I started running in Asics Scout running shoes. These shoes fit me. They were my regular shoe size of 8.5. I was building up to 15 km in my first 3 months of running. I chose them for a few reasons: They were familiar in feel, like my road running shoes, they had a fairly aggressive tread and so they gave me confidence, and of course-they were pretty!! I ran in these runners all winter and in the snow. My feet got wet, but my merino wool socks insulated so well they were never cold. They were comfortable, but they didn't hold up well. The mesh outer started to rip early on, it may be mostly cosmetic but for $130 there are many other shoe choices available.
In March, after about 5 months of running in the Asics, I went to get a new pair of runners. I was now building to 25km distance. Many people in my group run in Salomon Speed Cross, so I thought I would try those. I went into the store and the sales person told me that the shoes fit large so I would probably want about a half size smaller. So I tried on the Size 8, and in the store they were comfortable. They were good for my first speed training session and then I ran in them for my first long run, and they were good until I started down the hill. We were running 8km laps and by the 3rd one I was almost crawling down the decline. My toes were killing me!! When I got home I looked at my feet - 6 of my toes (three on each feet) were black!
I mentioned this to some of the runners in my group and they informed me that I should buy runners 1/2 to 1 size bigger than what I would normally use. I was pretty choked that I spent $150 for nothing (I mean I may as well have just thrown my money out the window!), that I pulled out my LaSportiva Wildcats that I had purchased the year before for hiking. I refused to buy another pair of shoes - (Grrrr - sometime I can be soooo cheap - and so stubborn). These shoes worked well. They were light, had good grip on the downhill, and I really like the hard plastic reinforcment to help protect your toes from tripping over rocks and stumps (which I seem to do a lot of). For my first 25km trail race that I ran here locally, I put on the old Asics, and by the end of the 25km my toes were quite sore again. This 25km track has 1100 meters of elevation.
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| From top left: Salomon Speed Cross, LaSportiva Wildcats, Treksta Sync and Asics Scouts |
My solution to this was still not to buy any runners but to run only in the old LaSportiva since they were less worn out than the Asics. Well my 50km trail run came up (having only ever run a max of 28km) and I ran it in my Wildcats. They were good, except they were to small because they 'fit' me, and my toes are now totally wrecked!! Only the big toe and the baby toe on my left foot have been spared.
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| OUCH!! |
After that I knew I had to get new runners. I bought two pairs. First I bought the size 9 Treksta's. They were so comfortable in the store, and I took them home and wore them in the house for 3 hours. I was in heaven!! So comfy and light. . .Then I went running in them. The tread is not very aggressive, and the first downhill I went down, there was some loose gravel and I slipped - for quite a ways before I finally fell!! On my whole run I had difficulty on the downhill. I so don't like those shoes :(
For my second pair I bought the Salomon Speed Cross again. I love the aggressive grip on the shoe. They give me confidence on the downhill. It's funny that both stores I was in tried to talk me out of the speed cross. The first guy was successful, the second guy was not.
So what do I have to show for all my lost $$ - Well I should have trusted my instincts with the Treksta. I honestly felt that the grip was too low profile, but I listened to the sales guy that said it was fine. Both sales guys were trying to sell me a smaller shoe. They said 'you need a size 8.5'. I showed them my toes and said NO I need a size 9 or size 9.5. Both sales guys were trying to steer me to a different shoe - I'm not really clear about why that was - perhaps they had some runners that they were having trouble selling. . .Bottom line is do your own research, ask people how they like their shoes, what are the pro's and con's etc and when you go into a store keep in mind what YOU want. Finally I can't stress enough that if you run downhill buy your shoes about 1/2 size bigger than you think!! That is what fits!!
What shoes would you recommend?
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