A Change in Direction to the Running Shoe Rotation

This post was written for and first appeared on One Foot In Reality.

Every year about this time, it is time to take a look at all the running shoes I have laying around the house, squirreled away out back of the garage, in the back of the truck or wherever else I have hidden away any running shoes, that are not currently in my rotation.

Then decide what to do with them.

• Keep them in storage, 
• Use them for lawn shoes
• Give them away/get rid of them

Today was a bit different though, in addition to the old shoes, which I will go over in a different post...I also decided to get rid of, well return my most recent purchases and move in a different direction.

What in the hell are you talking about Harold?

Unfortunately, the two pair of new Under Armour shoes did not work for the way that I run. As part of that honesty about why I stop running in pair of running shoes, here are the real reasons that I returned them.

Under Armour Bandit 2. 

I like the ride a lot and they have many positive attributes that I talked about in their 50 mile review. Unfortunately, the more I have broken them in, the one thing that I was concerned about became something that I could not deal with any longer.

With the curved last and stretchy upper (which I initially loved), the forefoot (for me) feels as though the side of my foot feels like it is going over the side of the shoe when I land on the side of my foot when running "at speed" or turning. As long as I land heel-first and ran mostly straight ahead there was no problem.

There were a couple of other minor things that were pain in the arse stuff, but stuff that I could put up with - the tongue is finicky and you have to frig around with it to get it just right and on new tar the Bandit 2's were a bit slippery.

The salespeople at Olympia Sports in Waterville were great about the return and while they did not work for me, I still think the Bandit 2's are a nice running shoe, just not for me and how I run.

Under Armour Apollo 2.

This was a pair of running shoes that I loved right out of the box and had high hopes for. Unfortunately, after a few runs, I noticed that when I ran/walked in these shoes, my left Plantar Fascia was beginning to let me know something wasn't right.

Over the years, I have had 3 pair of running shoes before the Apollo 2's that had this kind of problem and when it happens, it only gets worse. I didn't want to add PF problems to my already compromised left leg, so they were put a return box and were mailed back to Under Armour this morning.

Which really sucked, this was a pair of running shoes that I really wanted to work well for me, but the PF issues made them a no-go.

The reality is that

Returning the Bandit 2's and Apollo 2's was a difficult decision, because I did like an awful lot about both pair, but they each had a fatal flaw that made them shoes that were not going to work for me.

Which doesn't leave me with much to choose from in my running shoe rotation.

• N1 Trail v1's - lower drop that bothers my left leg, but I don't want to get rid of them.
• N1 Road v2's - lower drop that bothers my left leg, but I don't want to get rid of them.
• Nike Lunar Glide 7's - due to the durability issues on the front of the outsole, they have become my primary work shoes and I really am not all that amped to start running in them again.
• Asics Hyperspeed 6's - I have them setup to be my treadmill shoes for now, but I stopped running in them last fall for a reason and I am not sure how they will do - they may end up on the give-away pile too (sooner rather than later).

So I have been sort of looking around to see what I should be running in now.

It seems as though everything is pointing toward Mizuno, but I don't want to invest over a $100 bucks for yet another pair of running shoes, so I decided to go with last year's model and finally settled on ordering the Inspire 11's. They should be here tomorrow night.

So the journey continues.

Yes, I also put a bunch of shoes on the back table that will end up heading off to Goodwill, unless someone needs a pair of 8.5's -- some damn near new as a result of the rest of the purging...more on that tomorrow.