Brooks Cascadia 7...a review

I remember when I bought them...I had such high hopes...

Brand-spankin'-new

The first time I ran in them I got a ginormous blister. I chalked that up to running in muddy, wet socks. What I didn't remember at that time was this:  a whole lot of trail running is going entail muddy, wet socks. Hence, ginormous blistering might not be a one-time occurrence...and it wasn't  :(

In that first run I also struggled a lot with my form. I wrote that off to the muddy slipperiness of the trail and being out of shape. Today I was well-rested and things were just a little muddy and not at all slippery and I still struggled to hold things together :(

Muddy during that first run

Not so muddy today

 So the shoes....

*sigh*

I hate them.

I want to like them. I want to LOVE them. But I just don't :(

They are the right size. They feel comfy when I put them on. They are pretty and blue. But as soon as I start running in them...*sigh*...I find myself wanting to love them and just...not.

They are not as responsive as I would like. They feel squirrelly. I don't really know how to explain it. I don't need a stability shoe, yet when I wear these I feel totally unstable. I feel too much of the trail. I like feeling the trail somewhat...but these don't feel like they provide enough buffer for my tastes. And I slip more on rocky surfaces in the Brooks Cascadia 7 than I do in the Mizuno Wave Rider 15.

I've run in them about 6 times...in mud and on dry dirt. Over rocks and tree roots, too. I've tried them with a variety of socks...mostly dry running so it isn't sopping wet socks that are causing the blister...which I get every time. I've used BodyGlide and 2Toms SportShield and still get that blister :(  I guess I should have tried the BlisterShield, but damn...needing to buy a special product to utilize a shoe that is not wowing me at all anyway is annoying...is that lame? Don't say 'yes.'

Okay...so... bleh... not enchanted with the Brooks Cascadia 7. I'm so bummed it took me 7 months (and only 6 runs) to figure it out. Yeah...if you dread running in a certain shoe, chances are it's not the shoe for you! I should have returned them and gotten something else :(

On the bright side of things...

Today was a glorious day! And I got to run on my favorite trail...we won't mention those shoes anymore...just going with the positive from here on out :)

The sun was shining. The air was clean and cool and crisp...

This is the meadow at the bottom of the valley near the start of the trail. I call it a meadow even though it has tall stuff growing in it.

I love the smells where the trail is under the tree canopy...the damp, rotting leaves mixed with the wet earth. Not blurry because of my speed...more likely because of those shoes...I will blame them for everything that wasn't perfect about today's run :)  Oh, bummer...I mentioned them again :(

The first half of the run is in that shaded, damp, earthy environment. Once you get to the top of the hill, the view across the valley shows the trail in the sunshine :)

The long afternoon shadows are so bizarre. I look sort of like an inverted giraffe. The ol' shadow ain't so sexy this time of day at this time of year :P

After today's run, I am officially giving up on those shoes. I don't even want to walk in them. I'm in the market for replacements and am all ears for suggestions. In the meantime, my non-trail-running Mizuno Wave Rider 15's will suffice. But now that the rainy season is upon us, they are going to get thrashed :(

Maybe I should run with baggies over my feet?

Or be a total wienie and never run in mud.

But where's the fun in that?