Typically I am a one shoe at a time runner. I do all of my training runs and races in the same pair of shoes. Lately though I’ve seen and heard lots of runners using two pairs of shoes. They use one for training and one for racing. This just so happened to coincide with the fact that I fell in love with these bad boys:

Behold, the Asics Gel-Noosa Tri. I saw this shoe and fell in love before I even knew what it’s story was. The colors are amazing. Why yes of course it’s LOUD, but I love the colors. (The men’s version has bright blue!) According to the Asics’ website:
“A racing flat designed to meet the needs of triathletes. Designed to be worn barefoot, with an open-mesh upper and perforated sockliner to keep feet cool. Speed laces save time in transition, and come in either standard or elastic form.”
Well that’s all I needed to headed to my favorite running shoe store and test these bad boys out. Hell, it could have said they were for flagging down aliens from outerspace and I’d have bought them.
True to the description, they are very light. I’m going to take them out to the track tomorrow night. Gary, my favorite salesman and running group buddy, told me he thinks they’d be great for racing of all forms since they are light and that while they won’t last as many miles as a heavier shoe, he’s gotten nothing but good reviews on them. Plus, he got his wife a pair so you know he wasn’t just trying to sell the shoe.

Now in considering that this shoe wasn’t one I would wear for my middle to long distance runs I needed another shoe. Since I had tried on some Pearl Izumi’s last time I was in the store I decided to go ahead and give them a whirl. This is what I wound up with:


This is the Pearl Izumi isoShift. According to the webiste:
“The isoShift has an optimal blend of cushioning and guidance in a lightweight stability shoe. With a lively forefoot feel, superb cushioning, and the 1:1 Graduated Guidance System, this is the ideal shoe for runners looking for a lightweight, high performance stability shoe.”
I ran my five miler in it this morning and it seems pretty good thus far. It is lighter than the New Balance I was in but it is lacking in some of the cushioning. I’ll keep you all updated as I run more in it. So far so good.
And there you have it. I’m officially a two shoe user. Here’s hoping they both work out for me. Even if they don’t, I’m keeping the Asics for the crazy color factor alone.
Happy Hump Day.