Shoes for mud/rock/gravel/dirt/wet stones

Triathlon Forum
1

I took to heart posters advice to run my young dog on the trails, not the roads.
Already I’ve gone down a couple of times and rolled my ankle once.
I need shoes with better traction, but also need some protection.
The trail near my house has sections of thick and slimy mud as well as hard packed dirt, loose gravel, stationary sharp rocks and roots, stream crossings over wet stones, and steep sections (some with steps).
My dog loves it.
I’m sure I’ll get better at this type of running, but in the meantime I’m going to seriously injure myself without better shoes.

My road shoes are Miz Wave Universe and Asics Piranha SP3.
I picked up a pair of NB MT101 for the trail but just go sliding across the mud and wet stones, no traction. I do appreciate the rock plate, however.
I was thinking maybe the NB MT110 might do the trick…but not sure.
What shoe would you advise for the diverse trail conditions?

Thanks.

2

Vibram fivefingers.

3

I have some KSO’s, but my feet aren’t near tough enough to handle these rocks at the speed my dog requires…
They are great on smooth and gravel though.
(Translation: I’m a wimp)

4

If you’re looking to go minimal I’d suggest taking a look at some of Inov8’s offerings - they have some very well made trail shoes with agressive, grippy tread.

5

Thanks. It’s hard for me to tell from their descriptions: any idea which model would be better for this type terrain, X-talons or Roclites?

6

Salomon makes some great trail running shoes. At all the local trail races, they’re all I ever see.

7

Brooks Cascadia’s best all around trail shoe. IMHO

8

If you go to runningwarehouse.com they have some added description. From what I remember both are pretty aggressive with the X-Talon being more of a racing flat and the Rocklite being more of a traditional trail shoe.

9

Brooks makes several great shoes (3 models that I run in regularly), but I feel that the cascadia is the D student in their brand. A lot of people swear by them, but I find the design to be extremely cumbersome and simply outdated. Most companies currently offer a ~10oz shoe that provides comparable durability, superior protection, and far better traction.

I’ll second the Salomon and Inov-8 suggestions. The Salomon speedcross is probably the best variable-terrain shoe for long distances. The Inov-8 x-talon (or lighter roclites) would be the “minimalist” short distance counterpart.

10

I just started trail running and bought the Salomon XT Wings S-Lab 4. Been runninging in them for a few weeks now and love them. Great stability, traction and comfort and fit

11

While I have not tried them personally, I took a look at the Saucony Peregrine at my LRS. The tread look the burliest and most stable, as compared to Brooks Cascadia, Brooks Pure Grit, Merrell Trail Glove, NB Minimus Trail, or the Newton Trail shoe. Plus 4mm ramp is minimalist enough for me.

I am doing a Tough Mudder event and currently run in Kinvara, so I am pretty sure the Peregrine will make the most sense for me. Planning to pick up a pair soon.

12

I run on similar terrain as you described.
Can’t praise the Inov8 X-talon enough.

It won’t offer much protection against rolling your ankle, though, but IMHO that is way more a function of proprioception than of your shoe.

13

Thanks, everyone!
I ordered a pair of x-talons, should arrive in 2 days.
Neither the Peregrins, Salomon’s, nor Cascadia have low arch structure (as reported by Running Warehouse), whereas all my other running shoes and the x-talons do.

14

The new New Balance 110s appear to have a sticky rubber in the center of the sole. I have the 101s and the 100s before that and loved them both, EXCEPT that they were slippery on wet rocks. I can’t say that the new ones will work better, but they would be worth a look.

15

NB 101’s are notorious for being slippery in/on the wet stuff, the minimus is better due to a softer compound, and the new 110’s a mix of both previous models, is slightly better.

Good choice with the x-talon 212(?) as the compound and tread spikes work quite well on wet rocks, roots, but as someone mentioned, a very flexible thin-ish sole, (no rock-stop we agree on liking in the NB 101’s), so foot placement and lower center-of-gravity (bend your legs more, to absorb and mold each new foot placement to the terrain you are running over), and it’s all good.

Only drawback to the spikes and softer compound is wear, it’s quicker, especially if you have to run on harder surfaces (concrete/tarmac), to get to the trails where you finally get to enjoy being schooled by your four-legged friends.

Try the f-lite 230’s after you wear out your x-talon 212’s, I prefer them as no problem with wear issues on hard-pac, good proprioception feedback on the trails, gullies, ravines and coastlines, in and out of the water.

And if you still struggle to float and flow on the terrain you chose to go play on, take a cue from your dog, quick feet, light and dynamic, absorb some landings almost too a crouch, dance quickly and dynamically (pop-pop-pop!) on your feet over other obstacles, slipping and sliding is okay too, and the use of a third or fourth limb (your hands and arms),on bigger boulders in rivers and on the coast can even up the odds a little in your favor (one to two for us, against three to four limbs in use for them).

Have fun, you know our dogs are, every time, rain or shine!

16

I do about 50-75% of my running on trails. I love montrail masochists for an armored shoe… You can even get them in breathable gore tex.

Recently though, I’ve been doing all of my trail running in NB mt20’s. Since the shoe is so low to the ground, you won’t ever have to worry about rolling an ankle. I’m a nuetral gait/supinator, so rolling outside is pretty common, but yet, I haven’t rolled once in the mt20’s after 3+ months. Seriously these are the best shoes I’ve ever used on the trails or elsewhere. Everything from fast MTB root/rock covered single tracks to horse pounded trails to the mountains to fire roads to street running to the treadmill to walking around at work. Haven’t found anything that challenges these shoes.

17

The new New Balance 110s appear to have a sticky rubber in the center of the sole. I have the 101s and the 100s before that and loved them both, EXCEPT that they were slippery on wet rocks. I can’t say that the new ones will work better, but they would be worth a look.

Great, thanks, I’ll keep my eye out for reviews. I do much like the 101s on the dry.

18

I LOVE the Pearl Izumi Peak II’s. Really comfortable, sock like liner, good tread, light, bomber sole…

Brent

19

NB 101’s are notorious for being slippery in/on the wet stuff, the minimus is better due to a softer compound, and the new 110’s a mix of both previous models, is slightly better.
Good choice with the x-talon 212(?) as the compound and tread spikes work quite well on wet rocks, roots, but as someone mentioned, a very flexible thin-ish sole, (no rock-stop we agree on liking in the NB 101’s), so foot placement and lower center-of-gravity (bend your legs more, to absorb and mold each new foot placement to the terrain you are running over), and it’s all good.

Only drawback to the spikes and softer compound is wear, it’s quicker, especially if you have to run on harder surfaces (concrete/tarmac), to get to the trails where you finally get to enjoy being schooled by your four-legged friends.

Try the f-lite 230’s after you wear out your x-talon 212’s, I prefer them as no problem with wear issues on hard-pac, good proprioception feedback on the trails, gullies, ravines and coastlines, in and out of the water.

And if you still struggle to float and flow on the terrain you chose to go play on, take a cue from your dog, quick feet, light and dynamic, absorb some landings almost too a crouch, dance quickly and dynamically (pop-pop-pop!) on your feet over other obstacles, slipping and sliding is okay too, and the use of a third or fourth limb (your hands and arms),on bigger boulders in rivers and on the coast can even up the odds a little in your favor (one to two for us, against three to four limbs in use for them).

Have fun, you know our dogs are, every time, rain or shine!

I ordered the x-talon 190, can’t wait for it to arrive. There’s only 0.2mi pavement from my house to the trail, and I tend to be easy on tread (at least for road shoes), so I’m not too concerned about wear. If it is a problem, I’ll certainly check out the f-lite 230.

And thank you for all the tips!

20

I will also give a vote for the roclites, I train with the 285’s and love them
.