Michael: New Shoes!

New Shoes! Sunday, October 4, 2015

The religions marched
Down the street with only their
Banners and Jesus.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Trail shoes. They’re definitely an expensive weakness. I’ve pledged to live with less and try to get by with what I have, but damn it, it’s hard to shake the belief that the perfect number of trail shoes is what I have +1.

I intended to return from Panama with two new pairs of shoes. I came back from the states with three new pairs. That should do it for this year. But if we should get lucky enough to make a return visit, I’m sure I’ll pick up a few more. If I were smart, I’d get a few extra pairs of some of the shoes I just purchased. 

I know. I said three pairs and the picture shows four. The pair on the bottom are an old pair that I included because they round out what should be a complete trail shoe line-up for everyone except possibly for those that live in very cold weather. One or more of these shoes might work under those conditions as well. I wouldn’t know. But under any other conditions, one of these shoes should work.

Starting from the top and going clockwise:

The Brooks Pure Grit 4s. Great all around shoe and the one I’d go to if I could only use one shoe. I used these on a four day fast pack trip in the Emigrant Wilderness and was on my feet (one injured) for at least 6 hours a day and never had anything to complain about foot wise. The only reason I wouldn’t use these as racing flats is because the North Face Ultras are lighter, and I’d go to those for short races, and the Hokas provide slightly better cushioning for long jaunts or very rocky trails. But if I were asked to take only one shoe on an Amazing Race - Trail Edition, I’d take the Brooks.

Next up are the Hoka ATR Challengers. These are my oingy boingy shoes that I use to Tigr (They’re bouncy flouncy ouncy wouncy fun fun fun fun! Or however that song goes.) down the Los Posas trail; a very rocky roller coaster of a road. The only thing I don’t like about them so far is that, like a lot of other shoes, to save weight they’ve taken all the cushioning out of the very short tongue so the top of my tendons hurt if I wear them too long cinched down tight like I’d like to. This trend has me looking to find out if any sock maker is stepping into to fill that loss with some strategic top of the sock cushioning.

I’ve also read that the cushioning of the these Hokas have a short life. Time will tell. I wasn’t very happy with the outsole life that I got out of my Clifton’s, so if these Hokas don’t last, it’ll give me a good excuse to try some other high cushioned shoes.

At the six o’clock hour are my Quetzal shoes; the Asics Runnagades. The Quetzal can be a muddy mess of a trail and that’s just what the Asics, with their neoprene booty and deep lugs are made for. I know Reebok makes a similar shoe and Merrill has now come out with a their version of a mud stomper that I wouldn’t mind trying, but it’s not because I’m disappointed with the Runnagades. I just like to try new shoes once in a while.

Lastly are the North Face Ultra Twos. But for me “ultra” would be pushing it. They are a very light, comfortable and fast shoe. I’m just not sure how far my aging joints could take them past a marathon. I’m saving these for shorter affairs and have only used them once. That was at the Bull Dog 25k where, despite a slowly healing bone bruise, I still was able to run a decent race in the Ultras.

With these four shoes at my disposal, I should be equipped to run just about anywhere over any distance. If they hold up, I’d be smart to pick up another pair and have them waiting at my mom’s house so I could pick them up on my next visit. But there’s always new shoe vixens out there tempting me to give them a try.