I just posted my first shoe review about 2 hours ago and I started thinking about all the different shoes I've worn over the last few years. I really started thinking about shoes my freshman year of college at University of Puget Sound. Before that they were pretty much a mystery to me. I barely remember what I was wearing my senior year of high school when I started competing. Before that I have no idea.
Spending the last several years working in running retail has made me very aware of footwear design, function, diversity and more. Saying I'm a shoe geek is an understatement since I spend a great deal of my time thinking about and researching them. I've worn and seen quite a bit of stuff in only a short time. I've love experimenting and trying different shoes, but at the same time I'm always looking for "the shoe", or the one that I could get and just keep wearing because it was perfect. The search is still on, although I've gotten close a couple times.
So here's a list I've compiled in my head. This includes Track Spikes and Racing Flats.
My Running Shoe History
Saucony Omni 6 (or 5. Not sure)
Nike Rival D (2009 version. My first spike. It was stolen from the UPS track 6 months later)
Saucony Kilkenny XC 3 (First XC spike)
Brooks Adrenaline 9
New Balance 904 (multiple pairs)
Adidas Adizero Cadence 1 (track spike)
Vibram 5-Finger KSO (yes, I trained in it, this was my intro into minimalist running)
Mizuno Wave Universe 3
Asics Pirahna SP 3
Saucony A4 (many pairs)
Brooks Adrenaline 10
Asics DS Trainer 15
Asics DS Racer 8
Asics Hyperspeed
Adidas Adizero Rocket 4
Saucony Kinvara 1 (many pairs)
Saucony A4 (racing shoe)
Vivo Barefoot Evo 1
Vivo Barefoot Evo 2
Saucony Kinvara 1
Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove
Saucony Kinvara 1
Puma SLX Complete (Track Spike)
Altra Instinct
Vibram 5-Fingers KSO Trek (w/ Altra Instinct)
New Balance Minimus Road 10
Li-Ning Fremont (very briefly)
Saucony Mirage 1
Altra Instinct
Altra Adam (XC racing/minimal shoe)
Brooks Pureflow 1
Inov8 Road-X 233
Altra Instinct
Newton Gravity
New Balance 1000 distance spike (only 2 races then sold to someone else)
Altra Instinct
Brooks The Wire (My favorite track spike of all time currently)
Nike Streak XC 3 (XC racing flat)
Altra Instinct 1.5
New Balance XC 900 (ended up selling to someone else)
Brooks Mach 14 (XC spike)
New Balance 730 (150 miles and fell apart)
New Balance 1010
Skechers GoRun Ride
Brooks Purecadence
Altra Provision (many pairs)
Saucony Cortana 2
Nike Pegasus (worn briefly. Seeded pair from Fit Right NW. Attempted to "edit")
Mizuno Wave Cursoris
Nike Victory (Track Spike)
Altra Provision
Altra Superior
Brooks Purecadence 2 (returned after 1 week)
Nike Flyknit Trainer (returned after 1 week)
Nike Zoom Mamba (Track Spike)
Adidas Adios 2 (worn only briefly)
Altra Provision
Nike Structure 16 (2 pairs, first one free for biomechanics research project)
Saucony LD3 (another one of my favorite track spikes. Very comfortable)
Altra The One
Mizuno Wave Universe 4 (so good....)
Saucony Kinvara 4
Altra Torin
Brooks Pureflow 2 (worn briefly, returned after 2 days)
Mizuno Wave Cursoris
Brooks Ravenna 4 (worn twice, returned same day)
Brooks Puredrift (many pairs. Wore out so fast....)
Mizuno Wave Universe 5 (amazingly light racing flat)
Mizuno Wave Sayanora
Brooks Mach 14 Spikeless (XC racing flat)
Newton Energy NR (worn once then returned)
Brooks Launch (drool..... awesome shoe)
Brooks Purecadence 1
Brooks Pureconnect 1 (put 120 miles on them before ripping a hole in them during a trail run)
Brooks Adrenaline 14 (wider toebox and much less support than previous versions)
Brooks ST5 Racer
Brooks T7 Racer (Racing Flat)
Brooks Ghost 6
Skechers GoRun Ride 3 (30 miles and then a Peroneus Longus issue popped up. Afraid to wear)
Altra Repetition
Asics Hyperspeed 6
Saucony Fastwitch 6
Brooks Purecadence 3
Brooks Ravenna 5
Brooks Trascend
And that's so far. Keep in mind a couple of those shoes never saw more than 150 miles. But other ones saw MANY more. This is what happens when you run 80-90 miles per week for the first two years of college and 90-115 miles per week for the last two. Now I'm hitting about 80-90 miles per week. Which jumps back into the 90/100s when I'm on break at home in Portland, Oregon.
I guess looking back that's quite a long list. But you can bet with that list and many years in running retail I know my stuff when it comes to shoes. And that doesn't count the many I tried on while working just to know what I was talking about when speaking with customers.
Thanks for reading!
As always, my thoughts are my own.
Tack On
-Matt Klein, SPT