What the bike is for a cyclist is the shoe for a runner.
It’s more than less THE necessary part for the daily running madness. If you’re not a barefoot runner or an african youngster the shoe is your connection and protection to the surface you’re training or racing on.
It’s a religion what model, what brand, what size, what colour, what type… of shoes people choose. I’m not sure but I think if you try to analyse training conversations a huge percentage of the talking topics would be about shoes.
Before I start talking about my collection of trainers I would like to point out that im not sponsored or related to certain manufacturers.
Since I started with endurance sport I tried several brands. But since around 1,5 years there are only 2 brands in my shoe rack – mizuno and nike. I don’t want to analyse all makes and models. It just seems to be best choice for my legs and foot.
The only type of product I want to highlight is the nike lunar series.
The first impression is just stunning. Just take the trainer as an example. This shoe is super light. Amazing when you see how much material is used to build that hovercraft spaceship. It’s the sole that catches the first attention. A huge brick of yellow something – the lunar material.
As nikes marketing battalion states that stuff is the same material the nasa uses for their space shuttle seats. Anyway – believe it or not – it does the job. And it does a really really good job. The shoe has a brilliant cushion. For some people maybe a bit too soft but for me the lunar trainer does the job for the daily business. Run fast, run slow – the lunar is there with a good response. But if you’re on a curvy route it’s a bit difficult. The width of the sole is just too big to give you a huge flexibility. So you better run straight…
Not so with the lunar racer. Predicted by the name this one is even faster and even lighter than the “slower” brother. The racer weights literally nothing. There are racing models around with the same weight but you definitely cant beat the weight / cushion factor on that one. Pure class. I even tried the racer for some long runs (2.5 hours) and I had no problems doing a moderate long one with this thing. The shoe is not as direct as a natural racer with a “normal” rubber sole but for a marathon distance I cant see any other shoe competing with him.
The only downside for the lunar series is the sole. If you just get one grass or if you have a wet road you’re a bit lost with grip. It’s on a manageable level but I crashed once in a race as I went into a wet corner and had the lunar racer on my feet.
As I recently saw pictures of the new models they’ve adjust that slight problem.
I’m really keen on the “lunar-future”!
