VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail Follow-Up Review

“The first task of Blink is to convince you of a simple fact: decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately.”
- from Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Longtime readers will note that it’s been a while since I fawned over my favorite author, which honestly is probably good news for all of us. However, it’s worth noting that most of the crazy little principles of social dynamics he dreams up tend to hold fairly solid with real-world application.

Case in point is my review of VIVOBAREFOOT’s Neo Trail shoe this summer, which I composed after taking all of one run in them. If I had to give you a one-sentence synopsis of the shoe at that time, I would have said something like this: rugged minimalist trail shoe, a little too heavy and hot for my liking, but probably great for hardcore conditions.

VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail

Well, guess what? After logging about 150 miles on them – as well as some unorthodox use that I’ll explain in a second - here’s my synopsis of the shoe: rugged minimalist trail shoe, a little too heavy and hot for my liking, but certainly great for hardcore conditions. That is to say, I changed all of one word. But since I’m too compulsive to post a review of just one sentence, I’ll throw in some additional insights to make this post worth your price of admission.

And in case you needed reminding (and were too lazy to click the link to my review above), here are the vital specs for the VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail:

*  Weight: 10.5 oz with the removable insole, 10.0 oz without
*  Outsole: 4mm directional lugs on top of 2.5mm base
*  Standing height: 9.5mm with removable insole, 6.5mm without
*  Upper: hydrophobic closed mesh

With that in mind, let’s breakdown my little synopsis one part at a time, starting with …

Rugged

The upper material on the Neo Trail is super-durable, to the point of seeming virtually puncture-and tear-resistant. I had a unique opportunity to test their ruggedness while exploring caves at Lava Beds National Monument, which requires a lot of commando crawling to worm your way through narrow passages of irregular, jagged, occasionally sharp lava rock.

Crawling through lava tunnels

We went caving each day of our trip, and on the first day I wore my Vibram Trek LS, which performed just fine, but the leather became very scuffed and scratched. My son wore a pair of New Balance Minimus, and by the end of the trip the uppers were torn to shreds. On the second day we ventured into the caves, I switched my Vibrams for the Neo Trail, and it was the best decision I could have made. The uppers took a substantial beating over several days and held up remarkably well, emerging completely intact without any evidence of ripping. I can’t think of a more challenging test than that.

Of course, that ruggedness comes with a tradeoff, as I’ll describe in a minute. Meanwhile, continuing the synopsis …

Minimalist

I’ll make this part quick: every awesome feature of VIVOBAREFOOT shoes is present in the Neo Trail. Flat, low-profile, outstanding ground feel, flexible in all directions … the company knows what they’re doing here. Enough said.

Thick, angled outsole lugs 

Trail Shoe

Aside from the rugged upper, the outsole truly defines the Neo Trail as a trail-ready shoe, built to handle a wide variety of harsh off-road conditions. In my first impression review I described how the angulation of the lugs is different in the heel and forefoot to help with traction on steep hills, and the depth of the lugs allows you to shed mud or slush easily. Sure, you could use this shoe on the road, but that would be as much out of place as driving an ATV down Main Street.

Too heavy

This is the biggest drawback for me about the Neo Trail: it’s just too heavy for me to use for ultrarunning. When I’m running 50 miles or more, I want to carry as little excess weight as possible. The Neo Trail is 10 oz – by comparison, my Soft Star RunAmocs are 6oz, and most Vibrams are in the 6 to 7oz range. After enough miles, those few ounces make a big difference. When it comes to VIVOBAREFOOT models, I’d rather take on an ultra in my 8-oz Evos (as I did last year) than in the Neo Trail, and sacrifice improved traction for lighter weight.

Too hot

This is the tradeoff for having a practically bulletproof upper; you lose the ventilation that a more open mesh construction provides. Whether this is a good feature or not is a matter of personal preference and intended use; if you need a water-resistant upper for cold-weather use, the Neo Trail is awesome. If you like your trail shoes breatheable and water permeable to drain efficiently, look elsewhere. I happen to be in the breatheable/drainable camp, but that shouldn’t impact your own decision-making. Remember, I’m a warm-weather California boy.

Great for hardcore conditions

Many of my running miles were logged at Lava Beds National Monument, where the trails are strewn with lava rocks of all shapes and sizes, some visible and others hidden. It’s an area where accidentally whacking your foot against a sneaky rock or inadvertently taking a sharp impact on footstrike is a common occurrence. If I had run here in my FiveFingers, I would have been a lot less comfortable, and very likely would have stubbed or broken some toes along the way.

Because of that, I was thankful to have the Neo Trails with me; the thickly-lugged outsole helped absorb unexpected impacts, and the protection of the toe bumper and closed uppers prevented unnecessary bumps and bruises. If you frequent a lot of rocky trails, the Neo Trail is built for the task. Likewise, they would probably be a great option for extremely muddy or sloppy conditions as winter approaches.

Protective uppers and rubberized toe bumper

My final verdict on the Neo Trail is that if they were more lightweight and ventilatory, they’d be one of my top choices for next year’s ultra exploits. As it is, I’ll keep them in my lineup as a specialized model for harsh conditions, but switch to one of my other standbys for high-mileage training and racing days.

The VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail retails for $130 from the company website.

*Product provided by VIVOBAREFOOT
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.



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CamelBak and Water.org Holiday Fundraiser; Seasonal CLIF Bar Winners; Random Shots of Beauty

In similar fashion as last weekend, we’ll do a couple of shopping notes before getting to the contest winners and Random Shot of Beauty.

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The first note is quick: a reminder that you’ve only got a couple more days to get black and silver Soft Star RunAmoc Dashes for a 20% discount with coupon code TRICK, which expires October 31st. Also remember to check out their Moc3s now available in red or brown colors.

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This second item requires a little back story: last year, the CamelBak company teamed up with a non-profit organization called Water.org whose mission is to provide safe access to drinking water in high-risk communities throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America. Water.org was founded by Matt Damon, who also bankrolled Charlie Engle’s Running The Sahara film which raised money for H20 Africa, a similarly-minded clean water agency.

Matt Damon with stainless steel Groove bottle (photo courtesy of CamelBak)

The partnership between CamelBak and Water.org works like this: with the purchase of every limited-edition Groove reusable filtered water bottle (which I reviewed back in January), CamelBak will donate $10 directly to the charity. You can choose from this plastic version with specialized artwork for $25, or a stainless steel version for $35.

This is the second holiday season that these two organizations have teamed up for this promotion, and last year CamelBak was able to help more than 10,000 people gain access to safe water. The bottles are great for everyday use and make an affordable, eco-conscious Christmas gift. Yes, it’s almost time to start thinking about that.

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Moving on to the regular business for the day – it’s time to announce our seasonal CLIF Bar giveaway winners. The response to this contest was great, but I – more specifically, the random number generator - can only choose three winners, so … Joyce, Adam, and Sparkplug: e-mail me your contact info – you’ve won! Thanks very much to everyone else who entered, and another big thanks to CLIF for sponsoring this contest.

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Finally, this week’s Random Shot of Beauty. Carmel Valley is largely dominated by oak trees, so we don’t get the eye-popping fall colors that some areas of the country enjoy. However, this particular section of Monterey County also features ideal soil for countless winemakers, so our local seasonal colors look more like this:

(click to enlarge)

As seen in a vineyard at Bernardus Lodge, makers of one of the best wines our area has to offer.



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Find the Right Girl (And Make Her a Wife)

Sometimes the things we write for the Monterey Herald are time-sensitive: local event coverage, race training advice, commentary on recent events, and so on. Other times I come across an interesting story and squirrel it away for a while, figuring I can revisit it when there isn’t anything else readily jumping onto the computer screen for me.

One such column follows below. It’s an overview of an event that first captured my attention a few years ago; it gave me one of those “You’ve got to be kidding me” reactions that initially seemed completely ridiculous, but the more I thought about it, actually became oddly fascinating. No less ridiculous, but definitely fascinating.

So with nothing else to write about last week, I finally went through my browser bookmarks and cobbled together something that hopefully reflects some of the strange appeal that I first felt when learning about this bizarre competition myself. Also, since this is the Internet, I found a cool companion video to give you a better sense of what it's all about.

And in case you’re wondering afterward … no, I don’t have any plans to try this someday.

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Running Life 10/20/11                                                “Find the Right Girl”

Guys out there, listen up: Maybe distance running isn’t your thing. And maybe you’re not particularly suited for track races either. That doesn’t mean you have to give up your dreams of athletic glory through running.

Maybe what it means is that you have to find the right wife.

More specifically, perhaps it’s time to find a female partner and try your skill at wife carrying, a sport where men race each other through an obstacle course of dirt, ramps, forest terrain, giant logs, and a 1-meter deep water hazard – all while physically carrying a woman along the way.

Both photos courtesy SundayRiver.com

Wives can be carried one of four ways: 1) traditional piggyback (considered very amateur, and traditionally frowned upon), 2) Santa Claus-style with the wife flung over one shoulder, 3) Fireman style with the wife around the neck and over both shoulders, or 4) the Estonian carry, where the wife hangs upside-down on the man’s back, with her legs around his shoulders and her face at his rear end.

Sure, it sounds funny, but wife-carrying is serious business. The 12th annual North American Championships just took place over Columbus Day weekend - giving you 50 full weeks to prepare for next year’s event –and the World Wife Carrying Championships (WWCC) have become increasingly popular every year. Competitors from all over the world square off in this unique test of fitness, strength, agility, and teamwork, and the winners are rewarded with the wife’s weight in beer.

That’s right … beer. So the heavier your wife, the greater the reward – but only if you win. And don’t think you can just marry some anorexic in order to gain a competitive advantage; the minimum weight of wives in the event is 108 pounds, and females weighing less are required to wear a weighted rucksack to meet the standard.

Wife Carrying Championships feature many similarly strange rules, and perhaps the oddest one is this: the wife you carry doesn’t even have to be yours. According to the official rules, “The wife to be carried may be your own, the neighbor's, or you may have found her further afield.” The only requirement is that she is at least 17 years old.

The World Championships originated in Finland and take place there annually. There’s historic context to all this: some say the event commemorates a 19th-century marauder whose gang raided small villages to steal food and kidnap the town’s women. Others think it recalls a custom of young men sneaking into neighboring villages to steal someone’s wife for their own, literally carrying them back to their own house. Sure, it’s barbaric, but realistically, there probably weren’t many other sports in early Finland aside from wife stealing.

As you might expect, Finns dominate the world championships, but there’s another country whose runners do shockingly well: Estonians, whose carrying method revolutionized the sport. Although it looks ridiculous, the Estonian Carry is remarkably efficient, and Estonian teams ran away with multiple titles before the rest of the world finally followed suit.

The Estonian carry is fraught with all sorts of embarrassment and/or danger; consequently, the WWCC page describes the ideal wife as, “composed of humor and hard sport on a fifty-fifty basis.” Seasoned racers recognize that the wife’s spirit and determination are often equally important to victory as the husband’s physical skill. Which brings us back to our original thought: if you’re not finding the success you seek in running, maybe the best thing you can do for yourself is to find the right girl.

Come to think of it, that’s not a bad lesson for our non-running lives as well.

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"2011 Wife Carrying Championships", from Maine Sun Journal (click to play):





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Calf Car Review

Quick reminder: If you somehow missed the CLIF Bar holiday giveaway contest, get over there to put your name in the hat.  Winner to be announced Saturday night.

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A few weeks before my 100-miler this summer - gosh, that seems like a long time ago now, doesn't it? - I received an e-mail from John Kulik, a Reno-based trail runner who had invented a contraption that he claimed was the Rolls Royce of leg massagers. He was making the devices in his garage and started a business by selling them one by one, and claimed that they gave him the best calf massage he'd ever received.

To me, the key word in that last sentence was "calf", because ever since becoming a barefoot and minimalist runner a few years ago, my calves tend to get disproportionately painful compared to the rest of my leg muscles after a hard workout or racing an ultra. I've tried a few different hand-held massagers, but it's often hard to isolate deep trigger points in the calf with a modified rolling pin or a happy face wooden ball. So when John offered to make a massager for me, I took him up on the offer.

The Calf Car!

His invention is called the Calf Car, and I found myself using it quite frequently in the weeks before and after the 100-miler. Although my training volume has tapered since then, I still use it intermittently to work on stubborn knots that aren't responsive to stretching. It's not quite the "best massage ever", as I'll explain later, but it's pretty effective for applying deep pressure in a focused spot within the large muscle bellies of the calves.

It's also a great machine for anyone who's into self-inflicted pain - more on that in a second.

Foot rest cushion; rubberized ball on 4-wheel cart

If you've ever sat on top of a tennis ball or lacrosse ball to work a knot out of your hamstring, the operational concept of the Calf Car is simple to understand. It uses a free-rolling rubber ball (think of the texture of a racquetball) on top of a 4-wheeled acrylic cart that rolls forward and back along a grooved track. You rest your heel on the pad at the bottom of the board and move the ball up and down along your calf using a chopped-off golf club handle.

Modified golf club handle; removable "knot buster" knob 

The lower you rest your calf, the greater the pressure when the ball rolls underneath it. Consequently, you can really do some deep penetration if your calf is low enough. Giving myself a deep massage is one of those situations where the process hurts like crazy, and the soreness afterward is actually increased - but once it wears off, you can tell that the knots have broken up a bit. In other words, it’s a lot like getting a real massage.

You also get this cartoon of a cow driving car #69 ... I'm not sure I want to know what that means

Using the Calf Car, it’s possible to apply pressure to the medial and lateral areas of the calf by maneuvering your body around a bit. For example, if you want to target the inner calf area, you roll your foot slightly inward on the heel rest. Sometimes it’s a little tricky to position your body just right while still leaving one hand free to pull the cart back and forth, but with a little bit of practice I became pretty efficient at all the positions that targeted my muscles the best.

Soft Star Roo slippers not included

Although the Calf Car is primarily designed to massage the calves, there are a couple of other applications that come in handy as well. The "knot buster" knob on the front of the board (see picture up higher), which is removable when using the car for its primary purpose, can be used as a pressure point for the hamstrings by sitting on top of it. I found this process to be fairly awkward and not nearly as effective as the calf massage. The wheeled cart also detaches completely from the track, and can be pressed and rolled onto the top of your shin to help massage tendonitis associated with shin splints.

My main concern when using the Calf Car was how the rubber ball would feel rolling against my skin – in particular, whether it would pull on my leg hair or cause any other irritation. I was pleased to find that the rolling didn’t tweak my hair at all (although it’s worth noting that I keep it clipped fairly short), but I did develop a hot spot in one area after putting heavy pressure for a long period of time while trying to roll out one particular problem knot. John has told me that he’s considering using other materials for the ball, and this would probably be an area worth exploring further.

Aside from that one issue, I was really pleased with how the Calf Car is able to penetrate and loosen up almost all of the knots in my calves. As for whether it’s the best massage ever, here’s what I think: there will never, ever be a tool or machine as effective as the human hand, and there will never be a massage device that feels better than having someone knead through those problem spots one by one. Yes, that makes my standard for any contraption like this impossibly high - but short of that, I can still recognize when something is useful and practical for everyday use, and I’d definitely recommend the Calf Car if you suffer from chronically sore or knotted calf muscles like I do.

The Calf Car is available for purchase for $99 from the company website.

*Product provided by John Kulik and Calf Car



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CLIF Bar Seasonal Flavors Giveaway

“Then shalt thou count to three - no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.”
- From Monty Python and the Holy Grail (video clip after post)

I can’t say with any certainty whether the CLIF Company bases their inventory policy on Monty Python’s fictional Book of Armaments, but one thing is sure: when it comes to their seasonal flavors, the number of the counting shall be three.

Here’s what I mean: for the past two years, CLIF has released a trio of limited release flavors with a holiday theme.  Last time around, our family tested all of them, and each flavor was outstanding – so much so that we went out and stocked up on all of them in December, before they disappeared from the shelves for another nine months. (Once the bars sell out of stores, they’re gone for the year – so if you see them, grab them quick.)

This year, the seasonal flavors are back, and the press release that accompanied my sample shipment announced the debut of a new flavor in the lineup: Peppermint Stick, which is about as wintery-sounding as you can get. However, when I was picking my way through the box, something seemed amiss – so I e-mailed my CLIF rep to ask about it.

Me:  Does this mean that the Cranberry Orange Nut Bread flavor is discontinued? That would be a bummer - we all really liked that one.

Her:  That is correct, but I promise you won’t be disappointed with the Peppermint Stick!

Apparently there isn’t enough room in the holiday lineup for four flavors, so this season, as in years past, there are three – no more, no less. The lineup for 2011 is Iced Gingerbread, Spiced Pumpkin Pie, and Peppermint Stick.

CLIF Bar 2011 seasonal flavors; photo courtesy of CLIF Bar

I have to admit that I’m still a little bit disappointed by the development, as I definitely preferred the old Cranberry Orange flavor to the new Peppermint Stick one. It’s simply one of those individual preference things, but I should also point out that I am strongly overruled by my kids, who all love the new Peppermint Stick bar.

It’s no wonder, really. The new flavor tastes almost exactly like a candy cane on Christmas morning – except, you know … one that’s totally good for you. Like the other seasonal flavors, CLIF’s Peppermint Stick is all-natural, made with organic ingredients, and packs the same wholesome balance of carbohydrates and protein for sustained energy that regular CLIF Bars are famous for. In other words, they’re just like other CLIF Bars, but a little more festive.

They’re also a little more charitable; like last year, 1% of sales from this season’s holiday CLIF flavors will be donated to the Winter Wildlands Alliance, a national organization working on behalf of cold-weather athletes and outdoor adventurers to address issues that impact winter recreation areas. It’s all in the spirit of giving, which is something CLIF does exceptionally well.

On that note, I’m pleased to announce that CLIF is doing some festive giving through this website as well. In conjunction with this post, CLIF will award 4 bars of each holiday flavor (12 bars total) to three different readers. Leave a comment below this post to enter, and winners will be announced on Saturday, October 29. Obviously, a very big thanks goes to CLIF for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

*Products provided by CLIF Bar

"Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch", from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (click to play):





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Soft Star Holiday Specials; Barefoot Running Book Winner; Random Shots of Beauty

Before we get to the main order of business for the day, there are a couple of cool sort-of-holiday-related announcements from Soft Star that are worth passing along …

The first is that you can between now and October 31st, you can purchase the black and silver version of the RunAmoc Dash for 20% off – just use coupon code TRICK when checking out to receive the discount.

Soft Star RunAmoc Dash

You can read my RunAmoc Dash review here, and pick up the sale version either for yourself, or perhaps for that special Raider fan on your gift list.

Also, Soft Star's Moc3 has been a very popular style for the company this year - and for very good reason -  but until now it’s only been available in solid black. If you’re one of those who wants a little more color in your life, you can now get the Moc3 in brown to match your fall wardrobe, or red in preparation for Christmas. Click here to choose your new Moc3 color.

Moc3 in red or brown.  Sorry the image is so small - that's all they have online right now

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Business item #1 is announcing our Barefoot Running book giveaway winner. Marlon Magdalena: e-mail me your contact information – you’ve won! To everyone else, thanks very much for entering, and remember that you can pick up the book for $11.55 from Amazon.com in traditional or $12.99 in Kindle format.

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Item #2 is our Random Shot of Beauty, which continues the sort-of-holiday-related theme. Also, I took two similar photos this week and couldn’t decide which one to use, so you’re getting a bonus RSOB this weekend thanks to my indecision. (You’re welcome.)

Because Central California typically enjoys summertime weather well into October, sometimes the only reminders that the holidays are approaching are when you start seeing pumpkin patches in unusual places …

… such as this one beside a lettuce field in Salinas (click to enlarge) …

… or this one in front of a pasture near Hollister, a town which unfortunately is more famous for a clothing company of the same name (which actually has no origins here) than for the beautiful rural ranch community that it’s been for the past 150 years.

Finally, speaking of the holidays sneaking up on us … stay tuned for another cool giveaway next week.



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Altra Intuition Women's Running Shoe Review and Discount Code

Quick reminder before today's post: you've got one more day to enter my Barefoot Running book giveaway. Winner to be announced tomorrow night.

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There’s been a fair amount of buzz this year about Altra entering the market as a revolutionary new shoe company … but I don’t really believe it.

After all, they’re not doing anything that other companies haven’t done before. The barefoot-inspired natural running revolution is well into its third year now, and by this point just about every variation of natural footwear has been tried. The key to success today is to work with the base of knowledge that’s out there, and develop products that deliver high performance while maintaining the pure biomechanics that naturalists have come to demand.

On that basis, Altra scores very high marks. They’re a company that’s a little bit late to the party, but one who has clearly done its homework on what natural runners are looking for. Over the past few months they’ve debuted a variety of models aimed at specific types of runners: the Adam and Eve for pure minimalists like me, and the Instinct and Intuition for zero-drop midsole fans like my wife. (They also have a trail-specific zero-drop model, the Lone Peak, scheduled for release very soon.)



Altra Women's Intuition

I’m lining up an Adam review for the near future, but in the meantime my wife got first dibs on evaluating the Altra company by testing their zero-drop women’s model, the Intuition. (Get it? Women’s Intuition? It’s a lot better than naming it “She Knows When You’re Lying”, I guess.) Truthfully, she’s an ideal person to test the shoe, because as I’ve mentioned in the past, she’s not onboard the pure minimalist bandwagon yet, but she really likes wearing flat-platformed athletic footwear.

That’s also the reason why I don’t consider Altra to be particularly ground-breaking, because the Intuition is at least the 4th zero-drop running shoe my wife has tested for me over the past year or so. It’s also not the first female-specific running shoe in this category she’s worn – I’ll throw in some comparisons as we go along - and there’s nothing particularly remarkable about the construction. However, the Intuition has rapidly become her favorite running shoe, to the point where she’s already shopping for a second pair – which is also reason enough for us to take a closer look.

From the top, the Intuition looks pretty much like your standard trainer, with a breatheable mesh upper that provides good ventilation in hot weather. The upper has asymmetrical lacing that is designed to be open in the foot’s natural flex zones, providing a secure fit with fewer pressure points. The upper is also shaped in what Altra refers to as an A-Wrap, which makes the midfoot area snug while leaving the toe box area more roomy.

Merrell employs this same concept with its Barefoot shoe line, but the midfoot of the Altra isn’t nearly as snug as Merrell’s models. To many runners, that will be a point in Altra’s favor, as one common criticism of Merrell’s shoes is that they are too narrow in the forefoot, making them difficult to put on or uncomfortable to wear for long durations. From heel to toe, the shape of the Intuition’s female-specific last is wider than Merrell’s Pace Glove, which is a strength or a drawback depending on your preference. One of the things my wife really likes about the Intuition is the width of the toe box, which gives her feet plenty of room to splay upon impact.

All Altra shoes come with two insoles, one of which helps accommodate zero-drop newbies. The “support” insert has a molded arch and heel wrap like traditional insoles, which helps ease the transition to flat platform shoes. The “strengthen” insole is completely flat with no arch support, which is the recommended choice for truly natural mechanics.

As for that zero-drop platform: it’s approximately 10mm high, but the shoe has a total "stack height" of 21mm, providing plenty of cushioning for a smooth ride. My wife feels that the Intuition diminishes impact much more effectively than the GoLite Micro Lite or Merrell Barefoot Pace Glove. She feels the ground impact much less with Altras; from my minimalist perspective, this was disappointing, but from her “I just want natural biomechanics with the comfort of a regular running shoe” standpoint, this is her favorite aspect of the Intuition.

Part of the explanation for the comfortable ride is a midsole material called A-Bound, a proprietary compound which Altra claims returns energy back to the foot with each step. There’s also something called a Natural Ride System, but I’m not quite certain how it works. Here’s how the website describes it: A combination of unique design elements and materials, working together to let the foot do its thing. Components include outsole and midsole componentry with proper metatarsal parabola, Zero Drop, and foot shaped lasts working together to allow you to run as nature intended. No artificial flavors!  If you can make sense of that, you’re doing better than me. Whatever they’ve got going on in there, it certainly makes for a comfortable platform.

One drawback of the midsole is its relative stiffness, as you can see in the above photo where I’m really pushing hard to curl up the shoe. I’d like to see slightly more flexibility here, but newcomers to zero-drop shoes may appreciate the similarity to traditional trainers. Weight of the Intuition is 8.1oz, which is comparable to regular running shoes (as well as the 9.0-oz Micro Lite), but significantly heavier than the 4.7-oz Pace Glove which is also a lot more flexible.

Altra uses different outsoles on its minimalist and zero-drop shoes, and the Intuition features a FootPod design which mirrors the bones and tendons of a naked foot. This is intended to allow maximum flexibility at all the points where your foot wants to flex, but I suspect that some of the effectiveness of this outsole is hampered by the stiff midsole. Otherwise, it’s a very durable rubber material that’s ideal for roads and grippy enough for fire roads or mellow trails.

Obviously from a spec standpoint, there’s nothing about the Intuition that jumps off the page to make it clearly superior to the other models my wife has tested. So when construction features are a toss-up, you go with how the shoe feels – and by that standard, the Intuition has clearly been the running shoe of choice for my wife this summer and fall. It offers an ideal combination of natural biomechanics with the protection and comfort of traditional running shoes. It’s not exactly revolutionary, but it’s pretty darn good – and that’s probably the best you can hope for from any new company.

The Altra Intuition retails for $100 from the company website, but if you use this link for your shopping, 10% of the purchase price will be deducted at checkout.

*Product provided by Altra
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.



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