November 14, 2011

What's in your (shoe) quiver?

In the skiing world, you often hear folks brag about the diversity and size of their "ski quiver" and manufacturers love to refer to their newest models as "one ski quivers" (ie. skis that can handle all kinds of conditions - powder, moguls, hardpack, etc.) without sacrificing anything.

In a VERY organized state, we still have well over a dozen pairs
of running shoes sitting next to the door
Does a true one ski quiver exist? For all intents and purposes, my BD Voodoos with Dynafit TLT vertical bindings handle 95% of the conditions I want to be skiing in, although I wouldn't huck a 15 foot jump on them (mainly because of the cost of the bindings!). I disgress because this post is supposed to be about running (I'm not supposed to be thinking about skiing yet)... Andrea and I both have 3 pairs of downhill/AT skis... but that isn't anything compared to how many running shoes we have!

There are A LOT of shoes that are hanging out next to our front door that get rotated through on a daily basis. The Saucony Kinvara has become our favorite daily trainer (see why in this post about minimalism), along with the Tangent (which is now discontinued, although I'm about to try out the Grid Shadow Genesis to see if that might be a decent replacement for the Tangent). On faster workout or race days we'll break out our flats (previous review): A3s, A4s, and the Fastwitch. On the occasional trail run (or on snowy/crummy weather days), I like wearing my Peregrines, which feel very similar to the Kinvara, with a more aggressive bottom. Andrea wears heavier trainers like the Progrid Omni and Progrid Guide when her legs are feeling beat up and need a little extra cushion. I've been wearing the Amp PRO2 Recovery shoes after workouts and just casually as well... they are kind of dorky looking, but feel like supportive slippers, and I'm definitely a fan.

One wall of our "gear room"
We try to rotate which shoes we wear each day... I think if you wear the same shoes every single day, you might be susceptible to those tiny little overuse problems that aren't noticeable at first, but add up over time. By changing things up every day, your feet don't get used to the same thing all the time. Plus, the foam / cushioning in shoes tends to bounce back a little better if you let it "rest" for a day in between runs.

There is definitely no one shoe quiver for running, unless you are wearing the vibram monkey feet, in which case I think you are nuts, anyways.

Then if you take into consideration all the hiking shoes, sandals, and ski boots we have... we really are crazy about footwear!

The extra, unopened shoes hang out
with the ski boots

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