Where's Imelda Marcos when you need her?
I write about my running shoes with relative frequency. Over the years I have run in many pairs of Nike, Asics, Merrell, and Saucony. My first pair of shoes ever were Nike Waffle Trainers - IMO still one of the best and simplest pairs of shoes ever put out by a running company. But for today's blog I thought I'd put up a picture of the pairs that I am currently using. Almost all of my shoes have well in excess of 300 miles. Two pairs have closer to 700. Starting in the lower left side of the photo and going counter clockwise I'll mention each pair and a quick plus and/or minus. You will note a big preference for two brands, Mizuno and Salomon. While I am always willing to try our other brands, the two that dominate this post are my tried and true, go-to shoes for trail and road.
The blue shoes on the lower left are Mizuno Wave Inspire 10s. I absolutely loved these shoes, though never ran a race in them. They had much more road feel than previous iterations. The decals were ironed on instead of sewn - also a great idea. But the bad news was that the upper fabric wore out at a faster rate than any shoe I've ever owned. I now use this pair for muddy rounds of disc golf instead of running.
Black and green are next. This is an older pair of Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s with a permanent stretch lacing system that I bought at Garry Gribbles. This pair has held up much better than the newer 10s. I ran a 50k in these in 2013 and still use them on runs today.
The blue and yellow shoes in the center are Mizuno Wave Rider 17s, and are my newest pair (about 10 days old). I bought these because Running Warehouse was having a huge sale on last year's model. I did not particularly like the feel when they arrived. But of the 44 miles I did last week, 30 were done in this pair. No slipping, blisters, or discomfort. So they are now in the rotation.
The yellowish green and blue shoes on the upper right are Mizuno Wave Ascend trail shoes from 2011 or 2012. I have done two trail marathons in these and a ridiculous amount of trail training runs with no issues to report. They are finally starting to show their age. I still use them for hard, dirty runs on a regular basis.
The blue and white shoes at the top are Hoka Mafate trail shoes. I like the way they feel when I wear them. They do seem a bit heavier than my other shoes. They also, disturbingly, change my gait - according to my running partner who I pace in ultras. While I have run a lot of miles in these, lately I have taken them out of my running rotation, and now wear them as insanely comfortable all-around shoes. I find that the weight and gait issues were a bit too much for me to keep using them on long distances.
The black shoes and the green and white shoes in the upper left are both Salomon SpeedCross 3s. I've mainly loved these shoes. They don't have a lot of front foot padding, but the ride is adequate, and the grippiness is phenomenal. I have done my longest jaunt - a 36 mi stint of pacing on dirt and gravel - in these. I also did a relatively technical run in Bryce Canyon in the black pair last summer. No slipping or blisters on very steep terrain in very hot weather.
Not pictured (because I never use them, but listed because I still have them) Brooks Cascadias from 2011. I got lots of blisters and experienced too much foot movement. I used them, but never really was in love with the feel. Also, the soles did not have as deep profile tread as do the other trail shoes I prefer. Cascadias are a lot of people's favorite trail shoes. Feet are different. As are preferences.
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