In 2011 I decided to tackle six 100 mile races in a single year. One of the biggest sources of stress leading up to the first race was deciding which shoes to wear. I had recently discovered Altra, and had fallen in love with the Altra Instinct. After completing the Western States 100 in the […]
Brooks PureConnect 2: Guest Review by Becki Pierotti
January 29, 2013 By 13 Comments
Becki Pierotti is a competitive distance runner who currently runs for the National Running Center in Clarks Summit, PA. She has PR’s of 18:30 in the 5K, 1:25:07 in the half marathon, and 3:02:30 in the marathon – in other words, she’s crazy fast! Becki is also currently a grad student at a chiropractic college. […]
Saucony Virrata Review and Comparison to the Saucony Kinvara 3: Guest Post by Alex Raggers
January 23, 2013 By 38 Comments
A few weeks ago I received a message from one of my many footwear spies across the globe. Alex Raggers is a runner from the Netherlands, and to his surprise he recently walked into his local running store to find that they had the new (and much anticipated) Saucony Virrata in stock. Given that I’m […]
Inov-8 Trailroc 235 Trail Running Shoe Review
January 20, 2013 By 29 Comments
When I think of Inov-8, I think of shoes designed for a purpose, and most often that purpose is to run on rugged trails or fells. Their shoes are typically fairly simple in design, but are very effective at doing their job. Unfortunately, you also often pay a premium for their product. I’ve run in […]
Altra Torin: Guest Review by John Shepard
January 8, 2013 By 25 Comments
John Shepard (@runsheprun on Twitter) and I are kindred spirits in a way. We both are fathers of three kids (he writes about his on the Suburban Father Alliance blog), we both fell in love with running and footwear, and shoes have become a second career of sorts for both of us. For me it […]
Altra Instinct 1.5 Zero Drop Running Shoe Review
December 15, 2012 By 20 Comments
A few weeks ago my wife and I were in our local food co-op and she turned to me and pointed at a woman in front of us in line. In a low voice she whispered “What are those shoes she’s wearing?” Now, you need to know that in our marriage I’m the shoe junkie, […]
On Cloudracer Running Shoe Review
December 10, 2012 By 17 Comments
The running shoe world is full of companies claiming technological innovation in their footwear. Some of these so-called innovations are nothing more than gimmicks used to spin a good story in an effort to market and sell shoes, whereas others seem to actually provide some positive benefit. Some shoes have both – non-functional gimmicky technology […]
Brooks Pure Cadence 2 Review: First Run Thoughts
November 26, 2012 By 41 Comments
A few weeks ago I got a cryptic email from Brooks asking for my shoe size and mailing address. It’s been awhile since I’ve had contact with Brooks, but was hoping that maybe I’d be the recipient of a pre-release sample of the new Pure Drift zero drop shoe. I recently saw that Scott Jurek […]
New Balance MRC1600 Racing Flat Review
November 19, 2012 By 18 Comments
A bit over a year ago I wrote a post on the somewhat complex relationship between running shoe midsoles, ground surface properties, muscle tuning, and limb stiffness (read the muscle tuning-limb stiffness post here). As a result of my experience with shoes, the research I did while writing my book, and conversations with gait experts, […]
Vibram Fivefingers SeeYa LS Review: Fit, Feel, and First Run Thoughts
October 31, 2012 By 27 Comments
Back in the summer of 2009, the Vibram Fivefingers KSO was my first ever barefoot-style running shoe. Vibrams played a big role in my transition to minimalism, but to be honest it’s been a long time since I’ve run regularly in VFFs. The main reason for me is that I’ve had a really hard time […]
Inov-8 Bare-X 180 Review: A Top Choice Among Ultraminimal, Barefoot-Style Shoes
October 25, 2012 By 41 Comments
I have to admit that I’ve been very impressed by Inov-8 lately. So far I have only reviewed one of their shoes (Road-X 233), but I now own 4 additional pairs of Inov-8’s – the F-Lite 195, Bare-X Lite 150, Trailroc 135, and the Bare-X 180 (most purchased at steep discount via The Clymb). Of […]
Merrell Bare Access 2: First Impressions and Giveaway
October 16, 2012 By 43 Comments
One of the things that I like about the Merrell Barefoot line is that they use the same last for all of the shoes in it. For example, today I spent the entire work day in a pair of brown leather Tough Gloves, and then finished the day with a 4 mile run in the […]
New Balance MT20v2 Review: Solid Shoe, But Questionable Upper Durability
October 7, 2012 By 28 Comments
The New Balance Minimus MT20v2 is the sequel to the “mass market” version of the New Balance Minimus Trail MT10. I’ve never quite understood the rationale for why New Balance makes both the MT10 and MT20 since they are basically the same shoe with slightly different designs, but I guess they have their reasons. I’ve […]
Saucony Grid Type A5 Running Shoe Review: A Phenomenal Racing Flat!
September 17, 2012 By 94 Comments
I think I’m in love. It’s pretty rare for me to put more than 50 miles on a single shoe in one month given the number of reviews that I’m working on at any given time, but since mid-August I’ve run almost exclusively in two shoes: the adidas Gazelle and the Saucony Grid Type A5. […]
Brooks Pure Grit Trail Shoe Review
August 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The lightweight trail running shoe category has been exploding with good options lately, and over the past month or so I’ve done a fair amount of my running in Brooks’ first contribution to this niche: the Brooks Pure Grit (8.9 oz in size 9). The Grit belongs to the Brooks Pure Project suite of shoes, […]
