Dom Layfield's Running Gear of the Year 2019

Article by Dom Layfield

Trail Shoes

My trail shoe of the year, hands down, is the Hoka EVO Speedgoat (RTR Review).  

I’ve been tepid on previous iterations of the Speedgoat, finding them just too big and lacking in ground feel, not to mention a little on the narrow side.  The EVO Speedgoat takes the upper from the EVO Mafate 2 and mates it to the Speedgoat sole, producing a franken-offspring that is better than either parent.  The stretchy upper makes the shoe much more comfortable (particularly for the wide-footed) and somehow makes the Speedgoat sole feel less stiff.   All this goodness comes in at a really impressive weight (10.1 oz for US M10; under 10 oz for ‘standard’ US M9 size).  For trail races in the 50-100 mile range, this shoe is simply untouchable right now.

Honorable mention must go to the Skechers Speed TRL Hyper (RTR Review)  

This was a breath of fresh air in the trail shoe world.  Skechers are pioneering a path into new territory and produced a plated trail shoe that clocked in at 8.6 oz (245 g) for US M10.  Bold and exciting in both looks and construction, this is the lightest trail shoe on the market.

Road Shoes

II'm not much of a roadie, but in 2019 I most enjoyed running in the Altra Torin 4 (RTR Review).  

Light, roomy, well-cushioned, roomy, but still maintaining nice underfoot feel.  It has enough foot retention and grip for light trail use.  A shoe that gets just about everything right.   My only nitpick is that the laces are a little skinny.

Honorable mention goes to the Hoka Carbon X (RTR Review), which was a really exciting, carbon-plated, max-cushioned, Hoka-ized Vaporfly competitor.  A shoe that I found hard to fault, except in comparison to Nike: does it make you fly as fast as Vaporfly?  Which are you going to pick for your next marathon?  I concluded that I'd pick it for a hypothetical 50-mile road race.  Comrades, anyone?  But I saw that Mac picked this as his "daily trainer of the year" (Mac's Best of 2019 Article), which made me rethink my preconception of this shoe as a race-only specialist.  Perhaps it's niche is found as a training shoe.

Tech

COROS Apex 46 mm.

I'm a conscientious user of GPS watches, and over the last year, I've switched mostly from my trusty Garmin 935 to the Coros Apex 46 mm (RTR Review). The Coros is significantly cheaper, and has a much longer battery life.

Coros Apex display looks great at the right angle

Visibility highly dependent on viewing angle

Oherwise, the Apex does everything the Garmin does. At the start of the year, the Apex software was pretty buggy. In particular, the navigation mode (following a pre-determined route) was too flaky to use: particularly in races, where reliability is vital. But by late May, navigation was stable enough that I was able to use it consistently in the multi-day Dragon's Back race, an unmarked course that requires demanding self-navigation skills. I still encountered the odd glitch, but overall found the Apex navigation invaluable.

The long battery life of the Apex is a huge plus. For casual use, it means you only have to charge every couple of weeks. And for ultramarathons, the 35-hour battery will last through almost everything. (The Apex Pro, which I have not tried, advertises 40-hour life, and the Vertix a mind-boggling 60 hours. Although the former is slightly bigger, and the latter substantially larger.)

Teeny tiny writing on Coros Apex

Sadly, I cannot recommend the Apex unreservedly, because this watch is undermined by disappointing legibility of the display. The LCD is very fussy about viewing angle, and the software designers seem to have made the choice to prioritize looking futuristic and hip over basic legibility. This is a great shame, because everything else is very solid.

Other Gear

One happy surprise for me this year was CBD balm.   I broke my foot twelve years ago, and needed surgery to screw it back together.  On follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon, I complained to him that my foot ached if I ran more than ten miles a day.  He literally laughed in my face.  Thirty thousand miles later, my left foot is an arthritic mess.  This year, with some skepticism, I decided to try CBD ointment and found -- to my surprise -- that it seemed to help.  Now granted, I only have one bad foot.  So it’s hard to treat just one side and see if it feels better than the other.  Placebo effect or not, I’ve found that CBD provides significant relief.  I can’t say I’ve tried a lot of different types:  I tried three brands, and the one that worked best for me is the  Full Spectrum Warming Balm from Floyds of Leadville.  Not cheap, but highly recommended.

Dominick Layfield

Dom lives in Southern California after several years in Park City, UT.  He is an avid trail runner who likes to race.  He holds a PhD in biomedical engineering from MIT, and has worked as a researcher in orthopedic biomechanics. So he knows the difference between a ligament and tendon :-). In 2016, he raced, among others, the Angeles Crest 100 (2nd place), Scout Mountain 80K (1st place), and Georgia Death Race 68 miler (3rd place).  His 2017 achievement include 1st place in the dead of winter 2017 108-mile Spine Challenger race in the UK, breaking the course record by an hour, 1st place in the Quicksilver 100K in California, and 14th at the Western States Endurance Run.