After the whole beloved Nike Volmero but my toes won’t stop bleeding debacle ( don’t click if you don’t like blood ), I decided it was time for new shoes. I visited the K-Swiss Store in Santa Monica one day and picked up two new awesome pairs of shoes. I, like most normal people, were skeptical of the new shoes but I am happy to report that I will be sticking with these shoes and that it turns out I love them!

These are the K-Swiss Keahous ($90). I REALLY like these shoes. It’s almost sad how people are like K-Swiss? Psssssh? They make running shoes? I’ve heard it over and over. But being a huge believer in different things working for different people, I was excited to try them out and they were somewhat comparable for my Nike Volmeros. Look whose laughing now! No more bloody feet! I really like the cushion they have and the toe box in the front of the shoe is very wide for me. I have never had bloody toes in these shoes. I feel like I’ve also gotten more mileage out of these than my Nikes. They are very supportive and have full support instead of just support in the heel or toe box. Sadly, the one place that is a little disappointing is the color selection. I don’t feel like they are super cute, but oh well, sometimes it’s about how they work and since I’ve gotten these they’ve actually gotten some new cooler colors.

I also feel that they fit my neutral foot very well. They don’t go up too high on the ankle area and I really like the GuideGlide aspect of the Keahous. It’s the red part of the shoe. I wear these shoes for long runs (anything over 8 miles) and they’ve lasted me a long time. It didn’t take me barely any time to break in these shoes and they still work perfectly for me today! Thank you K-Swiss for making a shoe that is awesome and gives support but doesn’t give too much support where the shoe is stiff and hard to run in!

Next up we have The K-Swiss Natural Runner ($90). I really like these shoes for shorter distances. They are very light and I feel like I’m running in racing flats when I wear them ( Cue the Rocky music and the laughter about the high school glory days of racing) . They don’t have any arch in them so it’s their version of a ‘barefoot’ running shoe, if that makes sense. It took me about 2 five mile runs to get used to that, but once they were broken in they worked awesome. I love how light they are because they really speed me up on my shorter runs.

After I ran in them the first 2 times, I never noticed that they were a little different from regular shoes. They still have great support in them even though they are so light. I was surprised on both K-Swiss shoes about how easy they were to break in and get used too. Both shoes are great shoes and I would recommend that you give them a try if you are in the market for a new shoe.

Notice how different then are from the side! I was very intrigued at the beginning and now happy to say that I love these shoes. They have never caused me any problems at all! Another thing I like about the K-Swiss shoes is that they are under $100 dollars. That’s one of the hardest things about switching shoes, because they are expensive mistakes to make.

Recently, for work, we also got Brooks shoes. Since both my K-Swiss shoes are almost at the end of their lives (I change my shoes every 300-350 miles), I got two pairs of Brooks that I thought I could run in as well. These below are the Brooks Glycerin ($129). I was really excited to try out the new shoes. I went out on a 4 miler with these and at about 2 miles I had pretty intense shin pain, which I’ve never had before. I chalked it up to too much running. The next run I went out on was a 5 miler and immediately the shin pain returned. I felt like the shoes were very stiff and I thought it might just take a while to break them in. They had even mentioned that at the running store where I got them at. I tried again and again to break them in on a few shorter runs and I just felt my legs getting more and more tore up.

These shoes are super cushion-y and stiff. They offer a lot of support, which I think they offered too much support for me. I ran about 30 miles in the shoes and constantly had that nagging pain which made me switch back to the shoes that worked for me, the K-Swiss. These will be great for working events because of the support but will not be running shoes for me.

I also think something in the toes. The shoes for some odd reason turned “up” at the toe a lot, which was weird for me for some reason. I felt like my foot was turned upward in an unnatural position.

Then I also got the Brooks Ghost 3 ($99). I love these shoes! They are so soft and cushion-y and not stiff like the Glycerin. I got these about 2 weeks after I tried the Glycerin and had already been feeling better shin-pain wise. I tried these ones out on a 8 miler that I could stop at home and change my shoes at the 4 mile mark. Good thing I did because running in them, the shin pain I had all but gotten rid of returned! I felt it creeping back right around mile 2. I knew immediately that it must be something with Brooks shoes that doesn’t mix well with my legs and feet.

I know these shoes will be awesome for being on my feet all day at events, but I also know that running in them will not be happening. I will be sticking with K-Swiss for the remainder of my training round. They work for me, which I continue to remind myself, Keep it Simple, Stupid. What works for you may not work for me. Many runners take Gus and I’m choking down Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches on the course. It’s different strokes for different folks.

If you run in any of these shoes, I’d love to hear your opinion on them! I know that not everything that works for me doesn’t work for everyone else and I like to hear stories of these shoes working for others!

xoxo

View Original Post at chicrunner.com

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