Courtesy of 6pm
Friday and Sunday, I tried out another pair of trail shoes… the Ryka Trail Exodus. If I wasn’t so in love with the Brooks Cascadia, I’d say these are good trail shoes.
BUT I am truly, deeply, madly smitten with the Cascadia, so instead, I’ll say that if the Cascadia’s pricetag gives you pause, or if you know you really don’t like a responsive, supportive but cushioned shoe, try the Ryka Trail Exodus for your off-road fitness adventures.
My only real complaint is probably unique to my feet. While I have narrow heels for most of my… foot, they are very much medium, average or whatever you want to call it on the sole/bottom of my foot. So… I had some minor pressure in the heel, particularly in the left shoe, just where the heel “cup” meets the sole of the shoe.
The Trail Exodus is neither as cushioned nor as flexible as the Cascadia, but it didn’t irritate any of my pre-existing issues – shin splints in both legs since high school, prone to blisters at the top of both heels, jarring in my hips/back… And it took it through its paces yesterday on a very long, all-terrain, fast-paced walk, so it passed the test, although not with flying colors, thanks to the new, very high standards set by the Cascadia.
I hate a black athletic shoe, but I do need to note that what appears to be a flame-orange on the shoe is really a VERY PANK color. Gretchen says that makes them okay. I say they’re an adequate give the Cascadia time to dry out option.
However, both my beloveds and the also-ran RTE had rather epic fails in the “through dew-laden tall grass” department. Saturday was ridiculously wet, but I can therefore say that even SOAKED, my feet were very stable within the Cascadia and there were no odd blisters, because there was no slipping and sliding inside the shoe. Yesterday, the field wasn’t AS wet, but the trade-off for breathable mesh on a trail shoe means that it lets water in too. Oh well. I pretended it was refreshing, then deconstructed the shoes when we got home so they could thoroughly dry out.
THAT my friends, is why I ALWAYS rotate between at least two pairs of shoes. Thankfully, the Under Armour fitness shoes the Knight got me this spring work really well on the elliptical, so… Three workouts, three pairs of shoes.
And naked toes. I don’t know if it’s the new compression socks, the high mileage with wet feet, or what, but my pedicure had an epic fail yesterday too. I know when I slipped my feet in my sandals before heading to King Family Vineyards for some polo (and a glass of their Loreley Late Harvest), my toes were all covered with polish. When I next paid attention to them at home (after changing out of my stuck-to-me-dress), one was completely bare, so I had to remove all the polish before we went to dinner…
About that polo event… I can’t say enough about the really relaxed “family” atmosphere at Roseland Polo at King Family Vineyards. Hospitality carts made frequent rounds, and a cute “hostess” all but demanded that we let her take our trash, rather than tossing it in the back of a vehicle to take home as friends had already prepared to do. If I wasn’t the only local living in ignorance… maybe I’ll see you there soon.
How was your weekend?
Chan Knits 