Chronic calf injuries are forcing me to abandon my beloved Saucony Kinvaras with the 4mm drop. It’s been suggested I go to a shoe with a steeper heel to toe drop. I’m looking for a lightweight, neutral, trainer/racer, with an 8-10mm drop. What are my best options?
Adidas Boston (10mm)
361 Running KGM2.2 (9.5mm) I reviewed it here
Saucony Ride or Breakthrough (8mm)
Asics Noosa, Gel Pursue 4 (better shoe than the 3 imo and I liked the 3) (10mm)
Asics Dynaflyte or Roadhawk (8mm)
Brooks Levitate (8mm) it’s a sweet shoe
Brooks Launch (10mm)
IDK about best options, that’s for you to decide by running in these shoes at your locol running store but those are some options off the top of my head.
If you want to come to Tucson I can help fit you to a pair that you love. You wouldn’t be the first person that came into town just so I could help them with running shoes
Also consider Nike Pegasus, Brooks Ghost, Adidas Adios Boost, more weight Brooks Glycerin, Nike Vomero.
The other option is to try heel pads in your Kinvanas. I’ve used pads from Noene and Sorbothane. Noene are firmer and you can get 2mm or 4mm pads. Sorbothane are more flexy, oddly they don’t state the thickness but I’d guess 5/6mm. If your Kinvaras have life in them then it’s a cheap experiment.
I find using a roller is great for tight calf muscles.
Running with a heel drop is fine and very normal (I often do when Achilles/Calf muscles are sore) the flip side of the coin is I try to spend as much of the rest of the day in zero drop shoes or literally barefoot when at home. My theory is running is the high risk time and that is when they need help. But when not running it’s low risk so why not stretch them? Since I am a bloke a few medical professionals have joked that I should stop wearing high heels. Women who do wear high heels a lot apparently get shortened Achilles and suffer the same thing. But that is where I get the idea to do the opposite and stretch them out when I can. Obviously how much of that you can do depends on how acute your problem is.
Nike Zoom Fly (The $150 one, not the $250) is maybe the fastest all around running shoe I’ve used in a decade of running marathons. In Tri I’d only use it for Half Iron and above.
Mizuno Waverider have about 8mm of drop if I recall. They have been my go to shoe after a lot of injuries with other (lower drop) shoes.
Adidas Adizero Adios Boost
Adidas Adizero Boston Boost
Nike flyknit Racer
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energy boost is not light, but it is awesome. try that sucka on. if you want light for some days, get the boston for those days. ADIDAS
and roll those calf muscles, every day, pvc pipe.
Why not move over to a Max-Cushion? Hoka is 4MM drop. I used to run a lot in Altras which are a zero drop max cushion.
Also, in 2 days, the Nike Epic React will be released. 10 mm drop at 7.8 oz for size 9. First shoe of its kind to feature this foam. Wouldn’t know if it is any good. I’m sort of an adidas fan myself but recently have been using the Pegasus & Vomero from Nike & been quite happy with them. It’s a crap shoot, even shoes in the same company line are very different. Yes, crujones#33 will have to just try & trot in them to see what works.
I had high hopes for the epic but read some really bad reviews. There is almost no outsole so the foam is exposed kinda like rmat on a Hoka except the Nike wears down insanely fast 
Also, in 2 days, the Nike Epic React will be released. 10 mm drop at 7.8 oz for size 9. First shoe of its kind to feature this foam. Wouldn’t know if it is any good. I’m sort of an adidas fan myself but recently have been using the Pegasus & Vomero from Nike & been quite happy with them. It’s a crap shoot, even shoes in the same company line are very different. Yes, crujones#33 will have to just try & trot in them to see what works.
I had high hopes for the epic but read some really bad reviews. There is almost no outsole so the foam is exposed kinda like rmat on a Hoka except the Nike wears down insanely fast
Also, in 2 days, the Nike Epic React will be released. 10 mm drop at 7.8 oz for size 9. First shoe of its kind to feature this foam. Wouldn’t know if it is any good. I’m sort of an adidas fan myself but recently have been using the Pegasus & Vomero from Nike & been quite happy with them. It’s a crap shoot, even shoes in the same company line are very different. Yes, crujones#33 will have to just try & trot in them to see what works.
I was looking at that too. One thing I didn’t care for on my Cliftons was the lack of durability on the outsole. On the other hand, while it has been nearly 2 decades since I’ve had Nike for regular daily trainers, I have been impressed with the rubber on the heel area for durability. I use Pegasus for more faster paced runs & the Vomero for daily plodding along. Which…in truth, is not much different as I mostly “plod” along.
Both are basically cousins of each other–with the Vomero having a forefoot air zoom bag & a tad more heel wrap cushion. Both were on sale for $69 at different times, so nabbed them up quick.
The Vomero and Pegasus were the two shoes I recommended above. I really hope the reviews I read were wrong as the epic looks pretty awesome.
I had high hopes for the epic but read some really bad reviews. There is almost no outsole so the foam is exposed kinda like rmat on a Hoka except the Nike wears down insanely fast
Also, in 2 days, the Nike Epic React will be released. 10 mm drop at 7.8 oz for size 9. First shoe of its kind to feature this foam. Wouldn’t know if it is any good. I’m sort of an adidas fan myself but recently have been using the Pegasus & Vomero from Nike & been quite happy with them. It’s a crap shoot, even shoes in the same company line are very different. Yes, crujones#33 will have to just try & trot in them to see what works.
I was looking at that too. One thing I didn’t care for on my Cliftons was the lack of durability on the outsole. On the other hand, while it has been nearly 2 decades since I’ve had Nike for regular daily trainers, I have been impressed with the rubber on the heel area for durability. I use Pegasus for more faster paced runs & the Vomero for daily plodding along. Which…in truth, is not much different as I mostly “plod” along.
Both are basically cousins of each other–with the Vomero having a forefoot air zoom bag & a tad more heel wrap cushion. Both were on sale for $69 at different times, so nabbed them up quick.
I had same issue - moved to NB zante for tempo and to Saucony Ride / NB 1080 for long rides - worked out quite well; the calf strain is gone
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Alright, so let’s assume that you like all of the following off of the Kinvara:
Lighter weightHigh cushioning to weight ratioFlexibility in the forefootWidth in the midfoot to provide a more stable platform to land on
With that in mind, let’s look at the “higher” offset options:
Brooks Levitate - 8 mm offset, features Brooks version of the new TPU style foams. It’s firmer than anticipated in the heel. Surprisingly so. But a pretty soft ride nonetheless.
Saucony Triumph - I figure if you’re going to go all the way in the Saucony platforms, you might as well go to the plushest shoe in the line-up. This is a meat and potatoes structured neutral trainer that you really can’t go wrong with.
Mizuno Wave Rider - I love this update. LOVE it. Really harkens back to the glory days of the Rider (the 13 and 15, for those keeping score at home).
Nike Zoom Fly - as already mentioned, not the $250 version. It’s surprisingly stable for how narrow it is in the midfoot. I’m really surprised by this shoe. I secretly wanted to hate it. Instead I’m putting a shitton of miles on them.
Adidas Supernova - Skipping the Boston or the Energy Boost for this particular workhorse of the adidas line-up. Their shoes are heavier than you might expect, but the ride is worth it, IMO.
Good luck.