I'm still on my eternal quest to find the perfect pair of running shoes and looking for some outside opinions. Basics: I'm 185 lbs, size 12, slightly narrow, mild overpronation.
The problem I always run into is foot 'slap'. As my foot rolls onto the ball, some shoes cause it to slap the pavement instead of roll naturally. I don't have a terrible heel strike and it seems independent of cadence. The little reading I've done seems to say the slap is because of a stiff heel?
For years I ran in variations of Asics GT 2000. They came in B width, had enough cushion and were comfortable enough. There was a mild amount of slap in my stride but it never was so bad that I couldn't run longer distances. I always felt like they didn't have a lot of support for a stability shoe, so when they stopped coming in narrow widths I moved on.
Years ago I tried a pair of Nike Structure running shoes, back when they had the Bowerman line. The foot slap was terrible and immediately I went back to GTs.
Recently I tried a New Balance 1340. They had plenty of support, but the slap on the pavement was unbearable. Someone at the shoe store told me it was because of high drop of the 1340 so I started looking at lower heel drop shoes.
Next up were Saucony Hurricanes. Plenty of support, no pronounced slap and felt good for the first few strides. Unfortunately they attacked my Achilles and I would get tendinitis within a couple days of running in them.
So I went into the shoe store and started from scratch. I think I tried on a dozen shoes in one evening and came away loving On Cloudflows, which have a low drop. My stride had never felt more natural and there was zero foot slap. I'm sure some of that is due to the light weight, but something about the structure of the shoe works well for me too. They didn't offer a lot of support so I usually use blue Superfeet inserts, but otherwise they became my go to shoe. The problem I'm having is holes start to wear in the heel after 100 miles. Its happened on multiple shoes now, so not just a one time problem, and at $150 a pop I'm sure there are better values out there.
Thinking low drop had solved my issue, I ordered a pair of NB Vongos, which have plenty of cushion and support on a 4mm drop. Within a mile of my first run in them the aggressive slap from the 1340s was back. I haven't touched them since.
So whats so special about Cloudflows? Should I just bite the bullet and replace them every month as they wear? Look at Cloudflyers? Is there something else that causes foot slap?
The problem I always run into is foot 'slap'. As my foot rolls onto the ball, some shoes cause it to slap the pavement instead of roll naturally. I don't have a terrible heel strike and it seems independent of cadence. The little reading I've done seems to say the slap is because of a stiff heel?
For years I ran in variations of Asics GT 2000. They came in B width, had enough cushion and were comfortable enough. There was a mild amount of slap in my stride but it never was so bad that I couldn't run longer distances. I always felt like they didn't have a lot of support for a stability shoe, so when they stopped coming in narrow widths I moved on.
Years ago I tried a pair of Nike Structure running shoes, back when they had the Bowerman line. The foot slap was terrible and immediately I went back to GTs.
Recently I tried a New Balance 1340. They had plenty of support, but the slap on the pavement was unbearable. Someone at the shoe store told me it was because of high drop of the 1340 so I started looking at lower heel drop shoes.
Next up were Saucony Hurricanes. Plenty of support, no pronounced slap and felt good for the first few strides. Unfortunately they attacked my Achilles and I would get tendinitis within a couple days of running in them.
So I went into the shoe store and started from scratch. I think I tried on a dozen shoes in one evening and came away loving On Cloudflows, which have a low drop. My stride had never felt more natural and there was zero foot slap. I'm sure some of that is due to the light weight, but something about the structure of the shoe works well for me too. They didn't offer a lot of support so I usually use blue Superfeet inserts, but otherwise they became my go to shoe. The problem I'm having is holes start to wear in the heel after 100 miles. Its happened on multiple shoes now, so not just a one time problem, and at $150 a pop I'm sure there are better values out there.
Thinking low drop had solved my issue, I ordered a pair of NB Vongos, which have plenty of cushion and support on a 4mm drop. Within a mile of my first run in them the aggressive slap from the 1340s was back. I haven't touched them since.
So whats so special about Cloudflows? Should I just bite the bullet and replace them every month as they wear? Look at Cloudflyers? Is there something else that causes foot slap?