 Bonus Q&A this week. Bonus Q&A. I don't know what happened. You all prompted me to film this video. Something must be happening with running shoe deals online right now because in the last three to four days I've received at least a dozen emails with questions just about running shoes, not training, not nothing else. Just running shoes. So thank you for sending them in. And therefore, rather than me typing out 12 individual answers, I thought, you know what? I'm going to do a second video today and answer all the questions, but also take a few questions from Twitter. So what we're going to do is some broader questions about running shoes at the beginning of the video, this video, and then some more specific running shoe questions toward the end. Thank you for sending them in, but this way we can spread the answers to more people through YouTube. All right. Thanks for being here, by the way. I hope you're doing well. I hope your run was great today. We'll get to the question of the day toward the end. All right. Let me go to the bottom here. I'm streaming in. From number one is from Brent. He asks, I sometimes get numb toes while running. Is that because my shoes are too small or too big? Brent, most likely I would say they're too small. I don't know why. Too big. I can't see how that would create numb toes, but too small. The general rule of thumb is that your thumb, your big toe and the rest of your toe should be basically a thumb width distance from the front of the shoe. A thumb width, I actually prefer maybe like three quarters of a thumb. Now you have to think like everyone's thumbs are a little different width, but that is the general rule of thumb and no pun intended. And when you go to a running shoe store, they definitely will be able to help test to see if your shoes are too small. Anyway, Brent, it's probably because your shoes are too small. And again, I actually prefer a snug fit with my shoes rather than them being too big, but it's a fine line. I get it. It's definitely a fine line. Good question from Brent. Moving on. Number two, Andres asks, how long do you recommend to run in a pair of shoes? Andres, it depends on the shoe. I will say my opinion is that the most important part of a shoe is the midsole because the midsole protects the impact that your body is having with the ground. More important than the outsole, like if the outsole is wearing out, it's probably a good sign that the shoe that the midsole is probably nearing the end of its life as well. Probably least important if I had to pick one in my opinion would be the upper. Even though the upper helps with lockdown, I just love a good midsole that is protecting. Protecting and also giving good response back from the ground, helping me move quicker through my gate cycle. So that would be the midsole. Andres, I think I usually say 350 miles, which I realize is not that much. And if you're on a budget and you need your shoes to last longer and longer, I get it. I totally get it. And gosh, okay. The Asics Glide Ride, I suspect I could get 500 miles, 600 miles out of this shoe. I think it's built so well, especially the upper, even though we'll come back to the upper here in a second. Anyway, my general rule of thumb, Andres, is 350. And, but I'll be okay. When you go to a running shoe store, the reps on the store will often say like 400 to 500. And that's great, but you just don't want to risk injury as well if the shoe is wearing out. I'll actually, I'd be curious to hear how far many of you push your shoes. Maybe comment, that's not the question of the day, but maybe comment down below. Andres, good question. Oh my goodness. That's a big topic. Okay. Moving on. I think the runner, or even competitive, is it worth getting top of the rain shoes to run marathons in, i.e. the next percent or the Carbon X, that is from Brent. Brent, I would say, yes, I would say especially if you're chasing down a personal record or a time that you think is a little out of reach, I think these shoes will help. And not even, okay, I'm just going to say it, not even necessarily because of the carbon fiber plates in there. I think the responsiveness of the midsole and the weight of the shoes is really, it really helps. Yeah. It really helps. So Brent, I think it's worth it if you're chasing down big goals. Now, if you're going out to run a marathon for complete fun and you just want to finish and you're running with a buddy and you're just going to, you know, chat it up and have, you know, high five folks along the way, whatever the case may be, like, I'll just say you probably don't need to invest in the most expensive marathon shoes. Good question, Brent. Moving on. Number four, what shoe is next closest to a speed goat as far as cushion goes? That's not a Hoka. Does the S-Lab Ultra II or Ultra Pro come close? I'm looking for a competitor versus the speed goat. That is from Sean. Sean, I would say that the Solomon lineup does not compete with the speed goat four or the Hoka EVO speed goat as far as cushion is concerned. I don't think Solomon is that. I don't think that's their space. And I actually like that about Solomon. I think Solomon should quote unquote stay in their lane. I think Hoka should quote unquote stay in their lane, meaning Solomon I think is like technical trails, a little more aggressive, more, a little more vertical. I think Hoka is built a little more for the long haul type of ultra races. But watch out. Skechers is making inroads. So this is not the shoe that I would recommend, but this is the Skechers speed trail, a lighter weight Skechers. I can't believe it, but I really think Skechers is making inroads into the trail running scene in 2020. So this is the Skechers speed trail, but the Skechers Go Run Max Trail Six is going to be available very, very soon. I think in February and that is supposed to be a high cushions trail running shoe from Skechers. So we shall see Sean if that is a competitor to the Hoka lineup. It's crazy. But I'm not counting out Skechers, even though it's interesting. It's hard mentally for me to get over that hump to believe that Skechers can be a viable running shoe company that it's just anyway, I think they've just come so far in the last like six years and it's hard to get over that hump for me mentally based on, I don't know, where people viewed in the running community viewed Skechers let's say 10 years ago. So good question from Sean. Moving on, I think this is number five for the price. Would you say the $250 vapor fly next percent is worth the extra $70 over the $180 Carbon X? I'm looking to get a new pair of racing shoes. Benjamin, oh man, I would say yes. I would say yes. There is a difference in weight. There's, I would say, a little difference in the feel of the ride. That's what I noticed the most is the feel of the ride of the next percent versus the Carbon X. I'm going to put it more for me a little more in that long run training type of shoe, even though it has that carbon fiber plate in there, which is why I didn't use it a ton in 2019 for training. I like to save carbon fiber plate running shoes more for racing in order to save the legs and the tendons and the ligaments a little bit from that basically that flex and impact that I think can throw off our gate cycle a little bit in the carbon fiber plate shoes. But, Sean, I would say it is worth it. Again, it gets back to what Brent was asking. Are you chasing down a time that you know is kind of difficult? Then yes, I'd say it's worth the $70. OK, moving on. Oh man, number six, what's your general thoughts on the trend of running shoe costs going up? What do you think consumers should do to counter the trend? That is from Sterling. I love this question, Sterling. What is this? Number six or seven? Sterling, I do think running shoe costs have gone up. But, but, Skechers, I think Skechers is one of the companies that is keeping running shoe prices in check. And I love it, right? From what, based on what I know for pricing, Skechers is the more affordable company out there compared to some others. And I think what we can do to combat it is to support the companies that are keeping prices down. That's one way I think purchasing Sterling last year's models just to remind companies and buy them not from Nike.com or Adidas.com, but buy them from secondhand sources like maybe a Foot Locker or, I don't know, other sources in order to just remind the companies like, listen, I'm not going to pay over $100 or I'm not going to pay over $110. So at the end of the day, it comes down to the money and where we are buying our shoes. And also Sterling, I think, I just realized I have these headphones on. Also Sterling, oh, gosh, I'm going to leave it there because I have so many questions to get to. Those are my general quick thoughts. Oh, I wish I could go further. Okay, here we go. Moving on, I think number seven or eight. Ricardo asks, how often do you use your marathon racing shoes when training? Or do you prefer to save them exclusively for race day? Ricardo, I like two, maybe three runs, no more than 15, definitely no more than 20 miles in my racing shoes before the actual race. Okay, two or three runs totaling no more than 15 to 20 miles. Good question from Ricardo. Moving on, I have written down here, I think this is number eight. Will you get the new tech from Soccany, that is from Austin? Absolutely, I think, oh man, whereas I think Hoka and New Balance were really pushing forward in 2019, I think so far it looks like Soccany might be moving to the top of that list in 2020. All right, here we go. Number nine, would someone who uses stability shoes be able to race in non-stability shoes in order to take advantage of the faster technology? That's from Brian, and he's talking about the next percent or the Carbon X, which are more, which are neutral based shoes. Brian, I would say it depends on how much you're pronating or supinating. I don't know if you've seen runners where they are supinating or pronating and it looks like they're about to break their ankle. It's crazy, like it's really bad. And so that's where Brian, I would say, if somebody looks like, you see it and you're like, oh my gosh, they need to go see a doctor or they need to go get a orthotic or they have to wear a stability shoe because their ankle is literally about to snap. It just looks really, really painful. And I'd say physical therapy could actually maybe help realign their foot strike and gait cycle after going to my physical therapist. So Brian, I think you can wear neutral shoes, faster technology shoes, but you might need to go to it, go get your gait cycle analyzed and see how bad it is and then maybe consider an orthotic or a little orthotic inside of the next percent or Carbon X. Yeah, that's my answer. Good question from Brian. Moving on, here we go. Sam asks, do you think Nike will make things right or will they continue to act as if nothing happened? That is from Sam. This is in reference to all of the bad situations with the training group under Alberto Salazar in 2019 and Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam, Sam. I think that, first of all, Sam, I don't know, like I haven't seen a ton of news out of Nike, right, you know, and maybe I'm out of the, maybe I'm in the dark. So I haven't followed the story real closely, let's say, in the last six weeks. Sam, I think that the 2020 track and field Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, which is basically the doorstep of Nike, I think there's either gonna be some protests. I think there's gonna be some very strong opinions made. I think there's gonna be some situations that pop up in Eugene, Oregon this summer at the Olympic trials where athletes, coaches, and maybe even spectators, I don't know, but are gonna make a stand or at least the really, I think something should happen at the Olympic trials where Nike makes a statement or something happens there. I don't know what's gonna happen, but it's gonna be a very, very interesting Olympic trials. I don't know what else to say, Sam. Those are my thoughts. Okay, moving on, this is from Goseki. He asked the demise of the minimalist shoe fad. You don't see too many minimalist shoes. Most manufacturers have copied Hoka and now have at least one maximalist offering in their trainers at least. What are my thoughts? I think, Goseki, that people are interested in running further and running ultra marathons and running, not only running marathons, but going past the marathon distance, which creates more impact on your body, maybe leads to more stress fractures, maybe leads to other injuries that runners are not used to training, let's say for half marathons or 10Ks. I think the advancement into the ultra running scene, which connects to, remember last week we talked about the Olympics and will ultra running inevitably make its way into the Olympics? I think it will. In maybe 12 to 16 years from now is maybe three or four Olympic cycles. And so because people are running further, there's quite a few 200 mile races now across the United States. Not sure if you knew that. And therefore with more pounding, runners are realizing, okay, I need a little more absorption for my body and, yeah, for my legs, for my body. And now I will say, I think if you can train your body to not rely exclusively on maximalist shoes, I think that's a good thing actually. I think if you can train your legs to build up strength, not to train always in high cushioned shoes, I personally think you're setting yourself up for more long-term health and success. Yeah, staying healthy as a runner by not focusing exclusively there. And mixing into your rotation, shoes that are a little more minimalist based. Good question from Gosecchi. Moving on, okay. What's the best trail worthy road shoe in your lineup? Something designed for the road, with surprisingly good fit and lugs. That is a good question that I actually did not think about ahead of time. And I'm just looking around here, a road shoe that could also pull off, oh man, you are putting me on the spot here. Man, I'm gonna go with, that's a tough one. That's a really tough one. You kind of stumped me here. I mean, I have the Vemaro 14 in my hands, which I think there's an update coming. I think some of you heard this, that the tongue on the Vemaro 14 is getting an update. I will keep you posted on that. Believe it or not, the lug pattern on the Vemaro 14 isn't bad. It's probably two millimeters, so not amazing. But it's enough to get an okay grip. And it's got, it's probably, yeah, I would say it falls into the more cushioned and maximalist category for Nike. So I'm gonna throw that out there. Oh man, so how I approach this, and I forget who asked this question, is what trail shoe could be a crossover onto the road. So the commuter shoe that I'm always talking about, I often say that the Wild Horse 5 from Nike, and then also, well yeah, I'll just say the Wild Horse 5 could be a crossover shoe to go from the trails to the road. Good question. Okay, moving on here, let me just check the camera to make sure we're still filming and rolling. We're still rolling. Okay, looking good. Here we go. All right, here we go. Next question. This is from, oh, I don't have a name. Love your channel. I am new to trail running. Ben Road running for years, doing marathons that is seven mile, he's doing a marathon that is seven miles in the Wooded Single Track. And the remainder on gravel roads, what would be a good shoe choice? He's always running the Soccany Canvara lineup. So my quick answers are the Hoka EVO Speed Goat, the Nike Pegasus 36 Trail, possibly the Wild Horse 5, I'd probably pick the Pegasus 36 Trail over the Wild Horse 5. And then last but not least, I would toss into the mix definitely the Solomon S Lab Ultra 2. I'll be curious to, this is the Ultra 1, but I'll be curious to see if Solomon updates this for the Ultra 3 in summer 2020. I think, yeah, I would say this would be pretty high on a recommended list for that type of trail that you're describing. Good question, moving on. This is from India from Shadhurri, or sorry, Sumya in India. He asks, last year's shoes are on discount. Which one should he look at getting? He says like, he's interested in the Beacon one, the Skechers Go Run Ride 7, Float Ride Energy from Reebok, Zante Pursuit and Zante V4. I would, and I don't know what you're looking for. If you're looking for an easy day shoe or a daily trainer, kind of sounds like you're looking for a daily trainer. If so, I would probably, I would go Go Run Ride 7 out of all those. And then the Beacon one from New Balance, which is right here, would be like an easy day shoe based on the ones you are. Yeah, I would go Go Run Ride 7, but yeah, in the Go Run Ride 8 is now out as many of you know. And all of these shoes that I'm talking about are down below. Okay, here we go, moving on. Question three from Tom, it's kind of long here. He says, I'm looking to buy my first pair of trail running shoes to use in 2020, but I have no idea what exactly I should use. My trails would be typically mostly mud with some gravel and undulating hills. So, and then, so basically, Tom, I would look at Solomon or Innovate if you're talking about some serious mud. And ooh, I don't think I brought it out here. Let's see, yeah, oh, I did. Okay, here we go. So here is the Mud Claw from Innovate. If you're talking, I think he's from the UK. Tom is from the UK. So I know you can get a lot of rain over there. If you're really talking about mud, here's the Mud Claw G260 from Innovate. I'll put that there. We're talking serious mud though. But, and okay, but you cannot use, I would not use this shoe on gravel. So this is just for mud, but the Solomon Speed Cross 5, I think you could use on gravel, maybe not for more than like five miles, but you could do the Solomon Speed Cross 5 and a ton of mud. So gravel and mud in the Solomon Speed Cross 5. Keeping in mind Solomon is usually a little more narrow fit. And the Speed Cross 5, like if you need a little more cushion, this might not be the shoe for you. Same with Innovate, like Innovate is known for not a ton of forgiveness through their midsoles. Good question from Tom. Moving on here, Matt asks, Seth, thanks in advance for reading. As I am sure you are busy, I'm running the Bigfoot 10K Snowshoe Race in Traverse City, Michigan. He's basically wondering what shoe could he use to a running shoe for a snowshoe race. So you gotta strap, and this is where Matt, go down in the comments. Anybody, I love how we can lean into everybody that lives in Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, Sweden, everyone up North where it's really cold, let us know what shoe could Matt use for a snowshoe race, a 10K, with quite a bit of vertical he says, and it would fit in a snowshoe. I would actually, man, I mean, I would almost lean toward the Speed Cross 5, although it's a little heavy. Oh, I have no clue, Matt. Hopefully you can get an answer down in the comments. Thanks for helping Matt out if you have experience with snowshoe racing. Isaac asks, do you have a video with the Brooks Adrenaline Series? Isaac, it's crazy. For some reason, Brooks has escaped the rotation. I think I have the Ghost 11. Is it the 11 over there? But for some reason, Isaac, like Brooks just hasn't made it into the studio very much. If you're listening out there, Brooks, I'm open to trying your shoes, but I just don't know why Brooks has not made it in the road to, I have nothing against Brooks, but anyway, Isaac, I have not. Moving on, here we go. This is from Linnea, I love this question. She says, hi Seth. So happy to have stumbled upon your YouTube channel. She says, every Christmas I buy a pair of running shoes for a friend of mine who is a two-tour combat veteran. Thank you for your service to whoever the friend is out there. Running is the only place he finds peace. Ah, that's amazing. I saw your review of the Soccany Mad River TR for the best 2019 shoe video, but I cannot afford it this year, which was about $110. I know he likes Soccany and since he recently moved to rural Connecticut, he is in the snow, creeks, trails, and hills. Is there a favorite 2018 Soccany or 2017 that you can point me to? So I would say the Peregrine lineup, Peregrine, Peregrine lineup from Soccany eight or nine, okay? So that would be two years ago, the eight and last year, the nine. So I think 2018, 2017. And I have found them Linnea for $70 right now. If you can afford it, I would bump up to the GTX. So the Gore-Tex option, that's what the GTX stands for at the end of shoes, just for anyone that doesn't know. And Gore-Tex is what helps make running shoes more water resistant. They're not waterproof, but they're water resistant since he lives in Connecticut. And I know there can be snow and mud and sleet and rain. That would help him out a lot. Linnea, great job helping out this veteran, get out there and run and find peace in running. That's just an amazing, amazing little story there. So the Soccany Peregrine eight or nine, moving on here to Richard in Australia, by the way. Like, just like thoughts go out to everyone in Australia with the fires, it's serious down there. So I hope you're safe and I hope everything's okay, but it seems like it's a really serious situation out there with the wildfires in Australia right now, because I know it's summer down there. So Richard is from Australia. He's just discovered the channel. Okay, here's the question. He was wondering how do, oh yeah, how do my feet cope with the vast change in number of shoes that I run in? To me, for Richard, he sticks with one pair, so he minimizes the chance of injury and there being too much of a radical change in impact from the various types of shoes out there. What are my thoughts? So he's, and a lot of people bring this up with me. They, you know, basically share their thoughts that running in a lot of different types of shoes can cause injury. And my approach, Richard, is actually running in a lot of different types of shoes actually prevents injuries. Why? So I think when you run in the same shoe all the time, and I know this might be a little controversial, but you're actually setting your muscles and tendons and ligaments and bones and everything else up for the same repetitive motion all the time without quote unquote like stimulating or firing these other small little muscles, tendons, ligaments that are maybe going a little dormant because you're not using them. Let me explain a little more. Like I love using the example of soccer. Like soccer, you can have ACL injuries and MCL injuries but I love soccer players because they're always cutting and they're moving and they're using all these different motions whereas runners were going the same direction straight forward all the time. Trail running, I realize mixes it up quite a bit but we're moving in the same direction and using the same stride and foot strike thousands and thousands and thousands of times over and over, whereas soccer players are moving and same with basketball players, a lot of other sports. So Richard, also think about running barefoot on a grass soccer field. I like to do it in the summertime. I wish I could do it in the wintertime but why do we do that? We do that to stimulate and fire different muscles and tendons and ligaments to strengthen our ankles and our feet in different ways outside of a running shoe. That's where the minimalist running shoe came into movement, came into play and so therefore running in all sorts of different types of shoes, for me how I approach it is it's actually firing and stimulating these dormant muscles that I might not use if I was only running in Nike Turbo IIs or running in even in zero drop shoes from Ultra like the same zero drop all the time. So anyway, oh, that's a big topic Richard. I hope that made sense. I know that was kind of a long answer onward and upward. Here we go. Quick question and we're almost done here actually. Did I already answer this? Nike vapor fly next percent versus carbon X for someone that prefers a wider toe box. I also like a lower drop shoe as well. So Jeff, yes. Okay, Jeff, carbon X, it's a lower drop and I would say the carbon X toe box is definitely a little wider than the next percent. Here it is. Yeah, it's close, it's a close toe box but Jeff, that's a good, I would, especially it's a lower drop than the next percent. Is it, I think it's six millimeters or is it four? It might be four actually and the next percent is eight millimeters. Okay, believe it or not, we got through the questions. Oh man, that was awesome. Okay, question of the day. Do you like this format of Q and A where I hone in on one specific topic a little more than let's say mixing and training questions? And because of that, therefore, what running shoe questions do you have for me? I'll do my best to collect them and so ask down below in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them in the next running shoe Q and A. Love it, onward and upward. Thanks for watching, thanks for being here and I'll toss it back on the right to the Q and A running playlist. If you haven't seen that playlist, we're starting to get a good accumulation of videos there. That'll be on the right and on the left. We'll throw it back to the next percent first impression video from last summer. All right, there you go everyone. See beauty, work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.