Road Shoes VS Trail Shoes

Usually just road shoes. Sometimes during long runs I will change into a fresh pair for the last 10-15 miles, just to get some new cushion.

During Pike's Peak marathon (practically an ultra, due to time on feet!), I wore road shoes on the way up, changed to trail shoes for the way down. Glad I did.

If it's a trail that involves water crossings, mud, rocks and roots I'll wear trail shoes. Anything else I'll wear road shoes.

I have a pair of Nike air Pegasus trail shoes and other than the color (Dark Blue) and a bit different tread pattern  I dont see a damn bit of differance between my regular Nike pegasus road shoe.. 

I have been interested in trying on a pair of the Northern Face Boa trail running shoes any one try these?   

I have a variety of shoes, so it depends on conditions as to what I wear.

Newton Distance S:  <8mile runs (for now), dry conditions on hard pavement or rec paths. (8.8oz)

Nike Triax 13: any distance, dry conditions on hard pavement or rec paths, or if I might hit a couple small trail sections that I wouldn't feel comfortable on the Newtons doing, but it's still 80%+ pavement for the run. (12oz)

Mizuno Wave Elixir 4: any distance, pavement, gravel or dirt trails, dry or even some patches of ice/snow.  They have tons of ventilation, so I lean towards the PIs if it drops below 10 degrees.  They are lighter than the Triax and have a better tread pattern for adverse conditions. (10oz)

Pearl Izumi Syncroguide 2:  any distance, Xterra style trail or ones that are covered with 3"+ of snow.  Much better at keeping the feet dry from puddles and the snow.  Better traction than any of the others, but also the heaviest (14oz).


So for trail runs, I go with either the Mizuno's or the Pearl Izumi's.  It just depends on the terrain, the Mizuno's are technically a road shoe, but they have good enough traction for moderate trail use.  Which was their intended purpose when I bought them.

Wow, you use the Newton's on trails.  I have Newton Distance S shoes that I have taken on gravel but I never considered using on trails.  I would think there would be some serious traction issues on wet logs, rocks, roots etc... because of the lugs.  Have you had trouble with slipping? 

FYI- Newton is coming out with some trails shoes- they should be out in April I think.

I'll try to find out the scoop on them tomorrow if one of the regulars to my running group shoes up.  She works for Newton over in Boulder.  I see if she'll leak some info ;-) I thought about their all weather shoe, but it still isn't good enough for trails (at least for me)

I have the Distance S (yellow ones) (not sure if they are the same and just the stability version) but I found that they react much differently when turning sharply (like taking a right at a T junction of a rec path).  They don't feel quite as stable on my ankle doing that, which is why I've never attempted to trail run in them.  Perhaps I just need more stability exercises for my ankles though.

For my 50-miler I wore road shoes because that's all I had when I signed up so late. I ran well, but my feet suffered.

For my recent attempt at 100-miler (I made 80) I had bought some Asics Gel trail shoes ($55 at a local sports store) and they made a big difference. The increased cushion and support was very noticeable.

I bought them a half size bigger and wore 2 pair of socks; Injinji first and then a medium thickness synthetic running sock over those. It was one of the things that worked well for me during my race. I finished with just 3 small blisters between toes and they were not a factor during the run.

I DNF'd because I ran out of energy, but mechanically, my feet and legs were in great shape with no issues. Later in the race when I went into the athlete's tent, I saw some runners with really torn up feet, so it can be a serious problem if you don't get this right.


(I also wore these shoes during an adventure race with mixed trail, water crossings, generally bad conditions, and they did great.)

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Nice to hear that the PI's are good. That's what I'm leaning towards because of a great discount I can get through the running store I work at.

So far I've just worn my Mizuno Wave Elixir on the trails but I'm just starting out. I've heard great things about Innov8 shoes.