3 Shoe Showdown: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

My husband offered to write an article about the past 3 shoe's he's run on and a comparison of some men's low heel-to-toe drop ratio running shoes:

Top profile (left to right): Kinvara 2, PureConnect, Peregrine 2

	Saucony Kinvara 2	Brooks PureConnect	Saucony Peregrine 2
Weight	8.2 oz	7.7 oz	9.9 oz
Profile (Heel)	28.2 mm	25.5 mm	21.5 mm
Profile (Fore)	20.9 mm	21.3 mm	17.5 mm
Drop (Heel2Toe)	7.3 mm	4.2 mm	4 mm
Lightness (% Rank)	95	97	76
Heel Cushioning (% Rank)	46	85	36
Fore Cushioning (% Rank)	70	77	60
Flexibility (% Rank)	76	95	49

Saucony Kinvara 2

Pros: Light, neutral, calve strengthening

Cons: Quick wearing, terrible off road tread

Going from a pair of Nike Lunarglide 3+ (11.2 oz and 12 mm drop) to the Kinvaras was a pretty big jump.  The Nike's were big, cushy, and felt like running on marshmallows, which sounds nice until you begin to understand how your calf muscles atrophy from all that cushioning.  The Kinvaras were light, flexible, and really encouraged more a of a mid foot strike.  It took some work on my part to strengthen my calf muscles and I remember having some soreness in my calves after runs for the first 2 weeks.  But that's to be expected when moving towards more minimalist footwear and when I got over that hurdle, I really started to enjoy them.  I ran faster and more efficiently than ever before.

The sweet spot for these shoes is probably between the 20 and 200 mile mark.  After 200 miles the shoes cushioning really breaks down, especially in the forefoot.  The tread wears down to flat slick rubber, and at this point you really don't want to run on anything wet.  Jen and I both experienced a lot of wear and holes on the top forefoot toe crease.

These worked pretty well for me as a transition to lower drop shoes, and although I'm a bit disappointed with its wear, they were flat fast minimalists that ran me to a 10K PR of 47:50 at the Airlife Memorial and completed my first mini-Sprint Triathalon winning my division.

The colors I got also look pretty good, wearing them around work I got a compliment on them: "Nice kicks, dude!"

Brooks PureConnect

Pros: Featherweight, sock-like feel, rounded outsoles, breathability

Cons: Only lasted 300 miles, not winter/muddy traction

I love my Ninja Tabi Shoes!  These featherweight road minimalists coming from the Pure Project which ultra marathoner Scott Jurek helped design are great. My wife did all the research to find these shoes, and I'm so glad she did.  All people's feet are different shapes, and I've read elsewhere that some people find the mid to fore foot too tight, but .5 size larger for me than normal fit just right.  Whenever I slip them on they fit like a snug glove, which means I don't have to lace them too tight and I never feel like my heel lifts up.

For the first 250 miles, there is a great spring in the transition from mid to fore foot that really aids in pushing off during acceleration and hill climbs.  These bad boys paced me to a 10K PR of 46:25 at the Justice Run, and my second half marathon with Jen at the Denver Rock and Roll with really minimal soreness.

My only negative is that when I was training for the HRCA Backcountry Wilderness half marathon, one of my training runs lead me down a muddy trail that these shoe's treads couldn't deal with.  They got a nice mud cake that stayed with me for a mile as I slipped and slid down the hill.  That is when I realized I should start looking at some trail shoes before the race in case we had to run in inclement weather or slick trail conditions.

But I am looking forward to trying out the new versions of these, the PureConnect 2 or the Pure Drifts after winter, when tread is less of an issue.

Saucony Peregrine 2

Pros: Amazing tread, low to the ground

Cons: Heavier, looser fit

As my son would say, these shoes are my "chomp-chomp" alligator tread trail eaters.  As I mentioned above, I started looking for some trail running shoes with better tread in prep for the Backcountry Half Marathon.  Also, I knew winter was around the corner which would make a lot of the trails I run on icy or muddy.  

Having had success with the PureConnects I figured I'd try the PureGrits, the trail runner from the Brooks pure project.  I picked up a pair at REI, and they felt quite a bit different (not as snug, wider toe box, length was back to my average 10.5).  But to really test them I had to take them out on a couple of runs.  Unfortunately after 3 runs and 20 miles later, I had a problem with them.  My right foot kept falling asleep after 1 mile into the run.  I tried different lacing patterns to try and reduce the pressure on my instep, but nothing worked.  I'm not sure if it was the tongue and lacing, or perhaps the plate running through the sole but something kept making my right foot fall asleep.  So I returned them to REI (no questions asked, which makes me glad to be a member).

I kept my eyes out for another pair, and finally came across the Peregrines.  These looked like something between the Kinvara's and the PureGrit's I tried.  Lighter, lower profile, and racy (these shoes also got several compliments).  I tried them on the treadmill at the gym first in case I wanted to return them, and didn't have any issues with them (although they start out somewhat stiff).  After a couple of training runs for the Backcountry Half, as they started to break in I started liking them more and more.  I wore them on the Backcountry Half and was happy with their performance.  The greatest part of the shoe is the tread, no slippage whatsoever.  I'll continue to run on these through the winter.

Also I ran a 5K PR in my Peregrine's of 22:30 at the HRCA Turkey Day 5K.

Tread wear (left to right): Kinvara 2, PureConnect, Peregrine 2

Conclusion

If you want to feel fast and light on the roads and don't have wide feet, go with the PureConnects.  You'll feel like a ninja gracing imperial tile rooftops chasing down the hidden dragon.  But once you hit trails, or live where you might run onto a slick surface, go with the Peregrine's.  They grip the ground like a crouching tiger, ready to pounce to victory.

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