Humble Running Newsletter #9
TESTING.. TESTING.. on the road, in the mountains!
If you caught my last newsletter, you’ll know that I’ve been swamped with shoes and gear for testing! Racking up the miles these days, both on the roads and the trails..
I’ve been running a lot in the Kailas AIR 8 IV vest recently - this is a serious vest with A LOT of cool and handy features. It really does rival any of the top vests from the “big” brands.
I finally got in another solid Q&A session. Just been busy training and racing with the pair of 100K’s so I was slacking on dragging all the shoes out to the yard to answer some of your questions.
These are always fun and this one was pretty popular. I’m hoping to do them more frequently - so please keep the comments and questions coming!
My daughter was in River Sports camp for a week, so I got to run some morning paved miles along the Greenbelt. I don’t have an extensive background testing road shoes, but I do hit the pavement (or concrete) from time to time.
I tested both the On Cloudsurfer Max and Cloudsurfer 2 over 4 days. I mixed in a bit of exploring and touring along the river. Check this one out if you want to see some scenery, sights, and sounds along the Boise River.
Surfing anyone?
This was the big review I’ve been working on. If you’re at all on YouTube, I’m sure you noticed that there was a "little” shoe release from Hoka on August 1..
I did a quick primer ahead of the release - if you checked out both - did I do a good job of covering all the bases?
Working my way though more testing..
The Rabbit High Country was one of the first shoes in the queue, so I’ve been racking up miles intermittently in those. Enough to do a full review. It’s a solid cruiser shoe - big stack of course, with Carbon Trax “plates” in the mix (see below)
I didn’t have this detail image when I edited the video. The shape of the plates does make sense with my observations. After some break-in period, the shoe started to open up and become decently flexible given the big stack (42/37mm measured).
TESTING TESTING TESTING
First run in the Cloudultra 3.. I’ve been looking forward to testing this shoe, and it seems like many are very interested in hearing about how it rides and especially how it compares to the Pro model.
I decided to go out and film a First Run video - which will release this week, hopefully tomorrow (8/6).
I was very impressed with the Cloudultra 3 based on this first test run. Honestly, I expected a bit of a letdown after running in the Pro version already, but it’s really a fun shoe to run, and a solid ride in its own right. More to come of course on this one and a full comparison after I get some more miles in.
The fam and I headed up to the Sawtooths for some camping, and I was able to get in some serious and FUN mountain running..
I brought along a few different shoe options, and ended up doing back-to-back runs in Arc’teryx
14 miles in the LD 4, followed by 21 miles in the Sylan Pro
Stay tuned for some very fun review/adventure videos!
I finally got a hold of the Raide LF 2L belt for testing. As you can see, I’m also testing Tailwind High Carb and Endurance Fuel -
I’m pretty sure I’ve never done this type of run without a vest, but it turned out great! Definitely opening up my mind in terms of going light..
14 miles, 2.5 hours with just a belt and a soft flask, no problem! I’m going to definitely load it up some more for further testing.
Got this one out on Tuesday - slowly trying to get back on schedule with the newsletters (every second Monday). Summertime is always difficult and busy, and I’m sure you’re busy with adventures too!
Thank you for reading once again. I do have some other shoes, gear, and apparel in for test - too much to list here! Here are some affiliate links below - clicking through when you decide to make a purchase does not cost you anything and does help support HumbleRunning. Thank you!
-Mike
AFFILIATE LINKS & PROMOS
On Cloudsurfer Max - REI ($180)
On Cloudsurfer 2 - REI ($160)
On Cloudultra 3 - REI ($190)
On Cloudultra Pro - REI ($260)
HOKA Mafate 5 - REI ($185)
Arc’teryx Norvan LD 4 - REI ($170)
Arc’teryx Sylan Pro - REI ($161 - SALE!!!)
Raide Research LF 2L Running Belt - Backcountry ($149)
La Sportiva Prodigio Max - Backcountry ($185)
S/LAB Pulsar 4 - salomon.com ($220)
Tailwind High Carb (tailwind.com)
Tailwind Endurance Fuel (tailwind.com)
Products provided at no cost for test and review by the various brands. Please see my support page for disclaimers regarding my testing and review process.