Best New Shoes of 2013

by Chris McClung

Mizuno Wave Rider 16 – Best Update

Mizuno’s Wave Rider has been a favorite of runners since its first version. The shoe has a firm but smooth ride with a forgiving upper that keeps your foot in place while still fitting a wide variety of feet.  Version 15 of the shoe was its best iteration yet, until Mizuno topped itself with this latest iteration. Version 16 has the same midsole and outsole that everyone loves (from Version 15), but the shoe now has an all-new upper that weighs a full ounce lighter than the previous version. The shoe dipped under 10 ounces, which puts it on par with many lightweight shoes that have much less cushioning. By using new materials and making small changes such as reducing the size of the logo on the in-step, Mizuno dropped the weight of the shoe without compromising the cushioning or feel of the shoe under foot. And, if you can cut a full ounce from each step without changing anything else, why wouldn’t you?!?

 

Brooks Launch – Best Return from the Dead

The Launch has been the best-kept secret in specialty running since its introduction three years ago. It was so good, in fact, that Brooks made only color changes to the original design until they famously announced that it was being dropped from its line, with plans to end production in December of 2012. With the announcement, message boards and blogs exploded in uproar as many Launch lovers (read: fanatics) screamed for its return. Brooks finally heard their cries, announcing in December that the Launch would return with throwback colors this month.

The shoe is elegant in its simplicity. Its midsole is void of many of the “technologies” that mark the signature designs of other more-marketed shoes, but the simplicity is what makes it great. It is lightweight at only 9.1 ounces, but with a cushioned feel that can support any type of runner. And, the ride is so smooth that your heel to toe transition in this shoe makes your stride nearly effortless at any pace. Long live the Launch!

 

Adidas Energy Boost – Best New Innovation

 

The Boost just debuted in February and, with it, Adidas is getting more attention in the running shoe category than it has in a decade. The signature component of this shoe is a newly designed midsole material that, according to lab tests from independent sources, has the most energy return of any midsole material ever placed in a shoe. The material is also reported to be highly durable and resistant to the effects of temperature that can wreak havoc on traditional foams, making it a great pick to combat the Texas heat. Putting it on, the shoe has a plush step-in feel, and when running, it can only be described as abnormally bouncy. The bounce feels strange at first but, after the initial shock-value fades, makes you feel like you can run forever in it. The upper is snug, flexible and fits a wider variety of feet than most other Adidas models with a more-narrow fit. Also, look out for two additional versions of the shoe coming later this year, the AdiStar Boost and Adios Boost, debuting in August and October, respectively.

 

New Balance 1400 – Best New Twist

The New Balance 1400, like the Brooks Launch, is known for its elegant simplicity, with a pure-foam midsole and no added bells and whistles. The shoe debuted last year to rave reviews. At 7.1 ounces, it is considered a “marathon racing shoe,” but the level of cushioning in the shoe feels more like 9-10 ounces, thanks to its innovative RevLite foam from New Balance that weighs 33% less than traditional foams. The high cushioning-to-weight ratio makes it extremely versatile to be used as a training shoe by some or as a racing flat by others. In June, New Balance will release a version of this shoe with a new competition-style upper that is also used in their super-light track spikes. This twist will drop another ounce from the shoe with no change to how the shoe feels under foot, permanently re-defining what it means to have lightweight cushioning. This, my friends, is not your father’s New Balance.

Mizuno Wave Sayonara – Most Anticipated Debut

In July, Mizuno is dropping the popular Wave Precision from its line, the original lightweight trainer, and replacing it with the all-new Wave Sayonara. Though the decision seems like a big gamble, it is a calculated risk forced in part by the changes to the Wave Rider mentioned above. With the Wave Rider now at 9.9 ounces, the Wave Precision was too similar at 9.5 ounces, so Mizuno is giving it an overhaul with a new name in the Sayonara. At Rogue, we can’t wait. Though we have not been able to try it yet, the Sayonara is reported to be over an ounce lighter than the Precision, with a more responsive ride and faster feel, all while maintaining similar levels of cushioning. If the fit is as good as the current Precision, which has the best-fitting upper on the wall, then these changes could be a recipe for our new favorite shoe. Hello to the Sayonara, good-bye to your running group friends after you lace on these new shoes this summer!

 See the published version of this article on page 12 of Naturally Fit Magazine!

Offwhat?

by John Schrup

For those of you who consider such things, may we present to you an incomplete list of some of the footwear available on the Rogue Wall and their offsets.  The offset, or differential, or drop, or ramp or whateverthe**** you want to call it, is the difference in millimeters between the height of the foam under the heel and under the forefoot.  Each company measures a bit differently, and offset is not to be confused with stack height, which is the total height of all the stuff under your foot—outsole, midsole, insert.  So stack height can be upwards of 10mm higher, if you’re looking at a really high end luxury shoe.

Just because a shoe has a lower offset doesn’t mean the shoe is going to be smoother, though that help a bit.  We have several models in our quiver with higher offsets, and they are as smooth or smoother than shoes with lower offsets.  For example, the Adios is 9mm, and it is way smoother that the Pure Flow, which is a full 5mm lower.  Similarly, not all shoes with the same offset are going to feel the same.  The Launch, the men’s Nimbus and the Dyad all come in at 10mm, yet feel way, way different.  There are so many other variables to consider—weight, durometer (the firmness of the shoe), whether there is any proprietary drop in (superfluous) cushioning or midfoot truss, the fit of the shoe—that it won’t do you any good to buy a shoe just because it has a lower or higher offset.  In the same way that we once chose shoes based on arch height and stuff like that.

Generally, we prefer lighter and lower.  But you might not.  You could be running in an Ariel with a rigid plastic orthotic and that might be the least amount of shoe you are comfortable with.  So go with that.  As a rule:  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

All of this—these numbers that really don’t mean much in the end—is considerably less important if your body is strong and resilient.  If you aren’t, ain’t no shoe in the world gonna do you a lick of good.  Note, too, that these numbers are as determined not by the maker of the shoe, but by independent testing, so the numbers might vary from what you’ve seen.

0mm
NB Trail00
NB Road00
K-Swiss Blade Foot
Mizuno EVO Cursoris (2013)
Brooks Pure Drift (2013)

3mm
INOV-8  195
Newton Distance

4mm
NB Trail110
Saucony Kinvara
Saucony Kinvara TR
Brooks Pure Flow
adidas adipure Adapt

5mm
adidas Hagio
NB Road10
Brooks Pure Connect
Brooks Pure Cadence
Saucony Mirage
Newton Gravity

6mm
INOV-8 230
ASICS Gel Lyte33
adidas adipure Gazelle
NB1600

8mm
Saucony Ride
Saucony Triumph
adidas adipure Motion
NB 890
NB 870

9mm
adidas Adios
Mizuno Wave Musha
Brooks Ravenna

10mm
adidas Feather
ASICS Tarther
ASICS DS Trainer
ASICS M Nimbus
ASICS GT2000
ASICS Excel33
Brooks Dyad
Brooks Launch
Brooks Cascadia

11mm
Brooks Ghost
NB 1400

12mm
Mizuno Wave Rider
Mizuno Wave Elixir
Brooks Racer ST
Brooks Adrenaline
Nike Pegasus

13mm
Mizuno Wave Precision

Check it:  For those of you who fancy yourself a dedicated runner, a dedicated marathoner, who wants to find out what you’re made of, John coaches Team Rogue on T, Th mornings at 5:30.

My List

by John Schrup

Pretty soon in this space you’ll see a list of the Best Rogue Shoes of 2012.  We probably should have named it something with a better hook, but we’re doing our lunge matrix right now, so time is limited.  It seems to me that every year about this time, shortly after the high temperatures drop to double digits and the Starbucks puts up its Christmas tree, we get lists of all the things that the past year has broughten us.  I blame David Letterman.

So my list isn’t really a list, rather just a space to tell you what shoes I wear regularly in my rotation.  I have, I don’t know, maybe a dozen or so pair that I wear.  Some more than others.  Some rarely, kinda like when you’re going through your high school yearbook and you go, Hm, wonder what she’s been doing.  But there are, like, five pair that I rotate pretty regularly.  I’m going to give them to you here and now because, you know, I’ve had coffee.   A quick glance in the back seat of the Yaris gives us this:

 Saucony A5:  Technically, Saucony’s race flat.  They should call it the Kinvara Racer because it would make more sense in terms of branding and, you know, sounding better.  These bad girls are tight!  Not fit wise, but you know what I’m talking about.  If I were talking about tight fit, I’d talk about the Gloria Vanderbilt jeans Jill Strelsky wore when we went to see The Devil and Max Devlin back in the day.  I’m not going to tell you how old I was when that happened, but I will tell you I remember being pretty excited because that year in school we got to use the lined paper that didn’t have the little training wheel dashes between the big lines.  So, um, yeah.   Not only was she hot, but girl was ****ing awesome in the four square tournaments at lunch.  Anyway, Sauncony A5 because it is light, low and feels like Jill’s jeans look.

adidas Adios 2:  Even though it would appear that the A2 goes against     everything I look for in a shoe–it ain’t particularly low, nor flexible, it’s got all kinds of shit in the midsole–when I put these things on to run I can vote retroactively and the TSA people get in line to frisk me.  They are the most beautifully firm shoe I’ve ever worn.  I’ve got two or three other pair with similar offsets, but none feel as fast as these do.  If you were to chart the awesomeness of these shoes, I’d let you, and then I’d do venn diagram of it.   I’ve got my fingers crossed that the bottle lands on the original Adios, since they’re way sexier, but these are worthy of a shared visit to the closet, totally.  I bet though that when the Takumi Sen comes out, my A2′s become that kid at the party who fiddles around with all the stereo equipment because no one picks them to make out.

 

Ok, so it appears that I’m stuck somewhere back in the early 80′s, if we go by the content of the first two on the list.  Let’s fast forward to the mid-to late-80′s, if your brain cells go there.

Saucony Kinvara 3:  This shoe, at one point, was like that older girl you met in summer school who was really cool because she listened to PE when you were still singing “Abracadabra.”  She was ahead of her time, super sexy and you had to keep your shirt untucked when you ran/saw her in the hall.  Yeah, I’d make it a little firmer, but this shoe disappears on your foot, and that’s pretty much what a shoe is supposed to do, so I’m not complaining.  If the K3 had the firmness of the A2, holy crap, I’d totally get arrested for the things I’m thinking right now.  Or maybe applauded, I don’t know your background.

New Balance 1600:  Not too long ago, this would have been the 1400.  But then the 1600 came out, and so you drop the first one for the roommate, and the first one starts driving by your place when the roommate is there, even though you live like nine miles from campus and then the first one comes up to you in front of the administration building when you’re on your way to the sorority thing in the Pub and she gets all in your face and you can tell she’s had a drink or two and then she grabs your tie and tries to throw you to the ground but you do one of those Matrix moves and get out of it and then have to file a police report and then you stick with the 1600, because it is sexier, anyway.

Wow.  I’m reliving the glory days, it would seem.  Since there are only four pair of shoes in the Yaris right now, the fifth one would have to be:

adidas Rocket:  You thought I was going to say the Hagio, dintcha?  Nope.   I’ve got a stash of the Rocket in the living room closet.  It is pretty old school, especially when compared to the Hagio, which is all dépêche mode and shit, but it is smoother, doesn’t make that slappy sound when you’re breaking it in, and the upper is way more better.  The Rocket is like that guy you knew who was pretty much everything you ever wanted in a boyfriend, but just couldn’t pull the trigger because he looked like an Alfred E. Newman/arachnid hybrid.  Performs at the highest level, is everything you want, super awesome on all fronts, except that you just don’t completely dig it on a count of the whole, you know, ugly thing.  I’m going to say it again:  When the Takumi Sen arrives, even the Rocket is gonna be all, Why don’t you return my messages anymore?

Check it:  For those of you who fancy yourself a dedicated runner, a dedicated marathoner, who wants to find out what you’re made of, John coaches Team Rogue on T, Th mornings at 5:30.

Review: Asics GT 2000

by John Schrup

I know.  I had to.

The GT series has been one of the most popular running shoes across the globe for more than a decade.  It’s like a Toyota Camry, except shoes.  Never flashy or remarkable other than the consistency, with a minor tweak here or there.  ASICS are finally forced to change what once was the archetypal stability running shoe due to market pressures to go lighter, leaner, blingier.  Okay, let’s not use the word change, because that’s for politicians; instead let’s use the word “repackage.”

Back in the day, or 1996, one of my all-time favorite shoes, the ASICS GT 2020 was the shit.  Ugly as all get out, at least by today’s standards—it was all white with just enough of the black accenting so that it didn’t look like the shoes you wear when you go get your Luann at the Luby’s over there.  I can’t really remember what I liked about them, because those were the “Are you gonna finish that drink?” years.  I remember feeling very fast in them, that they fit right on the money and it was the first pair of stability shoes I ever had, because some dude in the running shop back home looked at my flat ass feet and told me I needed them.  So, yeah.  Pretty sure it was mostly the fit that I liked, which ASICS promptly screwed up with the 2030 when they narrowed the toe box.  Remember those?  With the blue and yellow.

Anyway, I forgot about the 2020’s for years, ‘til round about ’01-’02 or thereabouts when I got a pair of the Puma that were bad to the ass.  The Complete Pryde II or something like that.  It was basically the 2020, with the Puma logo and it was navy.  I loved the shit out of that shoe.  I don’t know why you needed to know that, but there you go.

Over the years, BA (Before Adrenaline) the GT series became the number one shoe on the planet.  All those years we believed that we needed stability shoes because we were told by people who were thought to know stuff.  As a general rule.  Like, more than 75% of the population wore stability shoes.  But because ASICS tends to respond to the market on the, you know, slow side, and people started asking for and buying into the new generation of running shoes, the GT lost some street cred.

Which brings us to now:  The GT 2000.  The lighter, more colorful 20whateverweareatnow.   ASICS removed some weight—good, good—and made some midsole/outsole changes that make them feel a bit smoother, but it is really more of a repackaging than a change.  It’s kinda like the forty-something regular to average guy who gets divorced and then the next time you see him he’s wearing skinny jeans and a Count Chocula tshirt or some shit.  The pair I’ve been wearing—no, the shoes, not the jeans—is lime green with some red, is pretty unASICS-like, so that’s good.  The fit is the best part of these bad mamajamas.  Glove-a-licious.  New welded overlays make for a light, snug fit.  They’ve retained some of the responsiveness that made them favorites among the faster crowd—at least, at one time—except now you can really feel the pillowtop they’ve added to the midsole.  So it’s got nice step in feel, but once you get running, they’re decently responsive.  Still feels like I’m wearing KISS boots though.  (Maybe that’s a better analogy:  Once top of the charts rockers get rebranded for their reunion tour!)

Anyway, if you’ve been a fan of the GTs, you’ll be an even bigger fan of these.  ASICS knows better than to mess with something that’s worked well for so long, but recognizes that everything changes and the time for a change is now, and by now I mean like 5 years ago.  I know tons of people who swear by the GTs and they’re going to see this model as the best of the bunch.

The List

by John Schrup

My eldest son, Isaac (three and a half/almost four/46 months/1395 days, give or take a few) has a solid understanding of gift giving.  As long as he’s the one on the receiving end, anyway.  Giving?  Not so much.  “You could get it for me for my birthday,” is a relatively common suggestion.  One day we practiced unwrapping presents, much, I suppose, in the same way we would practice running in progression or some shit.  We spent about an hour, me giving him things that he already owned—light sabers, plastic food, puzzle pieces—and he unwrapping the newspaper over and over and over, always with a well played display of surprise.  “Thanks, Papa!  Just what I’ve always wanted!”

At some point in these one-act plays, he’ll ask when, exactly, is his birthday again?  Can it be tomorrow?  He loves his presents, that kid.  There is an imaginary list that is updated regularly which contains all the things that he’s ever asked for.  “Just put it on the list.”  The other boy, Sam, has not a concept for gifts whatsoever, other than that things go in his mouth.

I tell you all this not to impress upon you in any way that my children are any different from any other children you have or know, because they are not.  It is not important that Isaac was, actually, the first child ever in the history of the planet to say, “Papa, look at me!” and then to fall down dramatically in a heap.

I tell you all this because I am making my very own list of things I want, and I need to share it with you.  What can I say?  I’m a giver.

My list is shoes.  Go figure.  There are several that I’m salivating over, and they aren’t even on the wall yet.   In January, some new models are due to arrive, and I’m pretty much so excited I’m in danger of wetting myself.  In public.  So don’t ask me about the new shoes if you see me in the Central Market.   This list I’m creating could end up being pretty extensive, but I’m only gonna give you a handful of them.  I’m doing this for your benefit, you know.  I’ve had a quad Americano and I’m afraid it’s gonna get wordy up in here.

Zero drop hits the masses.  When this whole “minimalist” thing began, Vibram was pretty much it as far as zero drop.  Now we’ve got almost everyone in the game and the result is some really nice stuff for you to run in.  These are really cushioned shoes with a zero offset, which means that the foot is essentially parallel to the ground.  Until now, most zero drop shoes were pretty thin and while they offered some really nice road feel, after several miles…ow ow ow!

 

Brooks Puredrift 

I know, right?  Brooks, best known for the Beast and the Adrenaline, gets real and introduces the fourth model in the Pure lineup.  The Drift fits snug through the midfoot and has a fairly roomy toe box so your tootsies can splay.  It will be superduper soft—in that ol’ familiar Brooks way—and will have the flexibility of a gymnast.  It will be kinda barefootish, but the softeness and the upwards curve of the forefoot (how the shoe is sprung) is a nod toward the mass market.  It’ll be like a house slipper made of cotton candy.

 

Saucony Virrata

You knew this bad girl was coming.  G’on, you knew.  Saucony has done wonderfully well with the Kinvara, creating one of the very best shoes on the wall.  Light, flexible, good fit.  Pretty much all you need in a shoe.  Our friends at Saucony already had a zero drop shoe, the Hattori, but the first version was a slip on, which is generally avoided by the masses, and it is pretty thin overall, so it bottoms out after about 50 miles.  The second incarnation has laces, but still it is going to work only as a supplementary option due to the lack of material underfoot.  Never fear, Virrata is here!  The Virrata is, in essence, a zero drop Kinvara.  It even looks like the K3.  It runs a bit softer, but with more than ample cushioning underfoot, so the zero drop will be more palatable for those of you willing to try.  If you are a FOK, you could be a FOV.

 

Mizuno Evo Levitas/Cursoris

Mizuno is, like ASICS, based in Japan, which means that adapting to market change takes a little longer.  You’ve got to go across the oceans to get an ok on something, after all.  And so Mizuno, like ASICS, has been a little late in keeping up with the trend toward lighter and lower.  Not that Mizuno hasn’t had those options—the Universe is a favorite in the Pose crowd—they just haven’t marketed them as such.  Do you find it a little strange, then, that Mizuno introduces two zero drop shoes concurrently before introducing anything else less polarizing?  A 4mm maybe?  I have to give them credit though, they’re also bringing over from Japan the Ekiden, a very popular racer that can be seen as a beefier Universe.   I might be more excited about that one!  And, forgive me for being a little picky, but the name Cursoris makes me feel a little nervous, a little dirty.  I don’t know why.   The Levitas is the more “minimal” of the two, which leads me to believe that the Cursoris will have a broader reach in the market.  Though at $120, compared to $110 for the Levitas, maybe not.

 

adidas Takumi Sen 

The Takumi Sen is not a zero drop shoe, but it doesn’t matter:  This shoe will make you change your political views.  Think of it as a finely constructed, lighter, lower, faster Adios.   With a 6mm offset, you’ll feel the ground but it won’t matter because you’ll be flying over it.  Designed by the godfather of Japanese shoe design, Mimura, who has designed shoes for just about everyone, including Olympic Gold Medalist Mizuki Noguchi, the Takumi Sen is the real deal all around racing flat—fast, light (4.6 oz. men’s 9) fast!  This shoe will make you faster.  It will clear up your skin.  You will have command over your native language.  It will give you confidence in front of a crowd. This shoe will melt your face off.

Put these on the list.

Check it:  For those of you who fancy yourself a dedicated runner, a dedicated marathoner, who wants to find out what you’re made of, John coaches Team Rogue on T, Th mornings at 5:30.

Shoe Boner Awards: The Trailer

by John Schrup

In a month or so, and by month we mean in the future, but before the end of the year, we’re going to release the Rogue Shoes of 2012:  The Shoe Boner Awards.  This list will include the very best shoes available by Rogue standards and presented to you in a way that only we can do it.  Which is to say that if you are running in a model that is not found on the list then, well, two words:  Dance off.

We must apologize in advance, because you will be offended, perhaps disgusted and because we can’t give you a more specific ETA on the SBA.   I’m behind schedule on several things, including laundry, due to the unfortunate encounter with the clam paneer at the Taco Delhi.  So you’ll see it when you see it.  I hope.  I’m still sweating.

What makes a shoe Rogue?  What makes a shoe worthy of The Wall at Rogue?  You mean, besides when you put them on and all of a sudden old ladies in track suits are frisking you in the HEB?  We like shoes that are simple designs, functional shoes.  That’s pretty much it.  We don’t go in for the bling, the “technologies” that are less technology and more, you know, stupid.  We tend to prefer shoes that might seem a little basic, a little old school.  We like shoes that allow you to do what you’re designed to do.   And we recognize that a shoe is only a small piece of the puzzle.  First you’ve gotta get fit, and we’re not talking V02 Max fit.  Structurally sound fit.  If you’re looking for the magic bullet, stop!  There ain’t one, except the one you see when you look in your mirror each morning for your daily affirmations.  Your running shoes are your most personalized tools.  If you’re thinking about them, noticing them when you’re running, then they aren’t doing you right.

You know the shoe is the right one for you when it is the one that disappears most on your foot.  It feels like an extension of your foot.  It feels most natural to you.  It is the one you notice least.  It is the one that you are intuitively drawn to.  It is easy to overthink the process because we have been taught that we need all kinds of stability or cushioning and all that shit.  No, no you don’t.  You know what you need, intuitively, you just have to learn how to recognize it.

So what are some things to look for in a shoe?  Well, several things. None of these are writ in stone, but they are great places to start.  We have noticed over the years, after fitting, like, bazillions of people and coaching almost that much, that the following design characteristics tend to work best for the widest variety of runners, , including you.  And if you think we are just going to list “minimalist” shoes, because we are a “minimalist” store, which I’ve heard several times in the last few weeks—in other cities, nonetheless—then you will get West Nile.  First, I don’t even know what that means, and B.) I’m pretty sure Donald Judd didn’t help with the build out of either store.  In your face!

Minimal overlays.  Most overlays are unnecessary.  They just are.  Most of them are there to make the shoe prettier, or more space shuttle-y, or something.  If a shoe is well designed and with good materials, there will be just enough up top to secure the shoe to the foot, and nothing more.

Lightweight.  With the resources, materials and talent that the shoe companies have these days, if your shoe is heavier than 10 oz. in men’s 9, or 8.5 oz. in women’s 7, they’re on the heavy side.  I know, right?

Flexible.  The shoe should be at least moderately flexible from heel to toe and from side to side.  Most feet are pretty flexible, and they are that way for a reason, for shock absorption, for propulsion.  If a shoe is too rigid or inflexible, it hinders the ability of the foot to do what it is supposed to do.  You’ll know if it isn’t flexible enough if you hear a slapping when your forefoot hits the ground or if your heel slips a bit at toe off.

Complete ground contact.  WTF is that?  Put your shoe, sole down, on the table or person in front of you.  From heel to toe you should see very little daylight along the point where the shoe meets the surface it is on.  You won’t find any midfoot trusses, just foam and rubber.  Complete ground contact makes the heel-toe transition much smoother, makes the shoe more inherently stable and, yep, lighter.  What does it look like?  Look at the Launch.  Classic example.  The 890/1400/1600?  Totally.  Pegasus?  Yes’m.

Lower offset.  Traditionally, the standard offset has been about 12mm.  That’s the difference in foam height between the heel and the ball of the foot.  There is endless argument about whether it makes a difference, or not.  Here’s how you know what works for you:  Try different heel heights.  Then you’ll know.  Almost invariably, people feel more comfortable in offsets that are lower than the traditional heights.  The shoes feel smoother, your gait feels smoother, your skin feels smoother.  I’m not going to go into the argument here, because I don’t have enough coffee for that, but I will say that our experiential information tells us that lower is better.  How low?  I don’t know, mofo.

Knowing all this, there will be someone who says, “Hey man. What’s up with the Adios 2?  That one’s got all the shit you don’t like on it.  WTF?”  Yes.  Yes it does.  And it is still bad ass.

Straight ballin’ EVA.  Proprietary cushioning technologies really don’t do much for you except give the shoe a certain feel, maybe add a hint of durability and that’s about it.  Straight EVA is so much smoother underfoot, you don’t even know!  It might seem a little far-fetched, but bounce with me here for a second:   I think if you have, like, three or four or five different densities, materials—whatever–under your foot, your nervous system is picking up on that, whether you notice it or not.  Now think about walking on a surface that is just one material—grass, concrete, dirt—and then compare that to walking on a surface that is a mix of a whole bunch of different things—twigs, rocks, grass, dirt.  Which one is smoother?  I know, right?  Ok, so that’s a terrible analogy.  I’m a terrible analogyist.

Hold your breath.  Shoe Boner Awards coming soon.

Dendoshi

by John Schrup

Now that I’m a well-seasoned traveler, having been in the last month to exotic destinations like The Republic of Boulder and Pine Mountain, Georgia, I’m pretty sure I’m an expert when it comes to hotels and how to stay in them.  I’ll give you two examples:  In Boulder we were put up in the St. Julien, which is so fancy that I should have known that no matter where I stayed next, it would be pretty much a hostel, except with complimentary shampoos.

Dendoshi: a fancy Japanese word for Here, Drink This.

Well, I was kinda wrong.  At this very moment—riiiiiiiiiiight now!—I’m on a chartered bus back to the airport in Atlanta, just having left the Mizuno Dendoshi, which is a fancy Japanese word for Here, Drink This.  Mizuno was very generous and put us up at the Lodge and Spa and Resort and Gathering Place at Callaway Gardens.  It’s a really spacious place dropped smack dab in the middle of the lushest, greenest, most fertile, most Deliverance place I’ve ever been.  Of course, being a resort, there are lake-y things and places where guys in expandapants play golf, but our only access to them was visual as we ran by.  So the place was really swanky.  But here I’m gonna go all asshole on you and sound like an ungrateful sumbitch, but this place was….well…how should I put this, um, diplomatically?  There is room for improvement in a couple of areas.  I’m going to tell you about them now.

One, I cannot overstate the importance of coffee in the hotel room.  It is more important than the, I don’t know, lighting.  Almost every hotel I’ve ever been in has one of those two stroke(1) coffee makers with either the little coffee pods or the coffee pouches (those things that look like those Copenhagen tobacco pouches that you tried once back in middle school, but made the unfortunate mistake of thinking it was supposed to be chewed and swallowed, and the gastrointestinal reaction was such that the next door neighbor heard the retching sounds, thought there was a murder in progress and called the cops).  You know what I’m talking about.  Those pouches.
Anyway, this place had the pouches.  I’m sorry.  The pouch.  The room had one pouch.  The whole purpose of the first cup of coffee is to make sure that you’re alert for the second cup of coffee.  I mean, really.  One pouch.  And the coffee itself, well, it tasted like it had been filtered through underwear.  It was not good.

Two, in most nicer hotels (and by nicer I mean places where you don’t have to put the sheets on the bed yourself) there can be found coffee dispensers throughout the hallways, meeting rooms, etc, etc.  It’ll have the attendant stirrers, sweeteners, creamy things, paper cups.  Essentially, if you find yourself in need of coffee, it is available.  It is available even if you don’t need it, which I don’t think could ever happen, ever, really, but you never know.  But here, at this place in Georgia, apparently they’ve gone all Bloomberg on the coffee.  You have to go to the restaurant to get coffee. Or to the front desk for more pouches, where they look at you like you just asked if they have any of the classy animal porn.  I don’t know anything about that.  I mean, we’re trying to have a conference here people!   Shit man.  Coffee!  So, my two gripes are basically because I didn’t have access to, you know, Deus ex caffeina.  In all fairness, the hotel did provide us Dendoshiers with coffee dispensers for the meetings, but that left whole periods of minutes when we weren’t in meetings where caffeine access was unavailable.

But, Dendoshi.  The conference.  The seminar.  The storytelling.  That’s what Dendoshi means in Japanese, storytelling.  We were there for Mizuno to tell us the Mizuno story.  The timing was good, for us anyway, since we were beginning to really wonder WTF was up with Mizuno, a perennial favorite among the core runner, as they had slipped in the ratings, so much so at Rogue as to barely register on the radar.  The Rider gets some play, but after the shitfest that was the Rider 14, people aren’t coming back to them as we might have wanted.  The Musha are legit, but underappreciated at best.  (I loooooooooved the Revolver(2), the predecessor to the Musha.)  We like the Precision somewhat, but it is essentially a lighter Rider, and so it is otherwise kind of a yawner.  The nice things about the Precision and Rider are that you know what you’re gonna get (except for last year when Mizuno shit the bed with the Rider 14), and Mizuno is arguably the most consistent brand on the wall.

Dendoshi is Mizuno’s effort to make us feel more a part of the Mizuno family, to include us in the conversation so we can in turn include the customer on the same conversation.  Admittedly, Mizuno got behind the curve, and was late to the game in introducing the lighter, lower, more flexible and, aw hell, more minimal shoes that we are all now familiar with.  Yeah, they had the Musha, which I think works really well in that category, and the Universe, which is so good in that respect that the Romanov cult digs it, but they are marketed as racers, and Mizuno wants to keep it that way.

(The new Ekiden, straight from the Japanese market, will intro in the US early 2013, and while basically a heavier—by 1 oz—Universe, it should also fit well in the The Shit category.  And my feeling is that Mizuno would do well to bring the Kudos to the US.  The Kudos is a racer, designed for the more efficient mid-foot runner and for Yukiko Akaba, an elite Japanese marathoner, and would bring new levels of badassery to Mizuno Running USA.  If these were in the U.S., I would bring them breakfast tacos and quad Americanos and then quietly back away so as not to disturb them(3).

We were told about or shown three (ok, four) new products that are due to arrive in the next year.  The EVO duo are an offering in the zero drop offset category.  Why are there two of them?  I don’t ****ing know.  You only need one zero drop.  But you can see the progressive design features that Mizuno is shooting for, and the less minimal of the two—I can’t get the names right because they aren’t particularly memorable names, or maybe that’s just some neurons misfiring, I don’t know—is the one you’ll want because it is more protective and won’t be such a stretch for you to wear and run it.  The colors are awesome.  Very Mizuno.  Which means bright color combinations that you wouldn’t expect, except from maybe artists who do lots of drugs.  Anyway, the EVO.  So that will be cool.

Then we saw the Wave Sayonara.  The name is almost too cute by half, but it has its lineage in the Wave Goodbye, a lightweight trainer/racer from about a dozen years ago.  The Sayonara will be lightweight trainer (roughly 8 oz for the men’s size 9) and continue with Mizuno’s affinity for quirky design and coloring.  The drawings we saw showed us shoes that don’t look very Mizuno at all.  So they got that going for them, which is nice.  Hode up!, you say.  So there will be the Rider, the Precision, the Sayonara, the Ronin?  That’s a lot of neutral, bro.  Yes it is.  Which is why Mizuno is ditching the Precision.  I know.  Seriously.  Just as the Precision achieves some real street cred, it gets yanked.  I know.  Me too.  But apparently the Precision has been on life support for some time now, and the plug was actually pulled right before the current one blew up, and by then it was too late.  The Sayonara was already in line and they were all, oopsie.  But I like that it will be considerably lighter, and (surprise! surprise!) has complete ground contact kinda like the Musha, because all those midfoot support trusses or whatever are completely unnecessary.  And when I say completely, I mean they are stupid.  So unless Mizuno just derps it, the Sayonara will get you much, much action.

You all know of our love for the New Balance flats these days right?  The 1400 makes you giddy, in the 1600 you begin to make questionable decisions, and the 5000—the lightest flat available—promotes full frontal nudity in public.  Well, Mizuno wouldn’t have any of it, so they had to tweak the Universe a bit so they could reclaim the mantle with the lightest flat out there.  It will weigh a reported 2.9 oz.  You will get pregnant just putting in on your feet.  I know.  The look of it was the result a deep dependence on hallucinogens or something; you will either like it and want to buy a pair, or you will become sterile instantly, purely out of revulsion.  So they’ve got the lightest flat on the wall.  Cool?  I don’t know.  I think I’d rather see an effort made to improve one of the core runner’s shoes, than to put more energy into making a shoe less purchase-able.

So there you go.  Three (or four, depending on your counting skills) new shoes from Mizuno.  Each of these has been at least a couple years in the making.  We know this because Mizuno went to great lengths to explain to us their process in taking a shoe to market.  They call it magokoro, which is a Japanese word that describes the honor one has for the trust of others—the customer.  This is what takes so long to deliver the right product.  It has to be just so.  It must be just enough, and no more.  I kinda like that.  No, I really like that.  From concept to the shoe wall, they are very, very deliberate in each step and this is why they are so slow to react to the market turns and trends.  Their belief is that they won’t compromise quality in design or in craftsmanship for producing the highest quality product that work best for the customer.

That is really impressive and should be applauded I think, but I also sense a bit of over-thought and some forest for the trees stuff going on here.  I mean, the best shoe of the last 5 years—our beloved Launch, RIP—had no technology in it.  Zee Row.  Want to talk about ride?  That shoe had ride.  Brilliant.  One of things that bounces around Mizuno HQ is the phrase, Show Me the Science.  I like that too.  But I think that if in pursuit of getting the numbers just so, juuuust right, you miss out on some really wonderful design opportunities and are putting more weight in that than in the actual run.

The time at Mizuno was well worth it.  I love storytelling and Mizuno really opened up some good conversation with some really exciting and intriguing stories.  Almost everyone I talked to who is with Mizuno was more than willing to talk about almost anything related to shoes and to Mizuno.  I like that.  I love that.   I hope that we can continue that conversation, that story.

1Stop it!  Naughty.
2Good album, too.
3No idea where that came from.  None.

Ramblings, for your feet.

by John Schrup

I saw on Faceplant the other day some pictures of Bill Rodgers running in the Adios 2.  So, yeah, go getcher self some.  Win some Boston Marathons and stuff.

Watching the gang on the sales floor fit shoes is fun.  I participate here and there, but mostly I just mess things up, so I try to be invisible when people are fitting.  But the presentation has changed and I find that interesting.  Back in the day, when explaining the differences and similarities among shoes, we would reference cushioning systems, stability features, flex grooves, yaaaaaaaawn, etc., etc.  That was then and this is right, so we’re teaching now about things that make more sense to the individual who will purchase and run in the shoe, as opposed just selling some brand’s product because they came up with a more memorable acronym or some shit.  Now we teach about offset and stack height, flexibility and more importantly, how to make your body stronger, healthier and more athletic, so that what you wear on your feet is tertiary in importance, at best.

But let’s not get bogged down on offset, stack height and all those cool new things.  The tendency is to think that these numbers have magical properties that will make us better, more efficient runners.  If you were to wear only 4mm drop shoes, then no doubt you’d be all kinds of Kenyan in no time, wouldn’t you?  Just because you’ve wisely dumped your Kayano doesn’t mean that all of a sudden you’re landing midfoot and eating ugali and sukuma wiki.  It doesn’t work like that, though we keep looking for the elusive magical bullet.  I don’t know why, we just do.

When we tell you that the best shoe for you is the least amount of shoe you are comfortable with, we’re telling you that you are better than you think you are, that you simply do not “need” all the things you think you do.  I mean, it’s just running, man.  All that shit ain’t gonna make you cooler, faster, more African-er.  All the variables of the shoe—offset, flexibility, weight, fit, firmness—combine to make the shoe what it is.  You will know, intuitively, which is the right one for you.  Give yourself some credit.  Yes, you will.  We’re A.) not going to bring out something that wouldn’t work for you, once we know what to look for and 2.) not going to make the decision for you, unless there is something so glaringly obvious that we wouldn’t be doing our job to let you out of the store with an unwise choice.

You will know it is right because you won’t feel a thing.  Or, more likely, it will be the shoe that is the least noticeable on your foot.  If the fit is right, if the weight is right, if the firmness is good, if the offset is right—all of that—your interpretation of the feel will be that it disappears on your foot.  The proprioceptive response will be nothing, sort of.  It’ll be the closest feeling to nothing that you can get, wearing a pair of running shoes, that is.

I don’t know where that all came from.

A couple of you have asked me why I’m all obsessed with Newton.  I wouldn’t call it obsessed, exactly, it is just that I’m really enjoying learning some new stuff.  I mean, that’s what it’s all about isn’t it?  There are times when the shoe reappears on my foot—going around corners faster than, say, easy—and I’ve been a little banged up lately, so admittedly there is some trepidation when I put them on, I don’t know why.  But they are much better than I’d ever have given them credit for.  The actuator lugs, as a technology, are much more valid than some crappy guide line flex groove or elastic arch band.  Anyway.  That’s that.

John Schrup is Rogue Running’s very own shoe guru, and has coached every age and every level of athlete in most every distance known to man … on planet earth! Including Team Rogue, currently. Don’t miss his Shoe Talk on Saturday, September 29, 9:45am at Rogue downtown (500 San Marcos St. 78702). Free and open to all!

Chapter One: There were bears.

by John Schrup

You will not believe what a harrowing week it was!  There, for few brief moments, I thought we would not make it out alive.  Forty something years passed in front of my mind’s eye in an instant.  And from that very second, my life was forever changed and I vowed never again to take for granted each breath, each sunrise, each child’s smile.  I thought I would never see my family again.  It was like that painting, The Scream, except running.

You see, there were bears.

Well, I never actually saw them, but I know people who did.  I talked to them.  The people, not the bears.  And they said it was really scary.  Like, change your pants scary.  Probably, though, we were safe, because Ian was in town.  If you don’t know who Ian Adamson is, he’s this Australian guy who works for Newton.  Super fit dude.  The kind of fit that makes Chuck Norris primp.  Because Ian was in town, we were totally safe, even if we had corned some bear’s cubs and heckled them or some shit.  Not that Ian would have killed the bears had he needed to confront them.  He is more confident than that.   The need to kill one of these bears—or all of them, if they were in a bear gang—wouldn’t even have shown up on his radar.  Not even if they were grizzlies.  Not even if it was grizzlies and sharks.  With bazookas.  Mr. Norris would have been looking in the bushes for some pull ups, but not Ian.  He would have communicated with them.  In their own language.  In their own dialect.   After talking to Ian, the bears would have let us pass.  They would have probably offered to time our workout, if Ian had brought it up.

If he hadn’t been there, that shit would’ve been messed up.  Scrawny runners all mangled and screaming, clinging to tree trunks, sobbing and gurgling and shit.  But who knows, it probably would’ve been ok still.  Ian would have heard the screams and ran—barefoot, with really good form—from wherever he was and stitched up the wounds and bites and scrapes with, I don’t know, twigs and yogurt or something.  So, either way, we were probably cool, no matter what.

So anyway, there were bears, and it was bad ass!

It really wasn’t anything like that, because we were in the St. Julien, which is the kind of hotel that if kings and queens were in town they would annex and make part of whatever country they were visiting from.  It’s super swank.  The shower in my bathroom was as big as the entire bathroom in my house.  And in the bathroom was this really nice robe—a really, really nice one.  I didn’t try it on though because it was so heavy I couldn’t lift it off of the pure solid gold thing it was resting on.  The sheets were, like, 9000 thread count.  I felt so guilty staying there I slept on top of the sheets.  On the counter of the kitchen in my room were all these fancy nuts and chocolates and spring waters and wines and shit.  I practically had a Whole Foods in my hotel room.  I made sure to wear my nicest tshirt when I walked through the lobby so people would think I lived there or something.  I wore the black socks so I’d look more, you know, classy.

So Newton put us—Amish James, Subtle Chuck and myself and then some people who were kinda like us from running shops that are nothing like Rogue—up in this fancy place for the three days we were there and when we weren’t living like Sultans and shit we were either on the trails, wrestling bears, or in the classroom, eating pizza and learning about Cuba.  And I’m sure that the number one question on your collective minds is, Did he drink the koolaid?  Ok, so your number one question is probably, Will this guy ever shut the **** up?  And the answer is no, but I’d like to think that you’re interested in shoes and our trip, so I’m gonna go with that.

Yeah, I drank the koolaid.  But I didn’t inhale.  It was served, yeah, but it wasn’t forced on us, we got to choose to drink or not.  Yes, my perceptions about Newton were changed.  Yes, I am more comfortable with their shoes on our wall.  And yes, I’ve been running in the shoes—the Distance.  But I’m probably not going to change my political or religious views.  I’m still making out with my Hagio and A5 and Adios and Kinvara.  But now the Distance is in the rotation.  I’m still getting the feel for them, and I’m not entirely comfortable in them yet, but they will get some air play for sure.

Before I give you all the goods on the trip, I’ll tell you what changed my mind and then you can sit around and chew on that for a while.  I’ve been to several of these things—these seminars, conventions, koolaid distribution meetings—that the shoe companies host each year.  And I’ve been to fancier ones.  Bigger events for sure.  But this was the first time in which I left feeling like I hadn’t been sold something.  Yeah, they wanted to change my mind on the shoes; they were selling something, to be sure.  But it wasn’t just the product.  Shit man, we didn’t even talk Newton shoes until the last hour or two of the trip.  They didn’t even give us the spiel on each shoe, present the different models and show us the new colors and all that other shit, until we were practically leaving.  No, we talked running.  Running.  Injuries.  Biomechanics.  Fitness.  Stretching.  Strengthening.  Form.  Running.  And it was glorious.

And, when all was said and done they were the first who said, you know, these might not be for everyone.  This ain’t the magic bullet.  You’ve got to be healthy, strong, flexible.  You’ve got to get strong so you can run with good form.  We talked running 95% of the time, and then we talked shoes.  And they were surprisingly honest about things that other companies haven’t been.  It was really eye opening.  I’ve been to these things where the hosts would bash other companies.  Where the hosts came across as almost arrogant in their presentations.  Where the hosts asked us to join an exclusive club—wink, wink, nudge, nudge—and then we find out that half the country got invited too.  This was the first time I left one of these things where I didn’t have a slightly bad taste in my mouth.  Or at least, I didn’t feel like I’d been to a koolaid party and all I got was this lousy hangover.

So, there you go.  You’ll get all the goods in the next few installments.  Until then, I’m going for a run in all this crazy oxygen we have here.

Subtle Chuck, Amish James and Schrup go to Boulder: Day One

by John Schrup

I got a little bit ahead of myself.  Those Newton Distance that Jordan was supposed to send me had already arrived, and were placed on the shelf in the stockroom, because we are clever like that.  So I’ve got them on my feet now, double knotted, because I’m, you know, obsessive, and I’ve been told that I should wear them for a week or two, just kicking around, to soften up the membrane that the actuator lugs sit on.  I don’t know much about softening membranes, but if anything on these shoes dilate, I’m going to take up rhythmic dance.  So I’ll gladly follow instructions, because that’s what I do, and because the shoes were free.  What can I say? I’m a dirty whore.

Unfortunately, I won’t get to tell you about my experience in them, other than when I wear them around to the Central Market or whatever, for a couple of weeks because I’m going to be a good boy and do what I’m told.  Hold your horses, that time will come, and when it does I promise to be at once honest and stupid.  If something ain’t right, I’ll say so.  Over the next, uh, something weeks, we’re going to get real deep about Newton, the hype, the myth, the shoe.  Maybe I’ll post something every day.  Maybe every few days.  I don’t know.  I don’t know if we’ll have enough time.  We’ll try to be informative, entertaining, sexy.

To be completely honest, as I wear them around the shop, or on the short jog next door to Progress (all of, like, nine feet.  I PR’d!!) or to the Ho Foo–where they have lovely kales, don’t they?–for lunch, I’m a little embarrassed to have them on my feet.  Here in the shop, Sarah’s first comment when she saw them on my feet was, “Newton?”  Not that the majority of the population will even recognize them as Newton, the brand with the actuator lugs and are obnoxiously colored and cost as much as my Yaris, or whatever, but I feel that they will and then judge me for it.  Also, I don’t shave my legs, which is generally what you find when you see someone wearing Newton.  Though I am thinking about getting an aero helmet to wear to the farmer’s market because I want to be, you know, competitive.

That’s the thing:  They’re day-glo, or pretty damn near it.  Lots of very bright yellowish-green-yellows, some orange, splash of red.  You would not wear these with a, say, Brooks Brothers suit.  And not that I am usually aware of sartorial obnoxiousness.  One morning I walked in to meet my beloved Bitchwolves and my man, JG, looked at me and what I was wearing and in a tone that suggested slight disbelief, but which I interpreted as raw, unadulterated jealousy, said, “Really?”  So, yeah, I’m not real good with the fashions.  But these damn things are pretty loud.

The fit is almost what I remember from a few years back.  Almost, but not quite:  Really clean, pretty snug all over, but with ample room for the phalanges.  They’re pretty light, and I suspect that the fit helps with that as well.  The feel underfoot is pretty firm, just about what I like, but because I can feel the actuator lugs directly under the ball of my foot, I’ve got to admit that I’m still a bit skeptical.  But I’m cool with that.  I’m an open minded kinda guy.  I’ll try anything twice.  For money.

So that’s what I got.   Go ahead and mingle, but keep your eyes peeled for the house lights.  Stay tuned for Subtle Chuck, Amish James and Schrup go to Boulder.

Check it:  For those of you who fancy yourself a dedicated runner, a dedicated marathoner, who wants to find out what you’re made of, John coaches Team Rogue on T, Th mornings at 5:30.