New Kicks ~ First Impression Review

Anyone who knows me fairly well will tell you that I have a love affair with running shoes.  I LOVE my Brooks Pureflows (I have 4 pairs - not including the other styles of runners I own but wear less often).

I've tried other shoes... other brand names and other styles of Brooks.  I haven't found any that I like as much.  But I have been on the hunt for something with more cushion for when I'm logging a lot of training miles.  It's also good to switch shoe styles from time to time so you work different muscles.

I have been eyeballing Altras for a long time.  Two features of the Pureflows that make them my favorite shoes are the low heel drop (4 mm) and they are lightweight.  Unfortunately, the lightweight also means that I wear the soles down VERY quickly.  Altras have Zero drop, which means the heel and the ball of your foot are at the same level.    I bought a pair of Altra Torins several months ago and had to return them because they run very small and they didn't have them in the size I would need.

Last week I found a smokin' deal on Altra Intuition 2s.  They have a newer version of this model and I got this $100 pair of shoes for $27.  I was smart and ordered a full size bigger than my Brooks.

They arrived today and I couldn't wait to try them out.  I re-laced them (whoever did the lacing did a very poor job of it), put them on and headed out for a 3 mile run.  Now, normally 3 miles is a bit excessive for breaking in a brand new pair of runners but the only time I run less than 3 miles is when I'm on the treadmill.  Personally, I don't like breaking in new shoes that way.

Okay, they look a little like clown shoes.  The toe box is wide because Altras are also known for shoes designed to let your toes splay.

I really love these!  The best part about these shoes is how well they absorb the shock to my body especially on the downhills.  They are very comfortable.

I can certainly tell that I worked different muscles on my run today and I know this will take some getting used to, but all in all I am super happy with them.  I think the soles will last longer than the Pureflows too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yesterday I did this.....

Almost 2 hours after registration actually opened, so maybe I wasn't first. :-)

This race isn't until July, so I have plenty of time to get down to the 04:50:00 time I put as my expected finish time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tomorrow is long run day.  We will be heading out to Columbus so Mitch can ride the road to Rapelje and I will run towards Park City.  I expect to get around 14 or so miles but that isn't set in stone.

The weather is expected to be in the 50's, which means we won't have to get up early to beat the heat!

Have a GREAT weekend!  I'll see you at some point with a shiny new post.