I have worked on this post for a couple weeks now. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos but I soon realized after much foo-fooing with the camera and the format issues I was having with the post that I'd never finished it if I just didn't go with what I have. Sorry. It is what it is. ;)
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| There may be a couple pairs missing... |
Some women love shoes, i.e. dress shoes primarily. I love running shoes as evidenced by my shoe organizer.
I didn't intend to collect so many shoes. When I took up running almost two years ago I thought I had found the perfect shoes. It was a pair of Mizuno training shoes. (One of the Wave Rider models, I think.) I liked them so much that after a month I went and bought a second pair so I could rotate them as I had read that might be a good idea. :)
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| If one is good, why not two? |
After about 4 months I started to develop pronounced pain in my already arthritic hip. Then I started to experience piriformis problems. Trips to the chiropractor gave me some relief but not enough. Adding weight training involving lots of squats and core work helped...but not enough. I was discouraged.
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| Mizuno 12mm heel drop |
Knowing that if I didn't find a solution, the idea of running my first marathon would become a pipe dream. So while reading an article about the latest trend of minimalist shoes, I happened upon a forum where a runner commented about his wife's experience on how going from a shoe with the standard 12mm toe/heel drop to a 2mm heel drop had completely alleviated his wife's hip troubles.
When you're in pain and discouraged you will grasp at anything to get better. What did I have to lose but a few bucks and perhaps having nothing change? So I decided to make the leap and change shoes.
A little background regarding my choice to go to Saucony. Many, many years ago I was briefly a recreational runner, i.e. never ran fast and never ran very far, although I did manage to complete a couple of half marathons during those few years. At that time I experimented with Nike and New Balance shoes until I stumbled upon Saucony and fell in love with a pair of them. My last pair of Saucony were the "Jazz" back in the early '90s. So...when I saw Saucony had a line of minimalist shoe, I was interested.
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| First Kinvaras (fuzzy) |
After some research I ordered the Kinvara.
Depending on what website and/or review you read, the original Kinvara had a 2mm or 4mm heel drop and was super light. A drawback was that it didn't have a great durability record, i.e. you might not get as many miles on it as you would other traditional trainers. I didn't care. I wanted them, I tried them, I thought I loved them.
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| Saucony Fastwitch |
But not until I tried out the Saucony Fastwitch (more support, 4mm heel drop but very light). I still liked the Kinvara more. :)
By the time I ordered another pair, the Kinvara 2 was on the market. (They were being marketed as a 4mm heel drop.) Don't know what the differences were but one difference was the fact that they had a LOT of color choices with the Kinvara 2. So, of course, I started to collect the various colors. I loved the Kinvara 2s.
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| More is better. (Sorry for the fuzzy pic.) |
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| Hattori zero drop shoe |
Because I was also intrigued by the barefoot running craze (but have no desire to run where people spit/snot rocket and dogs poop/pee), I began to look into zero drop shoes. Enter the Saucony Hattori.
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| Hattori sole |
It looks like a swim sock and running in it requires some adjustment. My calves REALLY felt the difference running in these shoes. To date, I have never run farther than ten miles in them. I do think they are great for getting in touch with proper running form. (But you know, I could be all wrong about that since I've never had my gait analyzed and my form may suck for all I know. I do know that it did cure me of most of my heel striking.)
As you can see, I have a love affair with my Saucony Kinvaras. But now I was in search of the lightest shoes I could find. Enter the Saucony Type A-5 racing flat.
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| Saucony Type A5 flats |
Super lightweight and 2 mm heel drop. It intrigued me. I bought one pair. I bought another…and another! :)
On one pair of my A-5s, I experienced crowding in the toe box after about 15 miles. I had already put many runs on those shoes so I figured I'd fix the problem. Slicing the problem area open with a razor blade seem a viable option.
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| Solved by crowding problem |
It might not be pretty but it worked. With the third pair of A-5s I ordered a half size larger than usual. Those fit much better for the l-o-n-g runs. I haven't run a marathon in anything but my Kinvaras since I fear whether my calves would hold up in the 2mm heel drop and lack of cushion on the A-5 flats. I have run 20 milers in the racing flats, however. Just not brave enough to go the full distance, I guess.
I've run several half marathons in the A5s. I love them! Complaints? Not really BUT the soles have holes that catch little stones in them and get your feet VERY wet in rainy conditions because of these holes.
It's because of the sole issue that I started looking into the Mizuno Wave Universe 4 racing flat. It feels very similar to the A-5 but doesn't have all the perforations on the sole. It's a unisex shoe and doesn't have the aesethetic appeal of the A-5, so the jury is out on it.
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| Mizuno Wave Universe 4 |
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| A5 (left), Brooks Connect (ctr), Mizuno Wave Universe 4 (rt) |
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| Brooks Connect |
I am not opposed to trying other brands. I have two pairs of the Brooks Connect. Another lightweight, low heel drop shoe. I like them. I think it's not a bad idea to change up the type of shoe you use, particularly if you run almost exclusively on paved road as I do. This way you work those muscles in ever slightly different ways and hopefully they get stronger and injury free. My Brooks do bother my arch as I start to run over 15 miles.
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| Kinvara 3 |
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| Kinvara 2 (l), Kinvara 3 (r) |
I love the new colors of the Kinvara 3 shoes. I even ordered a pair after seeing my daughter's. I like them but I think the sole is cut ever so slightly different. They feel a bit "chunkier" to me. They do have rubber on them to make them last longer. Certainly the stats on them would not suggest the added weight in the shoes would be discernible for the average runner like me, so it is probably a psychological difference.
Thinking that maybe I really should have something more substantial on my feet for my long runs, and knowing I didn't care for the Kinvara redesign, I decided to test out the Saucony Cortana 2. (A sale and discount code may have also had a lot to do with this purchase. ;) )A nice shoe but too much cushion. Old IT band issues started to pop up. I'll still use them on my moderate runs, but longer runs will require the "just right" shoe. Call me Goldilocks. :)
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| My new Virratas |
My latest pair of shoes is the Saucony Virrata. It looks very similar to the older Kinvara but advertised as a zero drop shoe. I can't wait to have some real mileage on them so I can give a full report on them. ;)
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| Nike Free 4.0 V2 |
The only shoe I really dislike are the pairs of Nike Frees I purchased, the Nike Free 4.0 and the Nike Free 3.0. I returned one pair after a couple runs. Kept the other pair for knocking around in. I
love Nike sportwear, HATE their shoes. They always feel good initially on my feet but, for reasons I haven't been able to understand, my knees and feet HURT after a few miles of running in them.
Now I do NOT recommend anyone change their shoe brand based on what someone else wears. It is most
definitely a personal choice thing. Everyone's body is different and has different needs. Generally, I noticed in my situation that the more weight I lost, the more I liked the lighter shoe. This probably is because I no longer required so much cushion. The only thing of which I am positive is that I am a loyal Saucony customer. This may be due to the shoe last, materials, flexibility, and any or all of those things. I simply know I try other brands but always come back to Saucony. Dear hubby wishes I didn't go back to them (or any other running shoe) quite so often. ;)
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| Saucony Peregrine |
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| Trail shoe sole |
Another, yet untested, pair of shoes? Trail shoes!
Run happy! :)
