My old Asics have been serving me well even though I don't think I have a pair with less than 1000 miles on them. I've been running most of the winter with sheet metal screws in one pair. I thought I'd try to get a pair of Inov8s but I couldn't find a pair that I felt would work for me. Three pair were clearly too narrow, like racing flats and another was Gortex. The closest to what I was looking for was the Rocklite 295 but it was a bit sloppy in the heel even with appropriate lacing and the forefoot was too tight in width. I tried them without the inserts and that did provide more room but lost what little comfort they had.
I looked for any other wide trail shoe there might be and found the Brooks Adrenaline in a EE to be suitable. I took them out for a 5.3 mile run today in packed snow, slush, ice, and pavement and they were ok. They allowed me to run with an appropriate foot strike without the heel getting in the way, but it was there if I wanted to cruise downhill on pavement. The traction was nice; I haven't had that all winter except for the screws. They have trail traction but not much up front for protection in rocky terrain. I wasn't in any today.
One should always be skeptical of a shoe review based on one short outing so check back in a month to see if I'm still relatively content.
RRR - the Aftermath, um, er Afterglow
6 months ago
A follow up already on the Adrenaline: The adrenaline came the next morning when I got out of bed and discovered a very tight achilles. I tried running in the shoes later and after a half mile of Achilles pain I returned for my old Asics and continued on without any troubles.
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