Nike Free Trail and Air Alvord

God bless outlet stores!

Thanks to a big Nike factory outlet, I have two new additions to my shoe rack -- two new pairs of running shoes for the price of one.

First up, the answer to a prayer, the trail version of Nike Frees.
I've been missing being able to run in Frees in the snow, ice and mud we've had lately, as the "regular" Frees rely on friction for grip.

The Nike Free 5.0 Trail shoes have a combination of studs and waffle, plus a really cool arrangement of backward-facing mini-waffles right up front to allow you to toe-off without slipping.

I'm surprised that even with the new sole, and the fact they are following the new, slightly more substantial build of the 4.0, they only come out at 2oz heavier than a pair of original 3.0 Frees.

For those of you who like Frees, you won't be disappointed with the weird look -- these have a black "suede" finish with the swoosh picked out in a "delicate" fluorescent lime green :)

True to form, while I was buying these the weather was a raging snow storm, but the trails are now dry; bone dry. Road race dry. So I don't need trail shoes!

Second up, the studs and bars on the bottom of an out-of-date version of the Nike trail shoe, the Air Alvord, drew my attention, and I bagged a pair of these as well. My hope is they will be a good replacement for my trusty Air Pegasus trail shoes, which are practically vintage, but perform well in dodgy conditions underfoot. The only drawback with the Pegasus is they do love to pick up mud and so turn some runs into mobile weight training.

I'm hoping that the Alvords will be better. They felt so comfortable walking round the house that I risked hitting the trail in them for my postponed long run of the week. I managed to "run" (actually jog, walk, stagger, stumble) 14.5 miles x-country in a pair of new shoes with no ill-efects. It was too dry to really test the tread. But no, I am not praying for more snow!