Trail Gloves Series

I actually found them less breathable than my trail glove 5. The upper is pretty thick and padded for some reason. In addition to making it not as breathable as it could be, it retains water and doesn't dry as fast. I wanted to love them, but not a fan of the thick upper material.

After wearing my Merrell TG5 to the point where the outsoles were basically smooth and the uppers had multiple tears, I finally switched to a new pair of shoes - the Xero HFS II. I figured with the similar stack height, it might be a spiritual successor of sorts to the TG5. Other than a couple of times wearing them casually when brand new to get used to them, they have only been used for running and I've put about 200 miles on them so far. I'd say it's probably 70% pavement and 30% trails, including a 23 mile trail run this morning. I got these for my trail 50K coming up in October, but don't always run the trail (obviously). I can easily run there from home on my long run days, but not worth it for my shorter runs (<10 miles). The structure of the shoe is holding up very well. Not issues with any pressure points or holes where the toe bends. They're not the widest shoes out there, but completely comfortable for my foot shape and size. No issues with hot spots or rubbing. I tend to wear my shoes loose enough that I don't need to untie/tie them, but just slip them on. They're still plenty secure for running, including at 5K race and marathon tempo pace (8:00-ish per mile and 9:40-ish per mile, respectively). I do tighten them when doing sprint/interval training though as there is a little slippage if I don't. I got white b/c it was on sale at [Sierra.com](http://Sierra.com) and super cheap ($40). Don't get white. Between the sweat and dirt/dust, the mesh upper is a gross grayish-brown. I will oxyclean them at some point, but it's gross right now. Sidenote - you may have noticed the insoles sticking out of the shoes in the picture. I always remove the insoles to let them dry faster. Helps minimize odors. Trust me, it works. The outsoles are wearing very well, or not very much. I really think this is largely a form issue more than anything else, although my relatively light weight (155lb) does factor in. You can see that the wear is pretty minimal after a couple hundred miles. It definitely baffles me when people report shoes wearing smooth after 50-75 miles. I have to believe there is a lot of friction (twisting, braking, dragging, etc.) being introduced due to poor running form. Including my upcoming race, I should put on another 200-215 miles on these shoes. I'll do a 400 mile update, if anyone is interested. tl;dr - the HFS II is a fine long distance running shoe and, given proper form, the outsoles look like they will last a good long while.

In my experience, I found the HFS II sizing to be on the small size, despite what their website says. I bought my normal size and it was snug. I went up half size and it felt better in every dimension. I do agree that it is a little lower volume than my trail gloves (I had the 1, 3, and 5), but still comfortable with loose lacing. Looking forward to the next 200!