Hi all, another review this time running shoes.
Over the years i have tried many different brand of shoes (Asics, puma, fila, adidas, nike, reebok, salomon…you name it) because i was never able to find a shoe i could run in barefooted. My feet have a tendency to sweat profusely (i call it leaking!!) and as a result i blister very rapidly. I also get blisters on the arch of my foot where the inner sole of the shoe stops and the body of the shoes starts. Usually i can get a blister within 2Km right from the start. I have also tried “special inner soles” but alas to no help.
So, i thought maybe a real tri specific pair of shoes would be good as most brand advertise a “sock like” feeling and i do not get any blisters when i run with socks. In my part of the world (Austria, europe), Zoot are pretty hard to go by so after some research i stumbled upon those : Diadora Mythos Fly Triathlon (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=36366). I thought with a name like this is it either a joke or serious, so i ordered them.
They arrived 48 hours later. Firstly these are light. I’d say as light as a pair of nike lunar. The material is a good combination of breathable mesh and tougher suede looking one so you get durability where you need to. The elastic system is problem and hassle free and so is the strap on the top. The heel hoop is large and i can fit my “sausage finger” through so it is all good. Jumping in those does not take longer than 8sec once you get use to it all. The area around the heel is very tough, very rigid which felt strange at first but once you are in you don’t think about it anymore. Actually i think it balances the front lightness well and makes for a well balanced shoe.
Now, the thing which i felt unhappy with when i was reading about this shoes was that i could not find much about the cushioning system, but nonetheless i bought them. Now if like me you are anal about your gear, when you look at the sole of the shoe you will notice something : there is a small coiled wire running from 1 end of the shoe to the other end. Yes there is a metal wire in the sole!!! I guess it shapes as come from “hours of wind tunnel testing and CAD / FEA…” but i felt that the run was smooth tyet responsive, something different, something new.
Overall the built is very good, the weight is very good, the fit is very good, and my feet breath well.
I went for a quick 10K run (around Nice, south France, 25C, 19h00) to test and break those in. Being my race shoes they won’t be used often for training. Putting the shoes on was a effotless, they fit perfectly from the word go. I was barefooted and i could feel the arch of my feet well in contact wiht the in-sole : this was a winner instantaneously, i knew i would not have any blisters. The very 1st Km or so was strange as they are light, but the rigidity of the ankle area was a bit confusing, but after a while you can see the benefit of both and once you settle in your stride it is all good. Now the run was hilly, and going up the lightness of the shoes was noticeable, i was able to climb uphill much easier than before, but the real plus was going down.
I am a big guy : 180 cm and 90 Kgs (unfortunately not fat, but i can not go below 88Kgs…) and usually i can not go down hill too fast for fear of damaging my achilles tendon / heel. With these, no problem and this is where the rigid-ish hell area of the shoes played its part. I could let myself roll down as fast as i wanted to and i did not feel any pain, or felt like the shoes was not up to it. i felt also that the shoes had an even more noticeable “spring effect” going downhill, maybe that wire in the sole is actually useful!!!
After my run i was ache and blister free, legs were fine. The following morning i did not experienced any tendon problems ( i always stretch a lot mind you) so i was very pleased with my purchase.
Bottom line : these are good, a bit pricey but it is a product i will buy again i think. I guess with my weight i might have to change them every season. The 10 km was a good distance to test them, i will see how they fare during this season (4 DOs, 2 sprint and ironman Monaco) but i doubt they will be that comfy for a guy of my build over 20 Km, so i will need to look around for a pair of shoes for IM Nice in 2010.
Hope this helps, drop me a line if you need more info or some pics.
Keep tri-ing
Ralphy