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A Painful Epiphany About Shoes and my Altra Conversion

A Painful Epiphany About Shoes and my Altra Conversion

Last night, as there was a mix of rain and snow falling, I decided to strap on my headlamp and go for a run up on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail from Davis Creek, south (blog post coming soon, perhaps). I figured that higher up on the trail, it would be snow and not rain. Thankfully, I was right. Just snow…and some crazy thick fog banks that the trail kept on climbing up into and then descending below, and then climbing back into. But, that isn’t the point of this post. The point, is my feet.

For the snow, I have a pair of Montrail Badrocks. They are UBER waterproof and have nice grippy soles and lugs. Not knowing how slick it would be, I strapped them on. I got them last winter and only put about 20 miles in them before being laid up with injuries for most of February and March – but I enjoyed how they felt on the snow.

In the interceding 9 months, however, I bought a pair of Altras (the Olympus), and then another pair (Lone Peak 2.0), and then another pair (Paradigm). With the big toe box, zero drop, and MAX cushioning (which is why I picked those specific models), I found that the shoes solved a lot of my prior injury problems. In other words, I completely converted to the brand.

So, last night was my first time running in non-Altras for about 9 months. They felt fine, but I could tell there wasn’t as much cushion. Then, I woke up this morning. Wow. The soles of my feet hurt way more than usual, my knee and hip-joints felt a bit more beat up, even my back hurt more. Was it the shoes? I suspect so. My body has grown accustomed to that max cushioning on the Altras. Well, lesson learned!

As for the snow – maybe I’ll take an old pair of Altra Lone Peak 1.0s that a friend gave me (hand-me-down) screw some 1/2 inch sheet rock screws in there and use them!

Altra Olympus – Gear Review

Altra Olympus – Gear Review

Back in late-April the Mrs. allowed me a 3-months early birthday present – a pair of Altra Olympus trail shoes. I was about to run the Zion Trail Ragnar (read about how much “fun” that was) and hoped that the much raved about max cushioning would help ameliorate impact on some of my over-use injuries. I have now put ~100 miles in them over varied terrain and thought it would be worth a review.

Altra Olympus

Stack Height – 36 mm
Weight – appx. 11.6 ozOffset / Drop – 0 mmHeel Width – 94 mm
Midfoot Width – 120 mm
MSRP: $130

Grade: B+

The max-cushioning movement has been picking up steam apparently over the last few years, and with a lot of ultra marathon runners swearing by the Hoka One-One shoes, the Olympus was Altra’s first foray into the max-cushioning market. Altra is known for 2 major hallmarks: 1. Zero drop; and 2. The wide toe box. The zero drop means there is no mm difference between the heal and toe – whereas most running shoes (and all shoes in general) have a raised heal. With some of their other shoes (I have put in a few miles in a hand-me-down pair of Lone Peak 1.5’s) this requires a transition and takes a bit for your calf muscles and Achilles tendons to get used to them. With the larger stack on these, however, I found little trouble making the transition.  For me, the wide toe box was the bigger selling point. With more room for toes, the foot is able to splay out wider. I found this gave me better stability, but did lead to them feeling a bit sloppy when I was descending challenging terrain. As for the max-cushioning, I love it. They feel so nice – so squishy. I have run ~100 miles in them so far. I have taken them in mud and snow, dry rocky and dusty trail, even terrain and up mountains, and even 25 miles or so on pavement. These have been on short 3-4 mile run and longer 8-10 mile runs. 100 miles in, I have come to some decisions. They are great for easy – medium difficulty terrain, but are not the best choice for overly technical trails. I will continue wearing them on long runs (to save my joints and feet a bit) and on trails that don’t require more aggressive tread or tighter fit. When doing runs that involve climbing up and coming down – with little lateral traverses or “even” ground…I will pick a different shoes.  Overall, however, I am quite please with the purchase. They will be my workhorse for a lot of miles.

Pros:

  • Max cushioning feels amazing
  • Wide toe box allows feet to splay full and adds stability.
    • This may also reduce toes jamming up against the upper of your shoe – causing blisters and toenails falling off. HOWEVER, when making steep descents, I find that my toes do still hit a bit.
    • I have been using some Injinji socks to take advantage of the room my toes have.
  • Light weight and fairly smooth tread makes them easy to transition to pavement if needed.
  • I love supporting local companies (they’re from UT – hence the Mt. “Olympus” name) and my interactions with Altra Ambassadors and customer service have been nothing but positive.
  • Gaiter trap built into the heal. I haven’t bought gaiters yet…but have been thinking about it.

Cons:

  • Not great for uneven terrain. With the higher stack there is some inevitable instability.
  • Weak tread. I was quite shocked by how un-aggressive the lug patters and tread are on this “trail” shoes. I haven’t had serious problems with it, but on steep climbs, mud, or snow, I have found myself wishing I was wearing something different.
  • Fit feels a bit sloppy sometimes – even when using their suggested alternate lacing patters.
  • Tongue slides over to the side
  • Upper and laces don’t seem incredibly durable. I assume the light materials help keep the weight down, but a bit surprising.
  • Thin tongue means if you really crank the lacing down, it causes some discomfort on the top of your foot
  • Color along the sides of the rubber (orange) immediately began to wear off. Oh well. They should be caked in mud anyways, right?