Torrent 2

Hi, Not much of a runner (bits of trail here and there, but nothing to write home about). Just signed up for a 20km fell race so need some shoes. Will of course try them on before buying, but any suggestions? I run in either Hoka W torrent 2 size 7, or Innov8 Trailfly wide in a 6 or 6.5 With the hokas, I feel super stable, but get blisters on the outside of my little toe and big toe, within 2km so I think they are too narrow. With the trailfly, no blisters and very comfortable around my forefoot, but I feel like I’m going to roll my ankles (and do if the ground is uneven) and pronate, which has never been a problem for me in any other shoe. I have a very forefoot strike, although slightly more midfoot if tired, and other than in my trailflys, pretty neutral gait. I do have an old Achilles injury caused by pressure from a seam in a too small pair of hiking boots - it’s well rehabbed but I do get tendinopathy easily if a shoe places pressure on it (I can have shoes that touch it, just when they dig in I have no tolerance for that). I do think I do maybe slightly spin my heels out on landing (possibly landing lateral forefoot and rolling towards big toe, resulting in heel spin), because I always kick the inside of the other ankle. I have reasonable arches so do find I get numb toes if the laces put pressure in the wrong place. I have tried many, many times to find shoes that work for me, had gait analysis etc, but the best shoes I’ve found are the 2 above, which I don’t think fit well enough to take the increase in running I’m about to do (or indeed, the terrain?). It’s one of the things that puts me off running is I’ve never found shoes that feel good. Apologies for the long post - hoping if anyone has any suggestions it’ll be a starting point, otherwise I’ll be running through the mud in January barefoot 🤦‍♀️😬 I live in north west England

I can; my plan is to go next week, but wanted to get some personal experiences of how everyone has found shoes because I’ve had a few experiences (in very good shops!) where they’ve felt good at the time but then when actually running in them found issues (like the innov8s feeling unstable). That’s really good to know re. innov8. I actually live near to an innov8 shop and get a discount through them so might be worth a trip to them as well as a running shop near by Thank you so much for your help and advice

Oh I’ll have to look into that! Over 2 days sounds like a great way to get into ultras (which I’m trying to do with the bowland half 🤞) I love how inclusive and friendly a lot of the runs up here are - makes it so much less intimidating to try and get into it

I put a couple hundred miles on the Hoka ONE Torrent 2s a few years ago. Versatile shoe for both bony single-track and hard-pack rail trails.

I have at least 5 pairs of HOKA shoes, some of them are well over 800km and still going strong, not a single issue with them. I still have a pair of HOKA Torrent2 that I retired from running with 1200km due to midsole degradation, but otherwise have no issues and for walking they are still good. I retired a HOKA Challenger with 1090km, a Speedgoat3 with 980km, I still have a Speedgoat4 with >900km, and so on and so forth. They have been the most reliable shoes I ever had.

I am an ankle roller. Pretty sure it's my personal calling card these days. Right now, I wear Lasportiva Prodigio Maxes for hiking. They don't absolutely resolve it, but they work well overall. Lower cushion shoes with the same uppers would be no different really, I just prefer some cushion for long days. In general though, ankle rolling is 'solved' via strengthening your ankles. You'll never fully fix the issue as your ankles are always going to be more flexible than 'normal' folks, but beefing up all the little stabilizers in your feet and lower legs will help A LOT. You'll notice that you tend to roll your ankle later in the day, when you're more tired. The rest of the day, those muscles are doing their job better...but obviously working hard, so they tire out. Google "Ankle strengthing exercises" and order some resistance bands. The difference will be noticeable.

Then yeah, rock that brace :P Yeah, I've got mostly just very rubbery ankles now....a combination of a lifetime of rolling them often and a habit of letting my good balance win out on scrambles. Just the other day, I was coming down from a hike and rolled my right ankle. It didn't even really interrupt my gait and there's no pain or negative impact that I can tell. But my friend behind me screamed bloody murder because she'd not see them in action yet and thought I'd just shattered my ankle. Fun times. For shoes, like I said, I like the Lasportiva Prodigio Maxes, but have found the most stability in Hoka Torrents and Salomon Genesises. The Prodigios just have a better toe box than those and the heels are superbly narrow and they're well cushioned....which is exactly what I like. Speedgoats were fine, but I found they were hell on my arches for some reason. Perhaps I needed to play around with my insoles with those, but I retreated back to my Torrent 2s (RIP) for a while. I hear the Stinson 7 is quite good though, so maybe check those out. My calves just aren't down to clown with Altra unfortunately, though I did find them to be very secure and stable for hiking/trail running when I did use them. No experience with any other brands yet. One key element that all of the ones I've liked have in common though? No rock plate. No idea if that's a difference maker, but it does seem to be a trend.

> How is that with these two models? Speedgoats are like the gold standard for a lot of hikers out here in the west. Do any major trail in the Sierra, Rockies, or anything in between and you'll see a couple pair. Their durability is typically their weakest trait, though that's sort of the compromise for their comfort and grip. I wear a mix of Hokas (Torrents and Speedgoats), La Sportivas (Prodigio Max), and Salomon (Genesis) and it's largely the same across most brands. Comfort and grippiness come at the cost of durability. It depends heavily on where it is I'm hiking, but I generally looking at 300-600 miles on a pair of shoes before the foam eventually crushes out. I'd try out the ones I just mentioned and see if you like them.

I am an ankle roller. Pretty sure it's my personal calling card these days. Right now, I wear Lasportiva Prodigio Maxes for hiking. They don't absolutely resolve it, but they work well overall. Lower cushion shoes with the same uppers would be no different really, I just prefer some cushion for long days. In general though, ankle rolling is 'solved' via strengthening your ankles. You'll never fully fix the issue as your ankles are always going to be more flexible than 'normal' folks, but beefing up all the little stabilizers in your feet and lower legs will help A LOT. You'll notice that you tend to roll your ankle later in the day, when you're more tired. The rest of the day, those muscles are doing their job better...but obviously working hard, so they tire out. Google "Ankle strengthing exercises" and order some resistance bands. The difference will be noticeable.

Then yeah, rock that brace :P Yeah, I've got mostly just very rubbery ankles now....a combination of a lifetime of rolling them often and a habit of letting my good balance win out on scrambles. Just the other day, I was coming down from a hike and rolled my right ankle. It didn't even really interrupt my gait and there's no pain or negative impact that I can tell. But my friend behind me screamed bloody murder because she'd not see them in action yet and thought I'd just shattered my ankle. Fun times. For shoes, like I said, I like the Lasportiva Prodigio Maxes, but have found the most stability in Hoka Torrents and Salomon Genesises. The Prodigios just have a better toe box than those and the heels are superbly narrow and they're well cushioned....which is exactly what I like. Speedgoats were fine, but I found they were hell on my arches for some reason. Perhaps I needed to play around with my insoles with those, but I retreated back to my Torrent 2s (RIP) for a while. I hear the Stinson 7 is quite good though, so maybe check those out. My calves just aren't down to clown with Altra unfortunately, though I did find them to be very secure and stable for hiking/trail running when I did use them. No experience with any other brands yet. One key element that all of the ones I've liked have in common though? No rock plate. No idea if that's a difference maker, but it does seem to be a trend.

Conversely, don’t get hamstrung over Vibram if your environment is dry for much of the year. Or if you have multiple pairs in rotation not all have to be Vibram. Said another way, this is my rationalization for my Hoka Torrents. 😃

I’ve switched almost entirely to trail runners including on a lot,of rugged terrain. I did find that when I was using Hokas that I had an increased tendency to roll my ankle after about ten miles. I like the padding, but have found lower drop shoes to be better for this. Altras are good, but I destroy them in about 300 miles. Trying Topos right now. Not as padded, but low drop with a wide toe box and they seem to be holding up better.

Trail runner will be fine. I was talking to a guy recently that said the AT requires real boots. But even by his argument, trail runners will be fine. The thing with trail runners is when you are tired, it is easier to roll your ankle. I have only found this to be a concern when I was using Hoka. Altras and Topos have less to zero drop and they don’t have this occur for me. Though Altras kind of suck for durability (expect 300 miles unless they fixed things). And Topos have less padding and are not as comfortable.