My New Altra Arrivals

I am generally a big fan of Altra shoes, though there are some complaints that I have had in the past 12 months. Despite those complaints, I am super excited to try many of the new shoes they are producing. And I continue to recommend them to my friends and family. (I would guess that at least 2-3 dozen pairs of their shoes have either been purchased by me or as a result of my recommendation.) Now that I am ramping up for 2014 and running injury free, I have restocked my supply after retiring pairs of Instinct 1.0, Superior 1.0, and Torin 1.0. And I currently already rotate pairs of the Lone Peak 1.0 and Instinct 1.5.

My New 2014 Line Up

The shoe I was maybe most excited about is the Instinct 2.0. The Instinct 1.0 was my second favorite shoe ever (other than the unappealing looks). While the Instinct 1.5 are a decent shoe, they seem  to be a bit narrower than the original to me. However, I really like the balance of cushion and road feel in them. Anyway, what appealed most to me about the Instinct 2.0 is the addition of some more cushion and the re-worked upper. It has only been three runs and 20 some miles, but I am very impressed. The mold/last is much more inline with what I hoped and feels closer to the 1.0 to me. The cushion is very pillowy, bordering on Hoka soft. This may push this shoe more into a long run category for me, but that is fine. I like my Instinct 1.5 as a strength and speed shoe. At some point when I have a few hundred miles on them, I'll write a review. But I expect these shoes to get more than their share of love in my rotation.

Instinct 2.0 are pillowy soft right out of the box

The other shoe I was super excited about is the Olympus. Like everyone, I have become enamored with cushion and wanted badly to have a viable alternative to the Hoka. I own a pair of Hoka Mafate because they are the only model that comes close to having enough forefoot room for me. But, the Mafate weigh nearly a pound each!  Yikes!! The Olympus weigh in at close to 11 oz for me, or just a little heavier than my everyday shoes. That extra weight is worth the cushion. Similar to the Instinct 2.0, my initial impressions are very positive on this shoe. Looking at the Altra website, it appears the shoes are built on the same last (SD5-M). And that explains why they both feel like a perfect fit to me -- no issues with width or toebox.

In addition to the weight and last, I am super excited about their rocker technology. The Hokas feel like bricks to me and I doubt I could ever run fast in them because of the rigidness of the outsole. Altra did a great job with the rocker technology and allowing for the shoe to feel like you can toe-off. It is an odd sensation when you first put them on, and they almost don't feel zero drop because of it. I already took these shoes on a 13 mile, 2500K technical trail run and was very pleased. They currently have 50 miles on them. I will write a more thorough review once they have some more miles on them. My only complaint so far: how will I ever wear out my Mafate with these shoes in my closet?!

A good looking shoe for having so much cushion.

The other shoe I recently purchased was a pair of the Lone Peak 1.5. I have yet to log a mile in them because I have a pair of 1.0 that I want to wear out first. I bought them in part because the changes between the 1.0 and this model were minimal. It seems the majority of changes were improving the material and the drainage in the upper, both are welcome changes for me.