By Mike O’Connell, CRC Vice President
My daughter makes fun of me, “What, another pair of shoes dad?” Yes, I have caught the shoe bug, but as I log more miles I seem to burn through pairs with increasing speed. I have a bad habit of browsing my favorite websites for the latest deals and shoe clearance items. For my latest purchase, I got sucked into the hype, I bought the Asics Superblast 2. I am training for my first marathon this fall and figure the new shoes will serve me well in the training block leading up to the race. Here is my current shoe rotation:
– Asics Superblast 2: My newest pair, this super trainer is supposed to handle it all, from speedwork to long runs. So far I like it, but they do seem a bit on the firm side. I hope they continue to improve as they break in.
– Saucony Endorphin Speed 3: A generation old now, I picked up the Speed 3 on a good clearance and it has been my up tempo training and race day shoe, helping me on a streak of half marathon PRs. I appreciate the more pronounced rocker in this shoe and the light overall weight. These Sauconys feature a nylon plate, which is less aggressive than a full carbon plate, but still gives that extra pop.
– Hoka Speedgoat 5: My newest trail shoes, these Goats are nice and cushioned, have aggressive Vibram tread and great color options. Plus they were just on great clearance recently if you can still find a pair.
– Asics Novablast 4: The baby brother to the Superblast, these Asics are a great daily trainer, more affordable and less aggressive than their cousin.
– Altra Timp 5: Another trail shoe here, I wore these in training and for the Double Dipsea race last year. They are a solid shoe, not quite my favorite.
– Hoka Mach 5: The older generation of the Mach, these were my first Hoka pair and found them super comfortable and great for everything from faster short runs to longer efforts. Durability was a little less than I hoped for however with an all foam sole.
Ok, so that is a lot of shoes, some of which are nearing retirement at 400-500 miles. Do you absolutely need that many shoes or a shoe rotation? Not really, a great all round daily trainer will serve you well and then you can always add trail shoes or more aggressive race shoes if desired. A couple of pairs are nice to rotate and can help increase longevity by giving the foam and shoes a chance to rest between workouts.
Learn more:
– Run Repeat: Online tester, they cut shoes in half and perform lots of technical testing.
– Ben Parkes: More on YouTuber Ben Parkes below, he has some good shoe reviews of many of the most popular styles.
– Kofuzi: Another YouTuber, lots of interesting reviews and comparisons here too.
Video of the Month
Speaking of shoe rotations, this month’s video from is from Ben Parkes giving his tips on the perfect shoe rotation.
Ben does some cool unbiased reviews on shoes he purchases with his own money.