Michael: Santa Claus is Running to Town

Moth wings, orange and
Bright, are scattered like flower
Petals in the dirt.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Yesterday I picked up two new pair of Topo running shoes; the Fly Lites road shoe and the MT-2 trail shoes. That brings the total of 7 new pairs for 2015. I’m sure that’s the lowest total for any recent year. But still it does seem slightly excessive, and I will probably buy less next year, but I’m not going to set any quantity ceiling for 2016. In fact I’m so pleased with this years’ shoes that I’m planning on buying at least 3 duplicate pairs next year.

But why the Topos? Now that I’m upping my road work to three times per week, I was in the market for a versatile shoe that could be used as a light weight trainer/ occasional racing flat. The only road shoes I have now are the Asics GT 2000s. They’re a great training shoe but too heavy for racing.

After reading and watching several reviews, I was about to purchase a pair of New Balance 1500s from Running Warehouse when I received a half off coupon for Topo shoes. I’ve had Topos in the past with mixed results and had looked at their Runventure trail shoe previously, but the reviews were mixed, so Topos dropped from my shoe consciousness until the coupon. At $50 bucks per pair, that brought them into a price range worthy of a second look.

Right now I’m using a pair of old Topo Sts for gym shoes. They’re great for that. They were sold as racing flats but I just didn’t feel they had enough cushion to race in. But the Fly Lites, while not quite as light, get great reviews and are light enough for racing yet seem to be adequately cushioned for long training sessions. I read that they should be given about 25 miles to break in, which I should be able to do in the next couple of weeks.

As for the MT-2 trail shoes. Right now I rotate through 3 pairs of trail shoes. They’re all great for their purposes and I’m sure I’ll be wearing one of those pairs, the Hoka ATR Challengers for part of the Sycamore 100k in February. But given the reviews and my own past experience with Hokas, I was a little queasy about what condition they’d be in come race day.

At the same time I was going to purchase the New Balances, I was going to buy a back up pair of Hokas or try a pair of Altras from Running Warehouse, but the Topo coupon arrived and the Mts came into the picture.

I had the original Mts and really enjoyed them, but within a few months of using them I started to develop severe heel pain. Being the dufus that I am, I thought I could solve the problem by changing shoes, so all my old shoes were replaced, including a pair of Hokas and Brooks along with the Topos.

But no shoe relieved the pain for long. Only after returning to my regimen of Achilles stretches and exercises did the pain go away. Since then, I put Hokas and Brooks back in the line up, so why not give Topos another go? They’re extremely light and comfortable and after the break in period in the next few weeks, I’ll be in a good position to decide if they’ll serve as one of my race day shoes along with the Hokas come February.

And, yes, of course I want this all to sound so objective weighing cost and value and then making the most rational choice, but the Topos also happen to come in colors that really appeal to me and coordinate well with the rest of my attire.