I have like 4 older pairs of shoes collecting dust. All I use now are my Topo magnifly. Zero drop, perfect amount of cushioning. No more weird pains anywhere.
Im about to buy a second pair just to rotate between two of the same shoe.
For years I tried changing my stride, my pace, and these shoes fixed everything. I am still slow, still not a long distance runner, but it feels good to run now.
30 years ago, ryka shoes were claimed to be built on a last built from women's feet, and they were great for me- wide front foot, narrow heel, perfect. Then they changed and they were awful, another narrow toe box again.
Now I wear Topos magnifly. Only shoes that seem to fit for toe splay and not slip in the heels.
Topo Magnifly might suit you.
Try doing shorter road runs in non-padded shoes to build up foot strength too. I regularly run double digits in Merrell Vapor Gloves and Luna Sandals on roads, no issues with recovery. But I've been doing that for a decade and built up to that distance slowly. You can too.
I find Topos wear in a way that doesn't cause me issues. As in, they'll be less soft and bouncy, but they still let me move in a way that works for my joints and muscles. I've put an average of about 800 miles on the three pairs I've had (admittedly the last 150 was usually on packed gravel trails). They definitely didn't feel the same at the end, and my feet were starting to get a little sore with longer runs, but they really last. And I'm someone who usually errs on the side of retiring shoes early!
I get 400-500 out of my Topo Magnifly’s, BUT! Getting a new pair feels really different. I’ve run for a long time and think I’m a little numb to subtle changes in shoes.
I also cheat and my street shoes become my trail shoes, so I probably get another 100 out of them before they are downgraded again and become yard shoes.
I've only tried the magnifly (0 drop) for most runs and spectre 2 (5 mm drop) for speedier runs.
The flared heel on the spectres felt weird at first, but it hasn't been an issue during runs. I run mid-forefoot, so that might have something to do with it.
I like that the models I have don't have that aggressively tall, stiff part by the heel (cough, *torins*) that some other shoes do because they dig in and hurt.
I'm probably going to try some of their more cushioned models. They seem to be holding up better than altras. I ran in those for about 7 years, but a couple years ago, I could barely get 200 miles out of them before I started getting injured.
That was an awful lot to say I like them 😅
ETA: I can wear my normal size in them and my second toes feel just fine.
dirtygreysocks
