I am not sure when I first came to this realization, but
this thought has been with me for a while:
“I want a shoe I can forget about. I want to run, not worry
about my shoes.”
Over the past 25 years, I have run in shoes from many of the
major running shoe companies. The past 3 years, I have also been training in
shoes that are considered more minimalist and even done some barefoot running. Yet,
after thousands of dollars spent and thousands of miles run—through all the many trials and many miles—I never found a shoe that 100% allowed me to forget that they
were there…until today.
After running in the Altra Instinct 1.5, I am
happy to report: I finally found
my ideal road shoe!
Keep it simple and natural: I am a runner. I want a shoe I can forget about. I want to
run and not worry about my shoes. Yet, over the years, I have waded through gimmicks
and fads and tried everything from overly supportive and cushioned to extremely
minimalist.
In the Altra Instincts (and all the Altra running shoes from what I
see), I am finding a simple blend of all the things I have enjoyed about past ‘traditional’
shoes and all the elements I have been looking for in newer more ‘minimalist’
shoes. The result is a natural and yet protected running experience that
lets me focus on why I leave the house in the first place….the joy of running! J
Give me another 2 weeks and I will post how they hold up on some longer runs and over time. But so far so good. Please feel free to message me with any questions. Happy Running! :-)
The
Specs: You can get all the specific shoe details at their website.
My Conclusion: Here are the 3 things
that mattered most to me and how it looks so far:
- Altra is THE ONLY zero drop, foot shaped shoe with cushioning and support. That means my form is more natural (proper midfoot strike and foot splay). Yet, I am still protected from the pavement (Though I do think we are born to run and also that some barefoot running is important, we did not evolve to train 5-10 miles/day on concrete.)
- Altra's provide a stable flat ride. I have had many ankle and foot injuries in the past, but when I run in these I feel confident with every footfall.
- There is enough protection for the long haul and yet they are very light (8.9 ounces) and flexible. There is just enough shoe here to help ride out mile after mile on man-made surfaces. But the overall build of the shoe lets my feet do what they want to do. (Caution: since these are minimalist and foot shaped, it is important to ease into them. Your feet, ankles, knees, hips and all the muscles and tendons in between will be stengthened more with this shoes. So give them a chance to get used to actually having to do their jobs...:-)
