A Shoe Tale

Running shoes, start talking about shoes in certain groups and it’s like discussing politics or religion at a family dinner, bad news.

I’ve run in a lot of shoes, road, trail, XC, spikes, you name it. Currently I’m a “trail” runner, but here is the rub, I run in road shoes. I have used and like trail shoes, but unless it nasty nasty trail I don’t see the need for another pair.

A little history of my feet, I’m pretty blessed I don’t get blisters and black toenails with any regularity except at the occasional 50-100 mile run. Since returning to running from about 8yrs off I’ve found out I’m a neutral runner, I never knew.

Back in the day I ran in the Asics Tiger Jayhawk, and various Nikes. Later when the first Nike Waffle Racer came out I had multiple day-glow pairs and ran everything in them. Back then we would do 10 milers or more in these shoes without socks, ah the old days.

So when I again took up running I went with Nike and Asics. I was faithfully running in the Asics Nimbus until they changed the midsole to something which felt like a slab of rock, I think they called it Solyte.

Eventually I settled onto the Pegasus. I had a brief affair with the Vomero, but it’s too soft, (I know your thinking too soft, but yeah they are). During this time I also ran in all sorts of “trail” shoes but they were either as heavy as my hiking boots, or didn’t last long.
That aside I recently had another chapter added to my shoe history, I changed shoes again, but only because Nike made me, jut like Asics did.

As usual the new Peg’s came out recently and needing new shoes I bought them without issue to begin rotating them in. I run two sets of shoes at a time so my shoes are always fresh. I first noticed how stiff they were; ok walk around in them for a few days to break them in, not unheard of. After a week wondering why my legs hurt I knew something was up.
I checked the Runnersworld.com forums shoes section. I found others posting similar complaints. Not wanting to risk my training or an injury I went searching for a new shoe.
I went with a shoe I had tried years back without complaint, (why did I ever change?), the Air Max Moto. Right out of the box 7 miles on the road, no issues. I followed it up with a 20miles on trails today, absolutely beautiful.

So for those interested in the shoe here’s my no-tech personal review. The shoe is beefy compared to a Peg, I don’t check weights but it does feel heavier than a Peg. It has the Max Air heel unit, versus the Zoom Air.

The shoe is flexible and hooked up just fine on the mellow single track near my home. If you have run the American River 50 mile, I ran Rattlesnake Bar to Auburn Overlook and back.
So if you’re looking for a great all around training shoe and you’re a neutral runner check them out.