Finally, I was able to afford a new pair of much-needed trail running shoes. I still love my La Sportiva Raptors, but I've squeezed and beat and nursed probably all the miles I'm going to get out of those things. Those shoes were awesome for me, and I'd recommend them to anyone who was considering them. Since I've been wearing the Raptors for so long, this post will be somewhat of a comparison between my experiences with my old shoes and my first run with my new (and awesome) Inov-8 Roclite 315s.
I figure I'm probably not alone in this, but I usually start doing research to find out what will be the next shoe I want to buy when the time comes about a few weeks to a month after I get my new ones. I don't know, is that weird? Materialistic? Maybe. It's not like I'm unsatisfied with the awesome shoes I buy. I just like shoes. It sounds weird to say that. I mean, I'm a guy, and I always thought that girls love shoes and guys love power drills and hammers and charcoal grills (I do love charcoal grills). But I love shoes. It's probably one of the first things I look at when I meet someone--what shoes are they wearing? You can sometimes tell a lot about a person by their shoes.
By the way--please forgive the low-quality photos. My fiance is in Alaska with her camera (the one I normally use for pictures on this blog). All I have for pictures is my phone.
Anyways, as I was trying to get to, I started looking at Inov-8 shoes very soon after I had bought my La Sportivas. And don't get me wrong--those Sportiva Raptors are hands-down one of the best trail running shoes I've ever worn, especially in terms of durability and traction. But, having been very much influenced by the new barefoot/minimalist/natural running philosophy that's sort of become the new "in" thing in the running community, I was intrigued by this company that made shoes with little to no drop between the heel and forefoot while still seeking to design the shoes with the protection, durability, and traction that running on slippery or technical trails require and that many minimalist shoes can't provide. I own a pair of Vibram KSOs, and I love taking them out for runs on the road or non-technical trails, but I didn't find them to be what I was looking for when I'd go out on a rocky, steep, or slippery trail. Neither do the FiveFingers that I own seem durable enough for me to use on a regular basis. I mean, I shop around A LOT for my trail running shoes, trying to find the toughest ones that will suit my purposes (because I just can't afford to buy shoes every other month), and I usually go through a pair a year. My KSOs don't seem like they can handle that. Anyways, I started looking at Inov-8's shoes, and for a while I was set on the Mudroc, then I went back and forth between that and the Mudclaw, but something just wasn't feeling right. I had tried on a pair of the Roclite 295s at a store, but they just seemed a tad flimsier than I was looking for. Someone showed me the Roclite 315s, which are more durable than the 295s of the same name (turns out that the numbers after their shoes indicate the weight of the shoe in grams, I believe). I tried them on, jogged around in them, and they felt pretty nice. The lugs on the soles seemed a pretty good balance of aggressiveness and tameness so that they would be able to handle varying types of terrain. They felt pretty light and nimble, too, even though heavier than many of Inov-8's other shoes. You can wear what you want, but I don't really care if a shoe only weighs 5 ounces if it's only going to last me a few months of abuse on the trails. I'll take a few more ounces if it means the shoes will be up to the task for at least a year. I finally did decide to by the Roclite 315s, since I found them on sale at LeftLane :D Inov-8's website describes this shoe as "The most durable shoe in the range with a dual layer mesh upper and protective rand. Provides sufficient cushioning and comfort for ultra distance trail racing and everyday training."
So, I got these in the mail from LeftLane Sports a couple days ago; I also happened to have the day off. To make things even better, it was raining that morning. Naturally, I wanted to take them for their inauguration run in a storm, but I waited around to see if my buddy was coming with me. He never showed up, so I took them out later in the afternoon. Sadly, the rain had stopped, and it was a beautiful, sunny day out in the New River Gorge. Still, the trail was damp enough to see what the shoes had. Since I'm still a little out of shape, I figured I'd just do an out-and-back on Fayetteville Trail; 7.92 miles, I thought, was a decent compromise, seeing as I didn't feel up to 10 or more but felt too ashamed to only take them out for 6 or less. That one is a pretty good hill workout, anyways.
I parked at the bottom of the trail, off to the side of Fayette Station Road. The first thing I noticed as I began the climb was that the shoes were very slick on most of the wet rocks in the first mile or two. I decided I'd keep it in mind but not make hasty judgments, since I feel that some shoes' soles are made in such a way that they are slippery the first time you use them, then one good run wears off a shiny layer and they're good to go from then. Also, I may have been somewhat spoiled in the last two years by my Raptors, which have soles made from climbing shoe rubber. I don't think I'll ever find a shoe that matches the Raptor in traction (besides the La Sportiva Wildcat, which has the exact same sole as the Raptor, as far as I can tell). It's kind of cheating to make a running shoe out of climbing shoe rubber. The trade-off, though, is this: as soft and sticky your rubber is made, the quicker it will usually wear down. Keeping these things in mind (1- that one run could wear it into a more frictiony state, 2- that I'm conditioned to wearing stickier-than-normal shoes, and 3- if the Roclite's sole wasn't as soft, it would last longer), I didn't try to let the slippiness get to me. I'd just have to run a little more cautiously than I would with my previous pair of shoes.
One of the first things I noticed when I put on these shoes was the size of the tongue. It was a lot wider and more flared out at the top than my Sportiva shoes' tongue was. One annoyance I had with the Raptors was that, after a while, the tongue would migrate sideways down my foot; I don't know if this is just because I have a weird running style, weird foot, or whatever. But after a while that tongue would be halfway sideways toward the outside of my foot, inside the shoe, and I'd have to pull it back to the middle. This tongue on the Inov-8 Roclite 315s is made in such a way that it never moved once during the whole run. :)
Like I said, one very influential factor in my decision to go with Inov-8 was that their shoes are made for a transition into or an all-out natural running style. One thing that I didn't like about the Raptors was that it was near impossible for me to let my foot fall naturally due to the fact that they just weren't made for that kind of running. Though the Roclite 315s are actually at the higher end of the differential spectrum, it's still only a 9mm drop, which was fine for me.
These shoes seem bomber tough. I'm not really sure what the outside layer of the uppers are; it's some sort of plastic-like, wire-screen-like layer that protects the mesh part of the uppers. There's also a fair amount of some other synthetic material, but it's not one of those all-mesh upper racing shoes that will tear apart after only a few weeks of good training.
As I kept running, I did note that my traction seemed to be improving. Although I do think the rocks were drying out up closer to the top of the Gorge, too. Coming back down, near the end/beginning of the trail, the rocks were still very wet and very slick. However, I never did slip on a rock enough that it took me to the ground, even when running fast down the trail. I was a little more careful where I put my feet, though. Like I said, I've been spoiled by the sticky soles on the Raptors, and I guess I have some getting used to with normal rubber again. At least these soles on the Roclites shouldn't wear down flat as quickly as the Raptor's climbing shoe rubber soles.
All in all, I am totally excited to see what adventures lie ahead of me with these shoes. I'm definitely looking forward to putting many miles on them, and I think they will be up to the task.
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