Well…From them, I’ve only paid full price for three of them. Rest have been either birthday codes or a ridiculous 60-70% off during a sale.
Full price for 4% and StreakFly.
Oh! And the Solomon’s
The Peg Shields are bloody brilliant, IMO.
They’ve got a “weatherised” sole which is nice and grippy on tarmac in the wet, but also good enough for a bit of mud and light trail action.
Reflective strips, gore-tex and all that jazz.
Problem is, they don’t seem to wear out.
So when I see a pair for £66 on sale, I buy them 🫣
The Kerra Tigers are awful to run in on trails, which is what they are meant to be for, but are ace for muddy XC races with a lot of tarmac/trail paths. So I used them for that.
My Wildhorse were utterly naff for running in, so became dog walking trainers (much to my wife’s chagrin) after just 12km of running in them.
I would not buy another pair of Alphas.
After stating for a long time how I didn’t like the “flat” feel of the front of the Next%, I’ve finally learned to enjoy it (possibly after running in the StreakFly?)
So, as mentioned before, maybe a custom pair of Next%…although they don’t have my size
I do have another pair of road shoes, some Hoka Arahi 3s but they were horrible compared to the originals that I quickly relegated them to gardening and yard work duties.
Inov8 X Talon 0 km
Altra Escalante 60 km
Nike Zoom X 122 km
Newton Bocca 267 km
Merrell Bare Access 31 km - now a day/coaching shoe
Nike Zoom Tempo 227 km
Altra Escalante 891 km
Altra Escalante Paris 824 km
Nike 4% 162 km
Merrell Trail Glove 753 km
Altra The One 991 km
Inov8 X Talon 599 km
Plus various other race and five finger shoes.
Luggage was over weight at the airport and I nearly threw away an older pair of Merrell Trail Gloves…but stuffed them in my inside coat pockets and am wearing them now…super comfy…
I have quite a few (my wife says I have a problem) but the variety of trails round here means I feel I need a variety . Also I like to vary the drop/support of a shoe so that I keep working my foot as much as possible. I also stash a few at work.
Altra Escalante 2 - daily road
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37/38 - daily road (planning to switch to Saucony for next supported daily)
Nike Air Zoom Terra Kiger 6 - daily trail (grip only good for tame/flat trails)
Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknit - triathlon race shoe
Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next% - race day
Inov-8 Mudclaw 275 - for when it’s sloppy
Inov-8 TerraUltra 260 - clunky trail shoe but prevents feet getting too wet
Inov-8 Trailtalon 235 - dry trail shoe - grips are rubbish and minimal cushioning
Inov-8 X-Talon 225 - well used fell shoe still use it for swimrun
Inov-8 X-Talon G210 - new race fell shoe
Inov-8 RocLite G275 - long run trail (wanted to buy the Peregrine 12, but they didn’t come out in time) - grip is pretty good and enough support so feet are not battered after a long run with a mixture of surfaces.
The Tempo Next has a fiberglass plate, and I niow do most of my mileage in that.
A few years ago, I was injured, and discovered that the only shoe I could run in without pain was the vaporfly 4%. Its not the carbon plate, it’s the zoom X that makes the difference. Luckily I found a shop closing down, and bought 4 pairs for under 400 CHF (£360) I recently retired my second pair, they seem to be good for about 1200km
The first year in recorded history that I have not purchased a pair of running shoes:
Inov 8 X Talon Dec 21. 75 km
Altra Escalante Dec 21. 142.58 km
Nike Zoom X. June 21. 135.71 km
Newton Boco trail Jan 21. 365.34 km
Nike Zoom Tempo Nov 20. 434.72 km
Nike 4% Sept 19. 232.87 km
Inov 8 X Talon Nov 16. 604.21
. Also I like to vary the drop/support of a shoe so that I keep working my foot as much as possible. I also stash a few at work.
382km