROs. I wanted the PR model which has slightly less cushioning and also the part surrounding the heal is less stiff which is better for my achillies problems, but they didn't have them in my size. The Adizero PROs are still very flat, with next to no cushioning. They are flatter than the Nike Frees and allow for better running form. They are light but not very flexible. I don't think this is a problem though because generally you are only going to bend at your toes and that is the only part these shoes bend. The Adizero PROs are almost the same as the Nike Waffles but they are wider so your feet have more room to breathe.

Today was the first time I got to take them on the trails. It was wet, muddy and quite slippery at times. I slid around a bit on the sandy soil. I'm not sure how to compare the grip to the Nike Waffles as I haven't worn those in the mud but it was adequate on the rocks. They don't pick up much dirt (like the lugs on the Frees do) and they dry quite fast after river crossings.



Had fun on the trails. I wanted to try to get from the southern end to the northern end of Plenty George Park by trail but I never even made it as far as Blue Lake. I found a new trail, ended up in a dead end, found another new trail with mtb tyre marks so I followed it. It was steep, it was fun, there were kangaroos & noisey cockatoos, found some dirt jumps built in a paddock, realised I was on someone's property, followed some more trails and did a bit of bush bashing to find my way back to the main trail. By that time I was a little tired and decided to head home to get some breakfast instead of continue the way I originally planned.

Rocbloc gaiters

This morning I tested out my new zebra print Rocbloc gaiters on the trails. They are really cool. Especially coz the Nike Frees let so many rocks in on every run so it was great to run on the trails without having rocks in my shoes. I was going to take before and after shots, but even after several river crossings and some rather muddy sections they didn't end up that dirty. That will be fixed over time.

I discovered a cool new single trail at Blue Lake. After finding myself in a lot of dead ends there I told myself there was no point exploring new trails there but I just can't help it. If I notice somewhere new I have to go there. There were bike tyre marks on the trail and it's a fact that mtb riders know all the cool places. I had to pay attention though. One wrong step and I'd be falling a long way into the river. I also saw another cool trail that crossed the river and went up the other side of the gully. That could be the key to making it by trail to the northern Plenty George Park.

New skirt

The Aus Skirtsports site was having a sale this week so I bought a new skirt and also a T. This skirt is made from "speedsilk" and is much lighter than my other running skirt.

I took it for a test run today. It's a dream to run in - maybe better than my other skirt, but a pocket full of phone and keys is much more bouncy in this one. It's a great summer skirt. It was 6 degrees this morning so my legs were pretty cold! Did start to warm up after 10k though.

Dad and J are visiting this weekend. We are all entered in the Great Train Race tomorrow. I am still undecided about my outfit! It will be so cold in the hills. Warmer red skirt or tights? Singlet or T? Shoes will be Nike Frees as the hills will aggravate my achillies.

Exploring unmapped trails and 2 river crossings - great start to the weekend!

I had a great run this morning. I love exploring new places and love discovering new trails especially when they are close to home.

A CR member said it was possible to cross the Plenty River at the old pipeline and follow some trails and end up at Blue Lake. So I was now on a mission - to locate these trails and river crossings and have a good run! This is not marked on any map and I knew it would be hard to find but decided if I made it to Blue Lake via the roads, then I could look for the trails there and head towards the main Plenty River trail. I have seen mountain bikers there in the past so I knew there would be some good places to go.

Blue Lake is an old quarry site and on a nice day it is a lovely turquoise blue colour and you can swim in it. Today it was cloudy and the lake was green.

I saw some families of kangaroos, including a mum with a baby in her pouch. I also saw a few black wallabies. These creatures are strange. I think they are quite rare. I have never seen one hanging out with other wallabies and I think they look a little strange. They scare me. But fortunately I scare them more because they always hop away at lightning speed.

I ran part way around Blue Lake thinking there would be a trail and a river crossing on the other side of the lake. I have seen mountain bikers on the other side there in the past. There was nothing there except another scarey black wallaby so I ran back and followed another trail. I bumped into a couple of mountain bikers there so I knew I must be going the right way.

There were some short steep hills, some nice open grassland, and some scrubby areas too. It is great knowing this place is so close to my house and I don't have to drive to get there.

After a steep downhill I got to the river and the first river crossing. It was great - I knew I made it!

On the other side of the river there were so many trails going in all directions. It was fantastic. Of course, I knew I was only a few kms away from a housing estate so I kept to the trails that did not lead in that direction. I ended up near the old pipeline and there is a river crossing there which leads to the main Plenty River trail (and home). I have wanted to cross there from the main trail because I could see the trails on the other side but I had never got a close look until today. It really is a genuine crossing with steps leading down to the river. I can't believe I have run past there so many times and never looked closer until now.

So now I have future missions to explore all those trails between the pipeline and Blue Lake. I will have to see how long I can run in the trails without ending up in the housing estate.

Incidentally I had NO achillies pain AT ALL for the whole length of the run today even though I didn't even bother warming up. This is the first run since maybe June last year that I have had a whole run pain free. Although I feel it now afterwards, I am optimistic that I am finally getting over this pain.

I wore Nike Frees minus the insole today. They are sturdy on the trails but they are a pain because they collect a lot of rocks and get heavy in the mud and after getting wet. Once I am confident I am injury free, I will reward myself with some flats for the trails. The Adidas PR looks good to me. I am also looking forward to being able to increase frequecy of running in the Five Fingers again. I will be doing a 5k race in them tomorrow.

Trail run - Kinglake National Park

I have a week or so off work over Christmas/new year so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some trail experience down as part of preparation for the Maroondah Dam Ultra in February (although I will probably do the kiddies option of 30k rather than the full 50k). Today's run was also a chance to test out my new Cambelbak that Santa brought me! (Verdict = so unbelievably awesome I can't believe I have done without for so long!)

This morning I did the Everard Circuit in Kinglake NP. It was mostly fire trail, some single trail and a little bit of road. The route is clearly signposted although the signs say it is 22km, my Garmin said it was 20.02k including an extra bit at the end and MapMyRun reckons it's 19.8k. I'm inclined to believe it is under 20k (even including the extra mini bit at the end I added).

Despite the constant drizzle, there were hundreds of butterflies out! They were everywhere! They kept running into my arms or legs, one even ran into my face and nearly went into my mouth! I only saw one kangaroo, and he was quite big. Lots of the usual birds such as kookaburras, rosellas etc and I even saw two brown owls! I thought that was quite unusual considering it was clearly daylight hours. But I think I was the only one in that section of Kinglake NP so they probably thought I was an even odder sight. (Yes that really is an owl in the pic - click to enlarge)

Some sections of the run were very steep, especially going up Mt Beggary and Mt Everard. I prefer its former name of Mt Misery - that better describes how slow I was going. I was so slow up some of those hills that my Garmin even thought I had come to a complete stop!

At the top of Mt Misery (which was less than 500m ASL) it became quite misty and visibility was poor for a while. In this picture you can see 4 trails in 4 directions. Only 2 of them are on the map so it looks like I have some exploring to do in the future! Not to mention my Melways vs gmaps vs street-directory.com.au are slightly different so there are more secret trails to explore further south.

My right achillies was really hurting after the steep hills and I found it difficult to maintain good running form from then on. I was wearing my Nike Frees and I really find with my feet so far away from the ground I am much more susceptible to displacing my feet and tripping when I lose concentration. I think flats are ideal for trail running. My Waffles have excellent grip and being close to the ground they would be very stable. I wish they were not so narrow though! No way could I handle such narrow shoes and blisters for any decent distance. But maybe I will look into some men's waffles or similar for Maroondah.

So overall it was a pleasant run. No views of interest to report, but it was just general trail running training for me and I would like to explore some of the unmapped trails later on. It was very easy technically speaking but I don't know if there are many technical trails within close range of home