Running shoes search and the Saucony Virratas

In my opinion, running shoes are by far the most important piece of equipment to running.  It's not fun to run in cotton shirts and shorts, but even that is preferable to running in dri-fit clothing and the wrong shoes.

I'm not a shoe girl.  I'm not one of those people who owns a closet of hundreds of dollars worth of shoes.  I wear my $16 flip flops in the summer, and my $35 on sale Merrell in the fall.  The most I've ever spent on a pair of shoes was $120 on a pair of black boots.  When it comes to running shoes though, I've always been more willing to drop the chunk of change.  I imagine that running shoes have grown to be a huge industry.  New designs and models come out often and with the recent trend towards running, companies are tapping into that industry.  Barry, who these days shows up to races with more than one pair of running shoes, reminds me of the days when he'd go shoe shopping and there would be two choices: racing shoes or training shoes.

In the fall of 2011, when Ellie was training for her half marathon, she was running into some knee problems.  She started looking into barefoot running, and was soon converted to the idea of running barefoot.  She bought a couple of pairs of quasi-barefoot Merrell Pace Gloves, and began running in them.  I was less convinced.

Because pictures of cute cats cheer us up.

The idea behind barefoot running was that running injuries were due to the way running shoes had been designed, and that running shoes promoted an "unnatural" way to run.  When we walk, we tend to hit the pavement with our heel first.  Landing heel first absorbs less shock than landing on our midfoot.  I like to think of the anatomy of a cat as an analogy.  Cats jump from great distances with little injuries, and part of it is the way they land.  Notice that their legs are designed to be spring-like to help absorb the shock of the land.  If I imagine jumping down from a stool, I would want to land on the balls of feet with bent knees rather than my heel.  Similarly, when our feet repeatedly pounds a pavement in running, we'd prefer to absorb some of that shock.  Running shoes anticipate the impact of the pavement at our heels and have been designing shoes with more cushion at the heel.  Barefoot running converts believe that that extra heel cushion actually encourages heel striking, and that if we were running barefoot, we would naturally change our form to land on our midfoot.

To me though, the logic seemed flawed.  If barefoot running was actually about proper running form, then we should be able to achieve good form without running barefoot.  I understand that barefoot running might help you get there faster, but it may also lead you more quickly to injury.  After all, wouldn't every improper barefoot heel strike result in that much more impact with the pavement?  Wikipedia has a better summary of research in this area. 

All this is to say that I'm not a barefoot runner.  I am, however, a midfoot striker and road running results in some very hard repeated impacts with the pavement.  I want my feet cushioned.  More than anything, I want a light shoe with cushioning at the midfoot and minimal cushioning at the heel.

The Saucony Kinvara 2's fit that bill perfectly.  They have a 4mm heel to toe drop and were considered a transitional shoe to barefoot running.  I liked them because they were light and lacked a heel that felt clunky.  They also still had 22 mm of cushioning.  I had no plans to ever go barefoot, but this was the perfect lightweight shoe for me.  I ran half marathons in them with no issues.  I am not the only one who loves the Kinvara 2's.  There are rave reviews of them all over the web.

Adidas Adizero Adios 2

After the Kinvara 2's, I ended up with a pair of Adidas Adizeros Adios 2 in a beautifully ugly pink color (unlike other running enthusiasts, I am not so excited by the ridiculously bright colorways of running shoes). These shoes had less cushioning than the Kinvaras and I never did get used to it.  By mile 10 of the marathon, my feet were killing me with each step.  No lasting effects, thankfully, but I worried about a stress fracture for most of the race.  Barefoot running is not for everyone. 

Apparently, I've gotten pretty particular about what I'm looking for in a running shoe.  I used to think I was pretty easygoing about it, but once I tried on the Kinvara 2's, my preferences became very specific.  Once you know how well a shoe can fit your feet, it's hard to be okay with just good enough.  I went back to Movin' Shoes and told them specifically that the fit of the adizeros were fine.  I had no blisters or any other issues even while running a slightly wet marathon, but I really needed more cushioning at the midfoot.  They had me try on a few other shoes, but either they didn't fit my feet right or having extra cushioning at the midfoot also meant a thicker stacked heel.

Saucony Virratas

Finally, they brought out a pair of Saucony Virratas.  I've been reading some reviews of the Virratas and they're supposed to be very similar in design to the Kinvaras, except they're a zero drop shoe which makes them more similar to barefoot running shoes.   I haven't done any distance in them yet, but the fit is indeed very similar to the Kinvaras.  There are also very favorable reviews of them online and most people who love the Kinvaras seem to also love the Virratas.  The color I got was also much nicer than the ugly pink of the adizeros.

I went out for a short couple of miles in the Virratas today.  Yeah, I'm still taking it easy on getting right back into the full swing of running again.  The Virratas felt nice and cushy, but they're a fairly flexible shoe and I don't feel as fast in them as I do in the Adizeros.  I'm hoping that they will hold up on my long runs.  If they do, I imagine I will be running shorter distances in the Adizeros, and distances over 8 miles in the Virratas.