Michael: Socks and SHOES!

The rage of the wind
Gives way to a few moments
Of calm at sunrise.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Breaking up is hard to do. The hell with that; piece of cake compared to cutting back on running shoes.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been trying to wean myself off my running shoe addiction. I’ve gone from a consistent 6-8 pairs a year to just four last year, and this year I’m cutting back to two pair.

Two pair? That just has such an unnecessary sacrificial vibe to it; like I should be starring in some runner’s version of The Mission and I’m in the Robert DeNiro part and I have to lug all my running shoes to the top of the waterfall then empty that stuffed canvas bag that’s been strapped to my back and watch all my shoes crash into the turbulent waters below then slowly float out of sight. Dammit, I’d be crying like a baby just like DeNiro.

But two it is. Now for which two? I’ve decided to go with opposite ends of the trail running spectrum; one pair of light ninja warriors and one pair of all terrain tanks. The ninjas are the Asics Gel Fujilytes and the tanks are the Saucony Xodus.

I’m hoping the Asics will work for up to 50k trail races. For the two 50k’s I did in Costa Rica this year I used the Inov8 235s in the first and the Hoka ATR 2s in the second. The Inov8s are light and grippy but don’t have much cushioning. The Hokas are well cushioned but a bit heavy and just fair on slippery terrain.

Is the Asics the baby bear treads of trail shoes? After their break in run on the Quetzal trail (3 ½ hours) I’d say their prospects are promising. It gripped like the 235s but didn’t leave me tip toeing over a long rocky trail section and a few miles on the road at the end of the run. That’s exactly what I’m looking for.

The only slight difficulty to keep my eye on is I did feel a little looseness in the heal pulling out of mud a few times. That may be resolved by using a runner’s loop through the last shoe lace eyelet but the tongue on the Asics is pretty short and it also has no cushioning, so I’d rather not go that route if I don’t have to.

I’m hoping to tuck the Asics away and only use them for special adventures and trail races. The Xodus I really got for the rainy season when things can get pretty treacherous out there, though I’ll take them out on a break in run soon.

I still have quite an array of trail running and road shoes in my quiver and I suppose most of them will die a slow and natural death as opposed to being thrown down any nearby waterfall, and I’m not really one to cry like that pansy DeNiro character in The Mission, but I do empathize with the poor bastard.