Monday, May 28, 2012

Skora vs. Newton vs. Asics vs. Brooks running shoes

This weekend was a true shoe comparison weekend - over the three days I ran and/or walked in three different brands of running shoes. 

Here's the lowdown:
SKORA - I was so excited to get a sample pair of the women's SKORA minimalist shoes.  I was never able to get into the barefoot running thing - more because I think it makes people look like they have frog feed and while I don't want to run in Manolos, I also don't want to look like a major dork.  The shoes are super lightweight and it took me a lot of getting used to (like 6mi).  I'm not sure I love them yet, I think they require getting used to before going totally lightweight  it was like running with only half my clothes on ... it really felt that weird.

Newtons - these are my favorite road running shoes.  I started wearing Newtons when a colleague / awesome runner kept hyping them.  I could never bring myself to spend $175 on running shoes, let alone a brand I'd never heard of.  At a running expo about two years ago I found these shoes partially used (someone bought them, walked out of the store, and decided they didn't want them) for $50 - score!  Ever since, for any road running that I'm doing for speed, these are my shoes.  Road races?  Bam - bring on the Newtons.

Asics - when I first noticed my knee completely popped out about 7 years ago, I beelined for the nearest sports podiatrist.  After walking on the treadmill for her, getting my feet measured, and being told to shop (my favorite part - my Dr. told me to buy 7 pairs of shoes on Zappos.com and she would manage returning the 6 I didn't like) we landed on the Asics GT series (which has since changed many times).  These are my go to training / I want to go for a middle to long run and don't care about speed shoes.  They're supportive but not overly so.

Brooks - a couple months ago I went to a running store to pick up a race bib.  The store was having a sale for all runners picking up bibs (smart) - 20% off any shoe.  Of course I felt the compulsion to shop.  We had just moved, I couldn't find my 2 pairs of trail shoes, and a deal is a deal.  So I asked "what's the best selling trail shoe" (Amazon trained me to go for the customer feedback / behavior for bestsellers) and walked out with a pair of Cascadia 7 trail shoes.  The shoes are pretty good looking and I sport them around on weekends.  I don't love love them on the trails.  I like them, and they beat running in road shoes on trails, but I miss my old model of discontinued Asic trail shoes where the tongue acted as a second sock.  These are a close second.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I know this is an older post but I thought I would ask which shoe you are currently running in and if you got used to the Skoras? I was a big Asics runner from 6th grade through college. After college I have dealt with a terrible ankle injury putting me in the weight room full time in barefoot shoes because I had no flex in regular shoes. I grew to really like the connected feeling and bought the brooks purecadence. Since I am out of shape and still have limited ankle movement, plus I have gained weight I feel like I need a bit more support than what the purecadence are offering. I am not ready to jump right back to the stiffer asics I would like to try something a little more connected and I am extremely interested in Newtons Running Motion III or Skora TEMPO. I would appreciate your input!!

Amber said...

Hi Heidi! I run in Newtons exclusively now and I LOVE them. Since I started running in Newtons I PR'd in a marathon, a half, and a 10K and I do think it's in large part to having shoes that help with better/faster running form. I wear the trail version of the Newtons which are great for support - I used to have orthodics and don't need them now.