That is right... heading into month 3 of training and we have an issue. My feet! I have just ordered my 4th pair of trail running shoes to try to satisfy my high maintenance injury prone feet and if this 4th pair does not work then that's it.. it's just not meant to be.
1st pair- Brooks Cacadia- thought this would be the ultimate trail running companion as it's worked well before but little did I know it does not like being on my feet for longer than 3.5 hours. During the past month, I've driven home many times barefoot because they would be in so much pain. Starts in the middle of my big toe bone then leads to my arches and eventually to my knee. No bueno. I've even put in my pair of orthotics in there.. no good.
2nd pair- Brooks Pure Grit- oh how I love these shoes! They're Brooks new line.. light.. fits my feet like a glove.. tough for any rocks to get in there. Sounds all good right? Well... because this is a minimalist shoe.. not enough heel cup support leads to a different kind of foot pain- achilles. Pick your poison, right?
3rd pair- so today... on my what was supposed to be 4 hour run on a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline ASR. People at the Zombie Runner said either this shoe or the Pure Grit would be good. Well... I was better off with the Pure Grit than I was with these. The ASR's brought back the issues of the Cascadia's almost instantly making it relatively painful 3 hour run instead of the 4.
So... 4th pair- New Balance 915's have been ordered. My loyal New Balance 1226 running shoes have been very good to me these past years so I emailed NB to ask their suggestion on a trail shoe based on the 1226. I hope they're right! They should be here in time for next weekend's adventure in the trails.
And if the 4th pair doesn't work, well then, that's a sign!
