.Article by Peter Stuart
ROAD SHOES
Speed/Race
For shorter races the GO Meb Speed 6 Hyper (RTR Review) was the winner for me.
It’s fun, light, can easily go a half marathon and totally disappears on the feet. It’s a terrific race shoe. For longer races I like the NB Fuel Cell Rebel (RTR Review)-though not if there’s any moisture on the ground and the Skechers Razor 3 Hyper (RTR Review)
It’s fun, light, can easily go a half marathon and totally disappears on the feet. It’s a terrific race shoe. For longer races I like the NB Fuel Cell Rebel (RTR Review)-though not if there’s any moisture on the ground and the Skechers Razor 3 Hyper (RTR Review)
Daily Training
New Balance rules the year here. I love, love, love the Fresh Foam1080v10 (RTR Review) for easy days, long-ish days and recovery days. It’s a terrific daily trainer. It’s a little heavy after 10 miles, but I don’t mind it...BUT...the winner is the New Balance Fuel Cell Propel (RTR Review). 
I feel like this shoe didn’t get nearly enough attention. It’s a fantastic daily trainer, can do anything. Word from NB is that it will get a more streamlined (less big box store) look in 2020. It’s a little firmer and lighter than the 1080.
I feel like this shoe didn’t get nearly enough attention. It’s a fantastic daily trainer, can do anything. Word from NB is that it will get a more streamlined (less big box store) look in 2020. It’s a little firmer and lighter than the 1080.
Cushion/Cush/Recovery
I like the Skechers Max Road 4 (RTR Review) while the Hoka Clifton 6 (RTR Review) is the best Clifton in a while.
Biggest Smiles Shoe ot the Year
Hoka Cavu for daily trainer and tempo with the Skechers Speed 6 for racing.
Single Best Road Shoe of the Year
I think I put more miles on Skechers Razor 3 (RTR Review) this year than anything else.
APPAREL, GEAR, GPS
Buff Stuff!
How did I live without Buff? Oh, I lived in SoCal. I just discovered the joys of Buff last month when it dipped into the 20’s here. I love it so much.
Such a simple, elegant solution for temperature issues. I love the full-size with all of its various configurations, the half size for ease of use and carry, the sweatband for its genius little rubber strip that keeps it on and in place, the hats for their hatness. You get it. If you haven’t gotten a Buff, go get one. Such a great piece of run gear. Everyone should have a few.
How did I live without Buff? Oh, I lived in SoCal. I just discovered the joys of Buff last month when it dipped into the 20’s here. I love it so much.
Such a simple, elegant solution for temperature issues. I love the full-size with all of its various configurations, the half size for ease of use and carry, the sweatband for its genius little rubber strip that keeps it on and in place, the hats for their hatness. You get it. If you haven’t gotten a Buff, go get one. Such a great piece of run gear. Everyone should have a few.
Garmin Forerunner 945
Sure, the Apple Watch does podcasts better, but the 945 is a great all around GPS watch. It’s way lighter than a Fenix, looks great and has worked flawlessly. The Spotify integration seems to be getting less buggy, and it’s not as easy to load music and pods on as some other watches, but I’m a fan. If Garmin could double the battery life, that would be perfect. (2019 RTR Garmin Comparative Review)
Tifosi Glasses
One strange thing about moving from California to Texas is that now most of my runs are in the dark. I rarely get to use glasses. Swank, Shwae, Brixen, Amok and Slice are the four that I have in my arsenal at the moment.
One strange thing about moving from California to Texas is that now most of my runs are in the dark. I rarely get to use glasses. Swank, Shwae, Brixen, Amok and Slice are the four that I have in my arsenal at the moment.
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| lower left: Shwae, lower right: Amok, Middle right Swank SL,
Middle left Slice, Top another color of Slice
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Tifosi hit the sweet spot for me of having quality glasses that are relatively inexpensive but work great.
The best bang for the buck is the Tifosi SWANK. They are basically Goodr glasses--if Goodr glasses were actually, er, Good. Seriously, they’re a quality glass for 25 bucks that are light and work great. The Shwae are aviators--and while I probably wouldn’t work out in them--they look good and function well. The Brixen are my go to for training and racing. They’re light, stay on my face and I forget that I’m wearing them. The Slice are also light and comfortable.
While the Amok look a big bigger and bulkier--I think they’re meant to be a cycling glass. They are still light enough to run in without bouncing.
Honorable mentions: Maurten caffeinated gels, Janji shorts, Stance socks
Peter Stuart
My running career got off to a slow start…in high school I was told I ran like a race walker and was thus relegated to race walking on the track team. I got back into running about 15 years ago and then into triathlon. Triathlon really rekindled my love for running, so about two years ago I hired a coach and really focused on the half and full marathons. I broke a bad habit of putting in tons of moderately hard miles (and no or hard ones) and after plateauing at 3:25 (with some disastrous marathons in there), this past year I brought my marathon under 3:00 and my half under 1:25. Along the way I’ve developed a bit of a shoe problem.
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1 comment:
Hi Peter,
I am loving the NB Propel and did try the NB 1080 v10 but preferred the propel - softer and smoother to run in. I was going to get a highly cushioned shoe to compliment it. I noticed you have the clifton 6 on the list here but in the review of the skechers go run ride 8 (on RTR) you prefered the SGRR8 over the clifton. I did try the clifton and it felt big and bulky. Would the skechers GRR8 be your next recommendation. How does it compared with the propel and 1080 v10? For versatility and feel underfoot (firm, soft etc), is it more cushioned than propel. Thanks :)
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