The Quest for the Perfect Pair

Photos by Star Sabroso I have a confession. Before I got into running, shoe shopping for sneakers meant buying the cutest training shoes I could find. Muay Thai and yoga don’t require footwear, so researching on which is the best pair for me was never a priority. Now that I’ve taken up running (and have been addicted to it since the year started), I’ve learned that the wrong pair of shoes will not only give you blisters, callouses and dead toe nails, but they could be the cause of injuries as well. It’s quite hard to decide which pair would be the best for newbie runners like myself, so to make things a little bit easier for those who are just getting into the sport, I decided to road test several pairs that are out in the market today in hopes to help out a little bit in the shoe-buying decision-making process. For the past couple of months, I’ve ran, trained and raced using these pairs to review and now I’m ready to give you the verdict. Nike Air Zoom Vomero 10

Its tiffany blue and pink color combination made me fall in love with this pair right away. It was cute, but the question was, how does it perform? Running with this pair felt as if my feet were on clouds. The shoes were extremely light and soft and people with wide feet would be happy to hear that the fit is pretty wide, so there is more space for your feet. If your feet are very narrow though, these might be too loose for you. I used this pair for one of my races, and the cushioning in the midsole made my run feel a bit lighter.  This pair lives up to its name – “Zoom” – because that’s how you feel like doing when you wear it. Saucony Kinvara 6

When I wore this pair for training in the club, I noticed it was the exact same pair that one of the best female triathletes in the country was wearing. That said, I knew I was sporting a legit pair of shoes for running. A lot of runners are very loyal to this shoe, as I’ve noticed. Although compared to all the others I’ve tried, the fit of this one is much more snug for me. I felt like I needed more toe room and perhaps should have gone up half a size more. But, even with the snugness of the fit, it was still very light and comfortable, so you won’t wonder why more seasoned runners choose to wear a pair of these. Skechers GoRun Ride 4

I was quite surprised when I tried on this pair. They were insanely light and comfortable, one would forget that she’s even wearing shoes. This pair was light as a feather and I had zero problems when I ran using them. They were very much like the Kinvara, but with more toe room for the same size. It had a nice support on the mid-foot and heel, which made my turnovers quick, light and comfy. It is a great trainer shoe, though I have yet to use it for a race. Adidas Ultra Boost

My feet felt like they were being hugged in the right places upon wearing this shoe. It is snug on the mid-foot, but still has a lot of room for your foot to breathe. As its name suggests, Ultra Boost does make you feel like you can just “boost” from the start to the finish as if you are bouncing a bit more and you’re flying on the road. I unintentionally hit sub1 (less than an hour) using this pair despite planning to go easy in a race – perhaps it is because it didn’t cause any dead toenails or blisters at all. And the winner is… As you can tell, it is quite hard for me to pick a favorite as all these pairs have so much to offer. Personally, I like the colors of Zoom Vomero10, the lightness of GoRun Ride4, the cushioning of Kinvara6 and the overall look and fit of the Ultra Boost. I am still trying out other shoes as I go on with training, but for now, it is safe to say that the Ultraboost is my favorite amongst these four. Another shoe I’ve been trying out is Under Armour’s Speedform – made with neoprene material that is perfect for brick training (swim-run-repeat intervals) but perhaps I would do a review of that (and other shoes) some other time. Follow me on twitter and instagram @bubblesparaiso