When I first took these shoes out of the box, my initial thought was no way will these things last, I'm going to blow a hole in these things in my first ultra. There is not a chance that these things are going to last. How can something this light, possibly be durable at all. Then I put them on my feet and I had the same thought. There is no chance that these things are going to last! They have a nice snug fit (might be too snug if you have wide feet) but they have a feel to them that's almost like a plastic/paper combination. Still I had already bought them and I figured I should go out and take them for a run.
Man, was I wrong. After over 200 miles of racing, and who knows how many miles of training, the shoes were finally retired, and not because they had any holes in them, just b/c there were too many miles put on the insoles. I was amazed. The shoes have all the normal trade-marks that people have come to expect from Inov-8 shoes as the grip on them is the best I've ever run in. They also do a great job of draining when you hop into a river, lake, or creek to cool down.
I've run up to 50 miles at a time in them and they do a good job of holding up to all the pounding that I've put on them. The only drawback to the shoes is that they are very light (if that makes any sense). If you do a lot of running on sharp, rocky terrain, your feet will take a beating. If you're looking at a tough 100 miler, or even a really rocky 50, then I would recommend the Roclite 320. Basically the exact same shoes, just 35 grams heavier. All in all, the shoes are great. If you have wide feet, or are running a really rocky ultra, then you might want to look into a heavier/wider shoe, but if you're looking for a light, fast and incredibly grippy shoes, these are the way to go.
Grant.
No comments:
Post a Comment