Shoes according to Asher

By Asher Johnson

I started working at Terra, the “up-front,” about six months ago. I ran casually before then and still run casually now, but, nonetheless, the way I run has changed significantly. I used to not think about how I was running or about how my body was feeling during runs. When in pain, I would just try to run through and hope it would fade out and go away. Now, however, due to working at Terra and learning about the products we sell, I have started to pay very close attention to how I feel and how I run. From how I breathe, to my pacing, to how I feel in my feet and knees, and my general level of energy, I have started tracking my running form. I run in several pairs of shoes, so firstly, I have recently begun tracking how the shoes make me feel while and after running. Furthermore, I have started tracking the food and nutrition that I consume. Here, however, I will write about some of the highlights from each of the shoes I run in. I will discuss nutrition in a later post, 

To list them, I run in the Brooks Glycerin 18, Altra Vanish, Altra Escalante 2, Adidas Ultraboost 3.0, Adidas Solarboost, and Brooks Bedlam 3 (my favorite). It's important to note how different some of these shoes are. The Solarboost and Bedlam 3, for example, are stability shoes, while the Altras are zero drop shoes, and the Vanish is very minimal in design. The Glycerin and Ultraboost provide comparable cushioning, with the ultraboost being lower in weight. The ultraboost is a fun shoe to run in when new and is well balanced for cushioning and speed.  There is, however, a minimal amount of rubber sole and low stability causing the shoe to put some wear on the balancing muscles. The shoe, furthermore, has a lower running lifetime due to the thin amount of rubber. The Glycerin is very similar but with some firmer cushion for added stability and tougher rubber. The Altras are a different sort of running shoe in that they are zero drop and wide. The Escalante 2 has cushioning like the Ultraboost but remains relatively stable with the wider base. The Escalante is also relatively durable and I have put some pretty long runs into them. On the other hand, I only use the Altra Vanish for runs shorter than 5 miles. The Vanish has barely any rubber on its sole and is designed to last only a little over 100 miles. On the plus side the Vanish is only 3oz and can be used as a flexible racer. The Solarboost and Bedlam 3 are both stability shoes, however, to put it simply, the Solarboost is clunkier than the Bedlam. The Solarboost provides more protection around the foot, but it also, like the ultraboost, has a thin rubber sole, reducing its running life. For runs less than 10 miles, the Bedlam 3 has consistently been my favorite running shoe. In the following blog posts I will discuss the brands and these shoes in more detail.