 Onward and upward, another Q&A on a Saturday. Hope you're doing well. Hope your weekend is off to a great start. I have a bunch of trail shoes sitting right here to talk about with all of you. That's right, that is the focus of this week's Q&A. And yes, I pulled all of the questions from last week's question of the day on YouTube and then I also posted it on Twitter this morning. So that's where we're pulling these questions from. Let's dive in. Brooks on Twitter is asking, I'm running my first Pike Speak Ascent this year. Congrats, Brooks. That's exciting. I'm thinking about picking up a pair of Soccany trail shoes since their road shoes have worked well for me. Should I go with one of the existing on the market that you have reviewed or wait for the release of new versions in June? Oh, Brooks, good question. So where is it? I said, there it is. So here's the Soccany Mad River TR, one of my favorite trail shoes from 2019 because it was versatile. I could use it in a lot of different ways, pretty lightweight and Brooks, I'm gonna say that now it's not categorized as a racing shoe, but I think this is not a bad option. It's light enough. It's not crazy heavy, which trail shoes are known to be sometimes. I think this Mad River TR could pull off the Pike Speak Ascent. I think the logs on the bottom would do the trick. Absolutely. Now, another shoe from Soccany is the Switchback ISO, which is definitely more of the racing, falls into the racing category from Soccany. So if you wanna wait for that shoe, this is the ISO2. I'm not exactly sure when the ISO3 will be released. Maybe it is in June, but oh, and again, Brooks, I don't know, for those that don't know, the Pike Speak Ascent is a 13 mile race up a huge 14,000 foot mountain here in Colorado, gaining about 7,000 feet of vertical gain. So Brooks, I don't know what your goals are exactly, but frankly, I would put this in the running as a possibility, especially if your foot is a little wider, which I think the Mad River TR can accommodate a wider foot, okay? I don't know if that exactly answers your question, but the Switchback ISO series could also work for you, but again, it's a little more aggressive. Good question from Brooks on Twitter. Here we go. From Kurt, and I believe this was also Twitter. How do you determine how aggressive of a trail shoe to purchase, i.e. Solomon versus New Balance? He gave the example of the New Balance Hero is a better to err on the side of aggressive. That is from Kurt. That is a great question. So here we go. Let's go the most aggressive I can find in the lineup and possibly the least aggressive. So we've got the Innovate Mud Claw G260 here on the your right, and on the left is the Nike Wild Horse 5, which is a little more tame. So Kurt, Kurt, Kurt. As far as aggressive, you know, the easy answer, Kurt, is how much mud is around your house? How much, how much mud, how much snow, how many, yeah, like basically how soft are the surfaces that you're running through? Also, connecting back to Pikes Peak for Brooks is that the Pikes Peak Ascent, the trail is kind of pebbles, little, little pebbles. So it's a little loosey-goosey up there. So as far as love depth, I choose to race in the Solomon S-Lab, this is the seven, I will likely race in the eight this upcoming year, but this is the Solomon S-Lab Sense 7 SG. That SG stands for soft ground, meaning the lug depth is deeper. So you can bite into the ground a little bit better, whereas they do make a model of this shoe that is not SG. So the lug depth is, this is probably, I think these are five to six millimeter and the non-SG version is around like that two to three millimeter. So to answer your question, Kurt, it depends on, yeah, how much bite you need in your, you know, as far as the surface that you're running on. Also though, keep in mind, if you're going over rocks and it's a rock, like going up the 14ers here in Colorado, it can be rocky and you don't necessarily want. And I'm talking rocks that are more solid, almost like not boulders, but more solid rocks. You may not want that lug depth that is crazy because these lugs might be pressing, will be pressing into the bottom of your foot just a little bit. So Kurt, if I had to choose, I'm gonna give you my straight. If I had to choose, I would go with probably a little less aggressive because then the shoe, I think becomes a little more versatile, like the Wild Horse 5, for example. But if it's a mud fest, if it's crazy out, leaves that are starting to fall on the trail, it's just a crazy trail, yeah. I would go with a little more lug depth. Okay, I gotta stop there. That's a big in-depth question. I love it though. Okay, moving on to Carl on Twitter. Do you recommend different shoes for different terrain? A lot of trails in the Northeast are rocky and rooty. I run these trails in the Brooks, Cascadia, but I'm getting near replacement time. And this kind of connects to what I just said to Kurt Do you recommend different shoes for different terrain? Absolutely, and also different terrain and different distances that you'd like to run. So certainly a little more mid-sole protection like you will find in the Hoka Speed Goat 4 or the Hoka EVO Speed Goat, definitely a lot more mid-sole protection for those longer runs. If I was racing, I'm kinda sad that I'm not racing a 50K in 2020, most likely. Yeah, it's not on the calendar. But I would probably choose the Hoka EVO Speed Goat if I was racing a 50K, most likely because of that mid-sole protection. So yes, I will say Kurt, definitely make sure that the trail shoe has a rock plate if you're going over rocks and roots. Most of you already know that, but some trail shoes don't have a rock plate and a rock plate, if you don't know, is a piece of plastic, basically. Most of them are plastic or hard, hard rubber that is in between or embedded right inside that midsole to protect your foot from the rocks. Oh, I'm trying to think of the shoe. Oh gosh, there was a shoe in 2019. I'm not gonna think of it right now that did not have a rock plate. And I don't think it was from Solomon. It was from Solomon. The Solomon, not the Speed Cross, but the Super Cross. The Solomon Super Cross 4, I think it was, and it did not have a rock plate and I could feel every single rock on the journey. Okay, moving on to Sam on Twitter. Where I live, there are a lot of soft trails. Is there a good minimalist shoe that you recommend for softer ground? So Sam, man, that's tough. The only, the two companies I thought of immediately were Merrill and Toppo. Okay, I just thought the camera had stopped. It's still rolling, thankfully. Okay, the two Sam are Merrill and Toppo, all right? They make a lot of minimalist shoes, Merrill and Toppo, but also check out the Ultra King MT2, which is actually more of a racing shoe. But as you know, racing shoes are a little more streamlined and less of a midsole, so check those out. Check that one out as well. But Merrill and Toppo would be my go-to to check out. All right, hope that helps Sam. Moving on to Grant on Twitter. I struggled with shin splints for a long time. I'm sorry, man. Oh, I don't know how long, but that is a tough one. Instead of recommending a specific shoe or brand, are there build characteristics or other things I should look for slash avoid when shopping? I think what he's, you know, components of a running, of a trail running shoe to avoid or to look for to help overcome shin splints. I put this in here. Maybe I shouldn't have put this in here because I don't have a ton of experience with shin splints, Grant, and of course, I'm not a doctor. I've had shin splints once in my life. And what made it go away for me was definitely reducing the mileage. You've probably done all of this. Gentle massage. I do remember doing quite a bit of icing. That seemed to help me a lot is icing. I actually did a 25 mile race with shin splints. So mine weren't severe, but I was signed up for it and I just wanted to do it. So I did it. And so as far as a shoe to look for, oh man, Grant, I'm not a doctor. But I would lean toward a shoe that has a lower drop. So an ultra, which are zero drop running shoes. Basically, my thesis is that you need to continue to stretch out your entire kinetic chain. So from your lower back all the way down to your toes, but especially that calf and soleus area and the ultra lineup, like here we go. We've got the ultra. This is the, is this the temp? No, yeah, this is the temp 1.5. Ultra temp 1.5 would be actually a solid option, especially for trail running. So ultra temp 1.5 would be my thought just to help you stretch out that calf and soleus. Good question. Oh man, moving on. Here we go. Jacob asked, I know it is an older shoe, but have you ever tried the Hoka Torrent? If not, do you plan to? Jacob, I have not maybe in 2020, should I? Let me know down in the comments who is a fan of the Hoka Torrent and why convince me to get it. And maybe I will like trail season is coming up. I'm starting to build up that running shoe rotation for this fine new year. I guess we're in February already, but it is still the new year in my mind. Okay, moving on to Dr. Funk, one, two, one, six. I love the name. This is on YouTube. It seems that carbon fiber plates are here to stay for road shoes. What are your thoughts on carbon fiber trail shoes? And do you think it's on the horizon? 100%. This actually came up, I think, last week as well. 100%. Trail shoes, I'm actually shocked there is, that I know of. There's no trail shoe with a carbon fiber plate. Will it help runners? I think so. I don't know why it wouldn't. And I'm just trying to imagine. Jim Wamsley, Western States 100. I was out there filming it last year. He won that race, set a new course record in this shoe. The Hoka EVO Speed Goat for 100 mile race. I would not be shocked if Hoka would consider putting a carbon fiber plate in this shoe. I don't see, there's really no reason that I can think of scientifically why a carbon fiber plate would not be working for people on the trails. So I love it, Dr. Funk, in the house. Great question. It's on the horizon, in my humble opinion. Okay, moving on, question, I believe number eight. This is from Brent on YouTube. Which Solomon race shoe for trails would I, I guess, buy between 15K and 25K? He's never tried Solomon yet. Her they are good, but not a lot of cushion for longer races. That is from Brent. It's a good question. That 15K, you know, okay. Keep everything I say a little bit with a grain of salt. Like I'm trying to rock and roll when I'm at the starting line. That's why, even though, okay, it's gonna be interesting. So I'm racing the Pikes Peak Marathon, which is a 26 mile race this upcoming summer. So up and down Pikes Peak. At this point, I am leaning toward the Solomon S Lab Sense 8 SG. But at the same time, there's not a ton of midsole protection there. So you have to ask yourself, Brent, how beat up do you wanna be after that race? For me, Pikes Peak is a peak race in 2020. But if you're doing a train through race, meaning you have other races coming up in the future, you might wanna protect your legs a little bit. So another, yes, would be the Solomon S Lab Ultra lineup. Okay, this is the Ultra One, but they also have the Ultra Two Out, which is a streamlined upper. It's a lighter option. So the Solomon S Lab Ultra Two, I think would definitely be a good option if you're interested in Solomon for that more of that 25K distance, okay? Good question from Brent, there you go. Okay, moving on to Landon. He asks, hey Seth, I'm in middle school, but he does club cross country and track, awesome. I was wondering how you feel about wearing trail shoes for cross country races, like the Solomon Sense 8 II or Solomon Sense Ride II. As cross country spikes tend to hurt my ankles. At my age, cross country races are three to four K thanks and love from Canada. Landon, thank you for watching from Canada. Landon, you're in middle school. I would say protect your legs, protect your feet. I think you have all the time in the world to let your body develop, to let your legs strength develop, to let your ankle strength develop. I think it's brilliant to race in a trail shoe in middle school cross country. I think it's awesome. And down the road, maybe when you're a sophomore or a junior and you do practice in these spikes, these cross country spikes and track spikes, but especially cross country spikes and your body will be more able to receive because it is harder. I get it, man. It's harder on the body when you spike up because those spikes, they force you up on your toes. Now I will say spikes, I think they do help you run faster. I will put that out there, but at this point Landon, I think it's brilliant. I'm trying to think, well, this is almost the SLAB, Solomon SLAB, oh my gosh, Sense7SG is almost like a cross country spike. Like it has some, this could be a decent option, Landon, because it's not crazy aggressive as far as putting you up on your toes, no matter what. There's still enough midsole protection there that you could pull this off in a cross country race. Landon, great question. And keep trucking up there in Canada. Oh, I love it. I love the young runners out there. Okay, moving on to Graham. Here we go. Last question. Thanks for a great video. Once again, a quick question. What considerations do you make other than cushioning for ultra-distance shoes? Is cushioning the number one priority when choosing shoes for an ultra-distance race, or are there other aspects that you would consider before getting into the cushioning? That is from Graham. Graham, great question. Let me take a quick drink here. So I would say cushioning is high on the priority list. And I wish when I would have attempted my first 100 miler that I honestly, this was like two years ago, that I would have known more about shoes. Even two years ago, like I'm learning alongside you guys. Like I've learned a lot in the last two years, but I wish I would have been a little more acquainted with running shoes. So if I was running 100 miler now, there's a good chance I would run in the EVO Speed Go. And it's not just because Jim Walmsley set a course record at Western States in this shoe, like it's a special shoe. I think it's a really special shoe. But one other consideration, Graham, I think would be depending on the time of year you're racing, Graham, is a couple of things. Okay, ventilation. So how breathable is the shoe? When you're running for miles and miles and miles, like if it's hot out, your feet are gonna get hot. You don't want your feet to get too hot. You know, leading to blisters. And then also, okay, in the second variable I would look for is draining basically. Like is the shoe able to wick away moisture? Again, if you're running for 50 miles, 100 miles, like long ultra races and maybe you're crossing creeks, okay? There's actually probably a good chance you're crossing creeks. I wanna make sure the shoes can drain out water. That's another cool feature of the Soccany Mad River TR is that this shoe is literally, the name says it all, the Mad River TR. It's actually designed for you to drill holes in the bottom of the outsole so water can drain out of this shoe. Amazing. I love this shoe. It's so innovative. But, so those would be two factors. It does it wick away moisture? Well, does it get rid of water out of the shoe? Well, and then is it pretty breathable? Especially if you're racing in the summertime, all right? Sound good? Thanks for being here. I hope that helps. We covered quite a bit. Oh, what a day, what a day. Okay, question of the day for next week's Q&A. We're diving in, I'm not afraid. We're diving in all about just carbon fiber plates. It's such a hot topic right now in the running shoe world. So, okay, question of the day. What questions do you have for me? Oh, just as that light goes out. What questions do you have for me all about carbon fiber plate running shoes? That is the question of the day. Thanks for being here. Thanks for watching today. I appreciate you and onward and upward can't wait for the trail season. I must say so. All right, we're gonna toss it back on the right too. My top three trail running shoes of 2019. That'll be on the right. And then we'll toss it back to my Hoka EVO Speed Goat Full Review. That'll be on the left. Oh man, all right, thanks for being here. See you tomorrow. Work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow.