Saucony Kinvara 5 Review

Rarely do I buy more than two pairs of a certain shoe in a row.  This comes from being fairly picky and being curious about new stuff on the market.  The first shoe that I went past 2 pairs in a row of was the Saucony Kinvara 1.  Right as the minimalist wave was hitting the market, I was looking for a low drop that still could handle the 80 mile weeks of intense training I was doing at the time as a sophomore on a competitive college team.  I distinctly remember trying on the original Kinvara and thinking it felt like I was running in shoe boxes.  I still gave them a shot because I was desperate to find a 4mm drop cushioned shoe that fit my foot well.  A few runs later I was hooked.  I went through almost a year of only training in this shoe.  For only getting 200-250 miles a pair, I went through a great deal of Kinvaras before transitioning to the Altra Instinct after that track season.  To this day I have not worn the same model for anywhere near that long.  Needless to say when I begin to have trouble running hard +100 mile weeks in the Altra Instinct/Provision/ Torin/Instinct 1.5, I came back to the Kinvara 4.  It was disappointing because either the toe-box wasn't shaped the same or my feet had been spoiled by Altras.  I still had some awesome and blazing fast runs that reminded me of the shoe bliss of the Kinvara 1, but I ended up blowing through the upper of the 4th version at 170 miles.  The shoe also felt dead at 120 miles, so I sadly retired them and got myself to move on....

     Then everything changed when I heard Saucony was making some big changes to the Kinvara 5.  A bigger toebox, full length powergrid and a special heel cup.....  I was excited but didn't want to get my hopes up.  Then when they finally dropped.... I felt like it was a combination of Hanukkah and Christmas (I come from a multireligion household).  The Kinvara 5 is everything I hoped it would be.  Read on to find out my thoughts.

Sole:  The first thing I have to say about the new sole is that it feels nice and simple.  No crazy bells and whistles.  The new sole has just enough cushioning for long runs but enough pop for all out sprint strides.  The powergrid cushioning along with Saucony's EVA+ is very noticeable to me as I vividly remember the Kinvara 4.  The Kinvara 5 has a softer feel in such a way that reminds me that this shoe wants to protect my  feet but also has the responsiveness I would associate with a lightweight trainer/marathon racer.  I would call it the Brooks Launch of 4mm drop shoes (or is the Brooks Launch the Kinvara of lightweight trainers?).  I could definitely see someone using this as a lightweight trainer or a half/full marathon racer.  It can really do everything and I have used it as such.  Hills, tempo runs, 300 repeats, sprints.  The lugs on the bottom work well on trails as well.  Obviously the Kinvara 5 isn't the Peregrine, but it definitely is much more road friendly and can handle any terrain you throw at it. I would really call the Kinvara 5 the Jack of All Trades shoe.

Upper/Fit:  Oh yes.  It's so good.  The second I put this shoe, the upper fit perfectly to my foot.  I'm usually a size 10 and the Kinvara 5 fit me perfectly in that size.  The toebox is much improved and roomier than the Kinvara 4.  No longer does the front dive in and smash my 1st and 5th digits.  The Kinvara 5 has the perfect width for me in that I have plenty of room in the front but do not slide around at all.  This shoe has the Goldilocks of uppers.  I really like the ProLock technology in the midfoot as it hugged my foot nicely without being compressive and secured my foot extremely well.  And that heel cup?  It feels SOOOOO good on bare skin.  Every mile after the first 60 miles I ran in the Kinvara 5 was sockless.  Completely sockless.  I never had a single chaffing issue and I took this shoe up to 17 miles on trails.  Rumor had it that the Saucony Team was trying to design this shoe to be worn sockless.  I would say they achieved this goal.  However, on my second pair (yep, already working through the second one), I had some chaffing issues the first 50 miles and then after was fine.  So the upper needs some time to break in.  As always, everyone is different, so proceed with caution on the whole sockless running thing.  I do love my Injinji socks a great deal.

Oh baby.  It's so good.  That upper.

Responsiveness: As I mentioned this shoe has just enough cushioning and responsiveness to handle any type of workout you undertake.  The 7.7 ounces really helps make it light enough to never be in the way of high leg turnover and the sole responds well to high speeds.  Even on trails the shoe feels fast enough to race in but protective enough to do a long slow recovery.  I began training in this shoe during a recovery period of my training.  By that I mean I wasn't doing very many workouts because I felt like the end of the summer semester of the 1st year of DPT school was eating me alive (everything turned out great though).  The workouts I did do were surprisingly fast.  3 mile tempos at 5:10 pace, uphill trail tempo runs, 200m hill repeats.  All of these went very well despite the high level of stress I was under.  I'd like to partially credit the Kinvara 5 for having enough of a lightweight and responsive feel to remind me that it was time for a workout.
    And just the way it is responsive enough workouts, the shoe has just enough cushioning to handle longer runs without destroying my feet.  I would again liken it to the Brooks Launch but just a hair firmer.  Again... a Goldilocks shoe.

Heel-Toe Drop/Ramp:  As always the Kinvara is listed as a 4mm drop shoe, but it feels a bit more than that.  Obviously the heel-toe drop will feel different depending on the shoe.  To me the Kinvara 5 felt more like 5-6mm drop but in a good way.  My calves weren't completely wrecked when I got up in the morning but my stride never felt inhibited.  There was just enough there to be a middle child between the current 8-10mm drop shoes and the 0-4mm drop shoes.

Durability:  The most surprising part?  I took my first pair of Kinvara 5s to 350 miles.  The most I ever got out of the Kinvara 1 was 230 miles.  I probably could have kept going on my first pair of 5s but didn't want to chance an injury.  Really the only thing that wore out was the sole.  Long gone are the days when you would blow a hole in the upper at 150 miles.  This upper is extremely durable.  I never saw any signs of wear (other than dirt and scuff marks) or seams busting.  I am extremely impressed by what Saucony has done with the upper of this shoe.  Everyone knew the stereotype about how terrible the upper durability was on the previous 4 versions.  The 5th version is a completely different shoe in that regard.

Weight:  Saucony lists this shoe at 7.7 ounces and I would agree with that.  Other sources will tell you there is some 0.1 ounce variation between models, but who really cares about 0.1 ounce in a lightweight training shoe.  This falls in the perfect weight category that I like in a training shoe.  High 7 ounces to mid 9 ounce shoes.  Being on the lighter side of that spectrum, you could definitely get away with doing some serious racing in the Kinvara 5.  It has a fantastic balance between weight, cushioning and responsiveness that can handle any distance (obviously depending on the person).

Thoughts as a Physical Therapy Student:  I just like how simple this shoe.  Any support comes from the higher arch that Saucony is known for and the ProLock technology.  But the arch is EVA so it does not intrude into your foot.  Instead your foot will be cupped nicely and held to the platform (the Kinvara 5 is listed as a neutral shoe).  There are no crazy bells or whistles in the sole of this shoe so just protects your foot and lets it do its thing to a degree.  Combined with the wonderful toebox and the (what feels like) 5-6mm drop it is a fantastic shoe.  I have no complaints with this shoe from a medical or biomechanical standpoint.  Obviously if you have a severe restriction in calf length, foot/lower extremity foot strength or have some kind of foot deformity that requires you to have an orthosis, this shoe may not work for you.  Otherwise, I highly recommend this shoe.  Even just to try it, have a lightweight shoe in your rotation or to use as a racing shoe.

Final Thoughts:  I definitely think of the Kinvara 5 as the Goldilocks shoe.  I also realize I've already said that multiple times.  It really is the perfect balance of a shoe, although I wouldn't mind Saucony adding a bit more to the sole and bumping it up to 8 ounces.  I realize that sounds sacrilegious to the Church of Kinvara, but for all that it can do, the Kinvara is a lightweight trainer/marathon racer.  I tend to think of it more as a lightweight trainer and wouldn't mind just a hair more there.  That's personal preference.  Or Saucony could just keep it like it is because they really did an unbelievable job on this shoe.  The upper is fantastic, the sole is nice and simple, the shoe can handle any workout or race and it is surprisingly durable (at least compared to the previous versions).  I have really enjoyed my time training in the Kinvara 5 and plan to continue doing so.  I want to thank the Saucony team for rekindling my love with the Kinvara series.  I highly suggest giving them a try!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to Tack On!

These shoes were a personal purchase and I put at least 100 miles on every pair of shoes before I review them (except racing flats which I put in at least 75 miles).  Currently I have 350 miles on my first pair and 125 miles on my second pair.

As always, my views are my own.  

-Matt Klein, SPT

*Images obtained from the Saucony website.  Go down to your local running specialty retailer to check them out!

Brooks PureCadence 3 Review

    Welcome to graduate school, where your summer break is one week long.  How am I spending the last two days of that break (other than running 41 miles in those two days)?  Writing a shoe review on a personal favorite of mine.

   Today we have the Brooks PureCadence 3 on deck.

   The Brooks Purecadence 3 is the supportive shoe of the 3rd generation of the PureProject line.  It has a 5mm drop and weighs 8.4 ounces.

   My introduction to this shoe started with the original PureCadence and it was not love at first sight.  In fact I thought the shoe was rather unremarkable when I first ran in it 3 years ago.  I was frusterated with not being able to run in zero drop shoes due to an achilles issue that kept popping up (retrospectively I just need to stretch my calves, get some range of motion back, work on my peroneus longus strength and do eccentric calf raises.  At that time I didn't understand any of what I do now).  I was initially taken back by what I considered a narrow toe-box (keep in mind I was coming from Altra running shoes.  So everything was narrow to me), but really liked the 4-5mm drop with mild, non-instrusive support.  The toe-box thing stuck with me for a while until low and behold I stopped noticing it.  By that time I had 400 miles in the shoe, retired them (even though they were fine) and attemped to move back into Altra shoes.  They came into my radar last fall when I was again looking for a low drop, cushioned but mildly supportive shoe.  I again went with the first version as the second version had a sloppy upper that was thick, stiff and uncomfortable.  That combined with a sloppy, soft and unresponsive midsole turned me off to the second version.  The first version (PureCadence 1) round two turned this shoe into a favorite of mine.  It kept a peroneal issue at bay (again, working on all those adjustments I mentioned above has taken care of the issue) and was a wonderful balance of drop, cushioning, responsiveness, toebox width and more.  I noticed the toebox was narrow at first, but adapted to my foot over about 30 miles.  This was confirmed when I purchased another pair when I had 600 miles on the first of the two. Oh... and the durability?  I've never gotten 600 miles out of a shoe before.  I'm pretty hard on them and my prior record was a little over 400 on a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14.  So yeah.  The Purecadence 1s are a favorite.  The durability, great cushioning, responsiveness for fartleks and tempo runs, adaptive/non-instrusive/full length support (I'll get into that later) and comfortable fit were great.  So as the original disappeared, I decided to give the 3rd version a shot.  I'm glad I did.

Sole:  The sole has recieved several wonderful updates.  First of all this shoe has great grip in wet conditions, which is a first for a PureProject shoe.  The entire first generation of the Pureproject shoes had next to no traction on any wet surface.  Which is weird because Brooks is based in Seattle, Washington..... where there are 300 days of rain a year.  Anyway, the issue has been fixed.  In fact the new outsole has great grip on most terrain, even trail.  That grip may come from the increased depth of grooves in the forefoot, which increases the flexibility of the forefoot as well as may act like large lugs (that are still nowhere near as effective as something like the Brooks Puregrit 2).  Despite less outsole, the white areas of the sole are highly durable.  Just like the first generation, even after +200 miles there is not significant wear on the outsole.  I expect to get many more miles out of this shoe before they are replaced (see the Durability section).
     The addition of a second medial bump in the midfoot gives the plateform a much more stable feel.  This shoe just feels stable in general.  Not forcefully stable, but adaptively stable.  That's thanks to the full length Internal Progressive Diagonal Rollbar (PDRB).  This provides mild support throughout the entire length of the midsole from the medial side.  As I've discussed in early posts (particularly with the Altra Repetition.  I will also discuss this further down in this post) I'm a really big fan of full length adaptive support.  The PDRB definitely provides support when you need it and gets out of the way when you don't.  The full length aspect will provide support in the forefoot, midfoot and heel as biomechanical collapses can occur at any of those three points (not just the midfoot and heel as most people and companies wrongly assume).
     The ideal heel in the third generation of the PureProject shoes has been significantly increased.  This combined with a flexible forefoot and some appropriate toe-spring sets this shoe up for a VERY smooth ride.  I don't think I've ever run in a shoe this smooth.  The curved heel (which is what the ideal heel is) really takes the edge off of heel-striking landings as it progresses down from initial contact through midstance.  It feels so good.  I think this is a wonderful addition that may decrease the heel strike transient force associate with heavy heel striking gait.  The heel strike transient (or impact transient) is the initial very high impact force that is seen with heel first initial contacts that signifies that sometimes jarring feeling throughout the lower extremity with a heavy heel strike.  The ideal heel feels like it smooths that out and also models the shape of the calcaneus (the heel bone).  Always look for a shoe that does NOT have a heel that juts out way behind the shoe.  That will cause a premature initial contact and may increase joint forces and increase the work of your pretibial muscles (anterior tibialis, etc).  And that is one of the reasons why many people get shin splints (I'll have a future post on that).  So again, I love the ideal heel for many reasons, but the main one is that it makes this shoe SOOOO smooth.  Like butta'.

http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/Fig1a.jpg

Upper:  The upper is pretty thick in the PureCadence 3 but is nothing like the PureCadence 2.  The second version had a rigid, plastic ridge in the upper around the toebox that refused to let it expand at all.  This contributed to a very uncomfortable fit, which combined with the sloppy upper fit helped ruin that shoe for me.  The PureCadence 3 has fixed that.  While the upper is still thick, it does not have the plastic ridge in the forefoot.  In fact, the shoe has really returned to the feel of the original with what appears to be a narrow-ish fit initially but is really just the thick upper conforming to your foot.  10-15 miles in the shoe did not feel narrow at all and felt like it had conformed to my foot.  Most aspects of this shoe are what I would call adaptive, both fit and biomechanics wise.
     What worried me initially was how thick the heel counter is in the back of this shoe.  It's pretty thick and rigid.  This usually causes me severe discomfort and pain as my achilles insertion is fairly sensitive to those things.  It was for this reason that I couldn't wear the Pureflow 3.  The heel counter really bothered my heel and I had to return them.  The Purecadence 3 solves this issue with heavy cushioning around the heel/calcaneus.  I honestly do not feel the heel counter at all during running or casual wear.  And again the thick cushioning molds to your heel after a few miles of wear.
   I do think the upper could stand to be a bit thinner up front, but that might compromise durability, which I have had zero issues with after +200 miles.  The thick heel counter is offset by the thick calcaneal cushioning.  The combination of those two may contribute to a more stable ride.
   And the newly design burrito upper?  Awesome.  I have no idea why Brooks went the opposite direction with the 2nd generation of the PureProject shoes.  The new design closely follows the contors of the foot and again contributes to a very close-to-skin feel.  There is plenty of room for your toes in the shoe, but your foot will not move around due to the combination of the thick upper, newly designed burrito upper and the anatomic last.
   I cannot forget the controversial Nav-Band.  That is the strap running around the mid-foot that is designed to help hold the foot on the plateform and assist with the anatomic lacing design (also something I like).  Most people seem to hate the Nav-Band or think it's useless.  I like it.  There, I said it.  I like the Nav-Band.  I feel like it helps secure my foot on the shoe and really keeps my foot secure when I've picked up the pace during tempo runs and workouts.  I do think that the prior versions didn't do as well, but Brooks has definitely done their homework and improve both the fit and function of the Nav-Band.  Again, yes I think the Nav-Band not only works but is better than the previous generations of PureProject shoes.

Responsiveness:  Thanks to the Brooks BioMoGo DNA, this shoe has adaptive cushioning.  And it's not just a marketing ploy.  I have used this shoe from everything to 200m repeats (not the best shoe for that, but it works) to 8 mile tempo runs to 20 mile long runs.  It does everything.  There is plenty of cushioning combined with a responsive, lightweight and unhibited ride.  I would probably save this shoe for long runs and tempo runs as the cushioning is a bit much and soft for short repeats.  It can be done though.

Heel-Toe Drop/Ramp:  Despite the Pureproject shoes being listed as 4mm drop shoes, the actual drop varies.  The PureFlows have always had very low drops of what feel like 2-3mm.  The original pureconnect had what felt like a 4-5mm drop.  The PureCadence line has always felt like it was in the 5-6mm range, which in my mind is perfect.  Goldilocks style: not to much and not too little.  This shoe is no different.  Combined with the ideal heel (which again is awesome), the shoe offers a very smooth ride.

Durability:  Just like the first generation, the third generation of the PureCadence is very durable.  I have a little over 200 miles on my current pair and they are going strong.  I would expect another 300-400 miles out of this pair based on the feel and wear of the outsole.  There is minimal outsole wear, the upper has absolutely no seems loose or signs of ripping and the sole feels the same if not better than when I first put them on.  Durability wise, these are fantastic shoes for the money.

Weight:  The shoe feels just right weight wise.  It's somewhere in the relm of 8.4 to 9 ounces, which seems to be a sweet spot for me for lightweight trainers.  The PureCadence 3 never feels heavy and as I mentioned easily responds to faster workouts.  At the same time, I am convinced that the ideal heel (the curved rearfoot portion) significantly contributes to the shoes lighterweight and smooth feel.  I love this aspect of the pureline and hope that more companies start doing it.

Thoughts as a SPT (Student Physical Therapist):  I am a huge fan of the full length support.  Most shoes only have some kind of support in the medial heel or midfoot.  This shoe provides in throughout the entire medial length of the shoe.  Most running and walking companies seem to completely forget about people who either pronate at the forefoot and/or have a forefoot varus deformity.  This deformity can be due either to a weakness of the peroneus longus or other plantar muscles (technically only the tendon of the PL travels through the plantar area of the foot) or from a structural issue.  Significant pressure can be taken off someone with this issue by providing support in the forefoot and bringing the ground (or the shoe) up to front medial arch rather than forcing the arch to try to fall down to the ground (again either due to a structural issue or a muscle weakness issue).  The only other company that does this is Altra with the Altra Repetition and the Altra Provision (through a removal wedge in the shoe in the Provision).  Newton did this with their support shoes up until the 2014 line when they returned their support to the medial heel and midfoot.  Hopefully we will see more shoes with full length adaptive support in the coming years.
    4-6mm drop shoes with anatomic fits and mild adaptive support shoes are perfect in my mind for the general population.  I hope to see more shoes like the Brooks PureCadence 3, the Saucony Mirage line and the Asics Super-J33 on the market in the coming years from Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, New Balance and more.  From what I've heard, the Purecadence line has been the most successful shoe in the pure series and I completely understand why.

Final Thoughts:  Brooks really brought the PureCadence line back to life.  I love this shoe just like I loved the first version and the love happened faster this time (we won't talk about the second version.  In fact let's pretend it didn't happen).  The combination of responsive cushioning, adaptive full length support, an anatomic last and a moderate weight makes the Purecadence 3 almost a do-it-all shoe!  You could use this as a training shoe if you're used to lower drop shoes or could use this as a racing shoe if you train in something like the Brooks Adrenaline or Ravenna.
     Brooks is doing some really cool stuff between interesting tweaks to the pure series as well as new ideas like the guide-rails in the new Transcend.  I am very excited to see where they go because there is some serious envelope pushing and innovation going on!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to Tack On!

These shoes were a personal purchase and as always, my views are my own.  

-Matt Klein, SPT

*Images obtained from the Brooks Running website.  Go down to your local running specialty retailer to check them out!

Altra Repetition Review

   Apparently Saturday is now Shoe Review Day.  Today we have the Altra Repetition on deck.

    The Altra Repetition is a maximalist zero drop high support shoe with a wide toe box.  Those four attributes make it a very unique shoe.  In fact it is the only one on the market right now.  The Repetition is 11.4 ounces, has a 0mm heel-toe drop and has a high stack height of 26-30mm from the lateral to medial side.  The different stack heights has to do with how Altra has been doing support.  From the heel to the forefoot, there is a 4-5mm wedge that is thickest on the medial side of the shoe in the midsole.  The midsole and outsole both have a technology called StabiliPod, which provides stability in the heel, midfoot and forefoot.  This is also one of the only shoes that has stability in the forefoot.  For that reason it may be a fantastic shoe for people with a forefoot varus deformity or a lack of peroneus longus strength or length (it's also known as the fibularis longus and is responsible for assisting with arch strength, depressing the first ray of the foot and maintaining the arch). 

Fit:   The fit is classic Altra.  The toebox is wide and awesome.  The heel is a bit loose.  Even when I cinch down the laces.  The amazing fit from the midfoot to the forefoot makes up for the heel, especially when you use a runners loop lacing technique (also called "Lace Locking").  Basically if you have wide feet, you'll feel right at home in this shoe.  If you have average width feet, you'll have plenty of room in the toebox and will need to cinch the heel down.  If you have narrow feet, you'll probably be swimming in the shoe unless you wear REALLY thick socks. 

Sole:  Oh the sole.  It's thick.  Thick and supportive.  With a 26-30mm stack height there is a ton of protection for your feet.  Combine that with the StabilPod midsole and outsole and you have a wide and supportive platform.  The sole provides stability to wherever you need it on the medial side because it travels the entire length of the shoe.  Almost all running shoes have support only in the medial heel or midfoot.  Newton is probably the only company that provided support in the form of a dual density midsole in the forefoot in their previous models, but the current line-up does not appear to have that.  This amount of support is great for those who need a high stability shoe but want to get into the low to zero drop game.  In addition, the thick stack height provides a great deal of protection for long miles, which is what this shoe is made for and excels with.

Upper:  The upper is fairly thick, but due to the high volume of the shoe is never obtrusive.  I did not have any issues with the front of the upper buckling and pressing on my foot like I do with many other shoes (The Mizuno Wave Cursoris and Levitas are big offenders of this).  In fact, Altra does an awesome job on their uppers in my experience.  The inside is very soft and comfortable. I have worn the Altra Repetition sockless many times and never had an issue.  The materials they use are top notch and I never had an chafing issues with or without socks.  The only issue I had with not wearing socks was that my foot had a little too much room due to the high volume of the upper.  But even with my foot moving around a bit at times when I forgot to cinch down the laces while sockless I never had any chafing issues.  So the upper is thick, high volume but comfortable. 

Heel-Toe Drop/Ramp:  It's Altra, therefore it's a zerodrop shoe.  I notice I wasn't as sore training in this shoe than other zero drop models, probably due to the rounded heel and toe spring.  The rounded heel I am a big fan of as it seems to take the edge off hard landings for heel strikers or when you get tired. 

Durability:  My current pair has a little over 500 miles on them.  The outsole is a bit torn up, but more so what I would expect of a shoe at 200ish miles.  Some of it has worn off, but thanks to the thick midsole I can't really feel it.  The upper is what I was really worried about due to what appeared to be threads and seams coming loose on the lateral sides of the mid/forefoot area at around 150 miles.  At 500 miles they have not come any more loose, so it's clearly more of an aesthetic issue than anything else.  Due to the maximalist design, you could probably get well over 500 miles on a pair of Altra Repetitions, but since every person is different, your mileage on this shoe will differ. 

Weight/Responsiveness: So at 11.4 ounces and being a maximalist shoe (ie there is a huge hunk of stuff under your foot), this shoe can be a bit sluggish.  It's obviously not supposed to be a light and nimble shoe, but it is a bit heavy when you start your runs.  Especially when you're tired.  The trade off is that it's extremely protective, supportive and is great for either extremely long runs or recovery runs. 
    That being said, I have done many fartlek workouts in these shoes.  They are not soft cushy shoes.  They are protective.  Which lends themselves to being responsive but solid shoes. I wouldn't use them for tempo efforts or speed work, but medium effort workouts and long runs are great.  I really do not like soft pillow shoes.  Despite their thick cushioning, I never felt like my feet were sinking into this shoe.  And I like that.  I don't like running on pillows.  Pillows don't make good shoes. 

Thoughts as a SPT (Student Physical Therapist): I like this shoe.  Why?  Because it provides support wherever you need it.  Not just putting everyone into a box and expecting them to have hypermobile or unstable subtalar or transverse tarsal joints (ie heel and midfoot).  There are those that will have either a forefoot deformity or a weak peroneus longus/fibularis longus muscle and can't depress the first ray of their foot to touch the ground, maintain their arch and assist with the shock absorption qualities that the arch is supposed to have (optimally).  This shoe really helped me out with a peroneus longus injury that I was able to train through while rehabbing myself.
    Plus, combine that support with a zero drop design and you have an EXTREMELY stable shoe.  This shoe feels more stable to me than the Brooks Adrenaline.  The interesting part is that the support in this shoe does not feel controlling like many traditional support shoes do.  When I needed that support it was there.  When I didn't, it wasn't intrusive.  That is really important because some days you are really tired and others your feet and legs are great and you don't want to have your feet forced to do anything.  I like non-obtrusive, on-demand support.  Altra has done a great job with this shoe.  They just need to lighten it up a bit.  11.4 ounces is pretty heavy. 

Final Thoughts:  This is a fantastic shoe that other than weight and the slightly loose heel, I don't know what I would change.  It has served me well through it's lifetime and is an extremely unique shoe that no one else has been able to match.  I really like the full length support through the shoe, especially in the forefoot.  Combine that fact with being a protective, zero, drop and wide-toe boxed shoe and you have an awesome product (that is a bit heavy).  This shoe shines on long runs both on the road and trail and would be a fantastic ultramarathon shoe.  Also because it is extremely comfortable and unobtrusive. 
   I am very excited to see where Altra takes this shoe and how it develops.  If you need a shoe that has moderate to high support but also want a wide toe box and a zero drop platform, look no further.  I cannot recommend this shoe enough.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to Tack On!

These shoes were a personal purchase and as always, my views are my own.  

-Matt Klein, SPT

*Images obtained from the Altra Running website and Running Warehouse.  Again, go down to your local running specialty retailer to check them out!

Elliptigo Review: Running Without Impact

Good lord I can't believe I actually made it to Spring Break.

    The last two weeks have been very quiet blog-wise due to multiple reasons.  I just survived two weeks of hell, ie DPT school midterms.  It has been a whirlwind of caffeine, no sleep and stress.  I am now laughing at my past self who just 6 months ago thought the first semester was hard.  In addition to that, I injured my foot about a week ago during a uptempo run in the Skechers GoRun Ride 3.  My hypothesis is that I jumped into a very neutral shoe with a higher heel-toe drop than I was used to (the GRR 3 has a 8-9mm drop whereas the Purecadence 1 that I was previously training in had a 4-5mm drop with support) may have exacerbated the amount of pronation I was experiencing.  My assistant professor and I took a look at my foot and after some manual muscle testing, gait analysis and a tuning fork test (testing for stress fractures.  Thankfully it was negative) we began to realize just how bad my pronation issue is and one of the connections of my Posterior Tibialis was seriously pissed off.  The Post Tib functions in plantarflexion and inversion of the foot.  It also plays a huge part in maintaining the arch as well as eccentrically and concentrically controlling the subtalar joint motion during foot strike going through the contact phase, stance phases with pronation, supination and terminal stance phases.  I have always been a huge pronator, but have been a bad DPT student and not addressed the issue/ignored it.  I'm wondering if some of my Achilles issues stemmed from this.... because I've mostly trained in neutral shoes for a long time.  Particularly during my super-minimalist phase.

    Not that pronation is the end all diagnosis.  I'll say this over and over again: when it comes to the mechanics of gait in walking or running, the whole kinetic chain is involved.  Something that happens at the foot is usually a result of something happening at the hip.  And it translates the other way as well.  I'm reevaluating my hip mechanics to see if I've missed anything, other than the fact that I have still have mild imbalances.  Example: my right gluteus medius is a little weak, which is why my right hip drops a bit.  Running mechanics are a constant work in progress because little things will always pop up and the body will compensate for them in amazing and irritating ways.

   Thankfully during this injury I was still able to get some good workouts in thanks to my Elliptigo 8C.  I mentioned this briefly in some previous posts, but I am fortunate enough to have won an Elliptigo from the 2014 Las Vegas CSM physical therapy conference.  I just filled out a little survey after trying one of these things for the first time at the expo and then a week later I got a very special call.  

Yep.  I got the green one.

   Needless to say I was pretty excited, but also a little apprehensive.

   To be honest I've made fun of people who use the Elliptigo for a long time.  I fully admit that.  I think this stems from being a hardcore "Run-Only" type of training guy.  I viewed cross training as needed only during injuries to keep yourself from going insane.  In addition, I had very little success with ellipticals during past injuries in college.  I've found them to not replicate running mechanics very well and never felt like I was getting a good aerobic stimulus from them.  

First Elliptigo Ride (Thanks Rachel  for the video!!)

    Upon receiving my Elliptigo 8C, all those fears were quickly quelled.  The great people at Elliptigo have really done their homework and created a wonderful tool for runners.  Above is my first ride on the Elliptigo and I immediately noticed how different it felt from a normal elliptical.  

    The biomechanics are very similar to running without the impact.  This is achieved with a much greater hip range of motion allowed by the Elliptigo, particularly through really good hip extension.  If anything having one of these might help your running form (Not confirmed.  Just a thought).  I immediately noticed that my glutes were really working, as opposed to the normal quad tightness I've experienced with ellipticals.  I attribute this to the hip extension allowed.  My inner physical therapist was quite aroused (in a good way, not a weird way).  Stimulating the glutes to work over the quads is almost always a good thing! 

   As excited as I was about my new cross training tool, I didn't use it much after that first ride until a few weeks later.  Why you ask?  Because Pomona has NOTHING in the way of bike lanes and the streets are horrendous.  I'm pretty sure if I tried to take my Elliptigo out for an actual workout, I would get hit by a car or shot.  Or both.  

Enter an example of the Stationary Trainer.  This is not mine.  I have the Kinetic Road Trainer 2.0

    This is when I decided to get my hands on the Kinetic Road Trainer 2.0 with an adapter for the Elliptigo. And I can say it was well worth the investment (especially since I got the Elliptigo for free).  Once I got my hands on the stationary trainer, the Elliptigo started getting used a great deal more.

    I have to say I am very impressed with how much of an aerobic stimulus I get from using this awesome tool.  Every time I've used the Elliptigo (time ranging from 30 to 60 minutes) I've come away with sweat pouring off me (even with a fan, which I put up later) and fatigued in a good way.  It really provides a good stimulus that is CLEARLY above and beyond what an elliptical provides (even with the stationary trainer).

    What makes the stationary trainer and Elliptigo combo even better is that I can study while using it!  I've been using a large binder clip and attaching my class notes to the handlebars to get studying and a second "workout" in.  As DPT school has continued on, I've realize that I have less and less time to do things outside of school.  Adding the Ellptigo into my routine has allowed me to get some really good aerobic work in while still preparing for class and exams.  Plus without as much impact, I can still run at a high level due to the high level of work I can put in.  I've found myself recovering faster due to replacing that second run with a non-impact form of exercise.  My normal runs have been increasing in pace due to both my increasing aerobic capacity and possibly my glutes firing better.  Those are the major muscles that are sore after using the Elliptigo, which is perfect.  Those are the muscles you really want to be using during running if you want to run fast!

Just posing with my new Elliptigo.  And no.  I don't wear jeans while I use it.  

    The Elliptigo was especially handy with my foot injury last week during the harder of the two weeks of 2nd semester midterms.  Luckily it didn't aggravate my posterior tib at all and I could still hammer away.  It allowed me to study without going completely insane from a lack of physical activity.  And I got a lot of studying done on that thing.  Although I was probably driving my neighbors nuts from working out on the Elliptigo in my apartment (with the stationary trainer) at 6am most mornings before class and again at 8 or 9 pm in the evenings.  For their sake I'll hopefully heal up quickly and get back to running in the morning and Elliptigoing (Is that a word?  If not, it is now) in the evening for 30-45 minutes.  

    I feel very fortunate to have one of these tools that is and will continue to be a integral part of my training.  I am very excited to see where the Elliptigo helps take my training.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.  This product has changed my view of cross training because it does such a good job of stimulating your aerobic system with impact.  Do I still hate ellipticals?  Yes.  Is the Elliptigo the same as an elliptical?  Hell no.  Like I said before, the people at Elliptigo have done their homework and created a wonderful thing.  Do I love the Elliptigo?  Hell yes.  Go check one out.  

Thanks for reading!

As always, my opinions are my own!

Tack On!

-Matthew Klein, SPT 

*I won the Elliptigo 8C from the 2014 Las Vegas CSM physical therapy conference and it was provided free of charge.  This did not change my view of the product.  However I would like to thank the kind people at Elliptigo for giving me the opportunity to try the Elliptigo.

Please go check out the Elliptigo website.  They have some really great products that I highly recommend.  Elliptigo is an awesome company with a bright future.

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14 Review

Time for another shoe review!!  This time the Adrenaline GTS 14!

     Brooks Running lists the shoe as weighing 11.3 ounces and having a 12mm heel-toe drop.  It is considered a support shoe with a thick medial Progressive Diagonal Roll Bar (that grey foam on the medial side.  See the second picture.  Someday I'll label the pictures as figures).

     It's a little strange for me to be wearing this shoe.  It fits so well, but it's a high stability shoe.  Only a 4 months ago I would have laughed at the idea of wearing a shoe with this much stability or that was this traditional.  But here I am.  And I really like this shoe.

    First off, the fit is amazing.  For a shoe like this, I was not initially expecting that until I tried it on.  The toebox fits well and the heel/midfoot holds your foot down nicely.  I feel no pressure on my toes wearing this shoe.  That can make or break a shoe for me.  The length in a 10 is absolutely perfect for me.  This shoe fits REALLY well.  I am very impressed.  That's how it won me over so quick.  I know previous versions were fairly tight in the forefoot as well as very controlling stability wise.  This shoe is different.

     So how did I start wearing this shoe?  My peroneal tendon and/or lateral achilles tendon my left side was borderline injured (I won't admit it was completely injured).  It happened during a fast and hard fartlek in the Brooks Launch and was the culmination of many months of battling pereoneal tightness on my left side and continuing to run in very neutral and minimal shoes.  That and I wasn't doing my eccentric achilles heel drops (very important for me).  I bother everyone else about doing their specific exercises for injury prevention and here I was.... not doing them.....

     Anyway, I wanted to keep wearing Brooks (because that's the apparel I own and I like pretending I'm an elite athlete sponsored by them.  I am extremely self-conscious and weird.  Hence one of my previous posts about wanting to be sponsored.  I really shouldn't care, but I do.  That post was a giant whine fest) and I knew I needed a support shoe to stop my ankle from moving as much as it does.  And it moves A TON!  People have watched me run during various gait analysis for undergrad biomechanics projects or research and everyone wonders how I don't break my ankles while running.  Yet I trained in minimal and mostly neutral shoes for 3-4 years during college and a little after (Altra, Brooks Pure series, one pair of neutral Newtons, racing flats, Saucony Kinvara, Saucony Cortana which was a little better and so on).  Why?  Because I was sooooo obsessed with footstrike and was sure it would keep me healthy.  Little did I know that it's only a part of the whole equation.  Hip kinematics and strength are much more important.

     I had won a free pair of shoes from Fleet Feet Rancho Cucamonga (every time I say or read "Cucamonga" I can't help but think of Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny) for winning the Megan Savage Memorial 5k and setting a course record there.  So I headed over and tried them on (already having researched them).  I established that I was an experienced shoe salesman already, so they let me go about my business.  Sure enough, despite being a minimal guy, the shoe fit the second I put it on.  Nothing bothered me.  The fit was good, the PDRB was not intruding, the 12mm drop didn't bother me and it was responsive!!  Not super cushy!  I got them and went about my business running and rehabbing myself.  Really I should have taken time off from running and just let my injury heal, but I am a full on running addict.  If running was a tangible substance, I would take it in suppository form without question.

    So yeah.  This shoe is good. I don't feel like my form is affected because it is responsive and I can feel the full ground contact.  I really like that latter aspect because I think it's really important.  Shoes that split in the midfoot I think (this opinion is my own.  I have no research to back it up except testimonial evidence from myself, various physical therapists and biomechanists.  So take it with a grain of salt) can lead to issues.  Why?   Because the foot doesn't really flex there.  It's ok if the full shoe is flexible, but when that is one of the main points of flexibility and the rest of the shoe is stiff, I think that can lead to problems.  Again, just testimonial from working in running retail and observing thousands of people run as I fit them and hear their stories.  Are there exceptions?  Yes.  I love the Brooks ST5 racer and it has a separate heel and forefoot.  So maybe I'm wrong.  Every company either does it or tries to compensate.  Nike and Brooks are generally full contact outsoles, Saucony and New Balance do it in most of their shoes, while Asics and Mizuno are mostly split (but only by a little bit).  Asics and Mizuno compensate with thick plastic shanks in the midfoot that are supposed to stop midfoot outsole/midsole splitting.

See the picture below?  I like that ground contact.

     And for a stability shoe?  It's responsive.  I've done most of my Fartleks in this shoe.  Because it's not squishy.  It's protective but also wants you to run a little fast.  I like that.  I'm not really a fan of marshmallow shoes.  But they have a time and place.  The Brooks Ghost is a shoe I use on runs where my body is really beat up and my form goes to sh*t because it's so soft.  That and it's a little lighter.  But for the most part the Brooks Adrenaline's 11.3 ounce weight doesn't bother me.  In fact I feel fast when I step down to lighter weight shoes for races and workouts.  It's kinda nice.

     And the stability aspect.  It feels like customized support.  The PDRB doesn't get in my way if I don't need support.  I don't feel it when picking up the pace, but when I get tired I feel it supporting me.  It's not the the controlling, grip your ankle and prevent all movement type of support. It's the supportive, good friend type of support.  There when you need it and doesn't bug you when you want to be neutral.   So those of you coming from  previous versions, it's going to feel like there is less support.  I know the previous versions because I've tried them and sold a large number of them.  This shoe is one of the (if not the most) popular shoes in running retail.  I can't tell you how many Adrenalines I've sold over the years.

     And the shoe continues it's legacy of being really good.  Heck, it even won over me, the minimalist runner (or ex minimalist now).  This is one of the shoes that converted me back to traditional shoes.  I haven't had any problems with it.  My achilles and peroneal are fine (could also be the dedicated rehab program.  Confounding variables right there...), I can still run in the 6:30s on easy days in this shoe (although I shouldn't so I can recover), and I've done fast workouts in this shoe.  Hills and quick Fartleks.  Never thought I'd be doing that in a stability shoe.  But I am and I've been converted back to traditional shoes.

     Do I think the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14 is  the shoe for everyone?  No.  Human variability is very real.  Do I think the minimal movement should die?  No.  It needs to influence how we think about shoes.  IE having them work with your body instead of forcing it to do things as much as shoes have done in the past.  So the PDRB and the customized support is awesome.

     Finally, durability.  It's pretty good.  Coming from minimal shoes that lasted 200-250 miles, this is so much better.  I generally stop at 400-500 miles just in case because my feet are a bit sensitive, but it's easily a shoe you could get more out of.  The outsole gets dirty, but stays fairly intact.  I'm breaking in my third pair of GTS 14s right now and my previous pair have 487 miles on them.  Are they done?  No, but I want to be careful because I started to get that "dead shoe" feeling.  So they'll be regulated to walking and casual duties.  Also the "Random Running" duties that I do.  And by that I mean the half mile runs I do during our 10 minute breaks in school.

     So yeah.  If you have stability needs, check out this shoe.  As always I suggest trying shoes on before you buy them.  Head down to your local running retail store.  Every store is going to be carrying this shoe.  Why?  Like I said, it's one of the most popular shoes in run specialty.  It has been made even better with a wide toebox and awesome fit.  There are widths available, so if you have excessively narrow or wide feet, the Adrenaline 14 also comes in B, 2E and 4E.  I use the lace locking technique on all my shoes and it makes this shoe even better.  The fit is pretty adaptable.

I really can't say enough good things about this shoe.  At least give it a look if it suits your biomechanics.

Thanks for reading!

This shoe was a personal purchase (purchases, plural, since I'm on my third pair) and as always, my thoughts are my own.

Tack On!

-Matt Klein, SPT

*Images were obtained from the Brooks Running website.  Go check out the shoe.  My short review is up there in the review section as "kleinruns"

Upcoming Shoe Reviews

So I'm making a little list for anyone that's actually reading this as to what I plan to review shoe-wise in the immediate future:

This is to hold me responsible.

Brooks Adrenaline 14 (Review)
Brooks ST5 Racer (Review)
Mizuno Wave Universe 5 (Review)
Mizuno Wave Sayonara (Review)
Saucony Kinvara 4

And many more.

Plus I'll be doing a post on the importance of the Transverse Abdominals (the ones people either forget or don't know about), how I define core (hint, it's not just abs) and what I think core exercises should actually entail.

Thanks for sticking with me through this first bit!

Tack On!!

-Matt Klein, SPT