 Word and upward how is everyone doing I listen I realized we're doing a lot of studio time right now on the channel the reason is because we're in baby mode right now specifically Henry mode this baby is not here yet and we don't know when he's gonna arrive but I don't want to go to the mountains and be that dad that missed his son's birth because he's out running in the mountains and like when I go up to the mountains I'm usually out of cell phone service for two hours three hours sometimes even you know four hours and it's like so I don't want to be that dad so therefore I'm keeping the filming a little simpler right now as we await the arrival of baby Henry hence no outside yeah I'm just being patient you know the drill just being patient okay but I did get a good run in today here we go 20 miles where is this I didn't bring the shoe out it's the hoca speed goat for because which is a trail shoe and I ran in the hoca speed goat for today because we have a lot of ice and snow on the creek paths here in Denver right now and so I love using the trail shoe to help with grip through the snow so 20 miles 720 mile there it is on your screen and kilometers and actually everyone I went a little faster than I was I was hoping for 730s it ended up being 720s I'm okay with that I wasn't looking at my watch but sure enough I guess the legs are feeling pretty good and that is that but anyway first law really yeah first was it yeah I think it was the first 20 mile run of this marathon training block I do believe I have to check Strava later and here we go diving in key running shoe knowledge for your next purchase alright so the goal of today's vlog is to help you understand these running shoe terms that I get it can be a little confusing at times if you're not immersed into the running shoe space but the goal is that you can take this knowledge in these terms of the anatomy of running shoes and apply them to when you visit your next running shoe store so here we go the upper of the shoe that is the top of the shoe so upper there it is on your screen the upper of the shoe it's the material that wraps around the top of your foot so that's that's a first term that you really want to know about the upper the midsole that's the foam that protects your your entire body but especially your feet your legs from the pounding it absorbs the impact on the ground so the midsole and so that's term 2 and then last but not least the outsole that's the bottom of the shoe okay so upper midsole and outsole on the upper of the shoe right here let's start in the back and work our way toward the front so we've got the heel counter alright that is the back of the shoe here that wraps around your heel and base it provides that lock down feel for your heel so your heel is not slipping out of the shoe so that's the heel counter on the top of the heel counter a term that you might not be familiar with is the heel tab okay and it's basically the protection for your Achilles tendon some actually in the Hoka Carbon X I had an issue with my Achilles tendon rubbing on the heel tab in 2019 so anyway this is the heel tab there and then wrapping let me take this out wrapping around the collar of the shoe so think of a collar on a shirt that you button up you put a tie around so this is a collar of the shoe that wraps around your ankle it's a this U shape right here okay it's kind of like a horseshoe right there really critical for me when I'm deciding what shoes I want to purchase and then the sock liner so the sock liner and this is a new term that I didn't have in 2019 the sock liner is kind of what it sounds like it's it's what lines what presses I should say what presses up right against the your sock inside the shoe so any some shoes are have a lot of padding for example whoa look at this the Brooks Ghost this has a ton of sock liner padding through this heel collar area and whereas this Carbon X has much less sock liner padding okay so that's the inside of the shoe that touches your sock alright that's the easiest way to put it alright moving on to the tongue of the shoe alright take that out so this is the tongue of the shoe most of you know this one it lays right on top of your foot right there that's the tongue of the shoe and but again a new term from 2019 that I'm learning about and that a lot of shoes are starting to implement into their designs the gusseted tongue the gusseted tongue so what is that we've talked about this in the past actually a couple other shoes have had the gusseted tongue recently basically it means the tongue is connected to the outer wall of the upper so the tongue cannot slide around so let me just see if I can pull it out there that is the gusseted tongue right there that stretchy fabric right there and I actually like a gusseted tongue yeah I like it helps keep the tongue right in place on the top of your foot so that might be something at a running shoe store if you know like you've had issues with the tongue migrating and moving around on the top of your foot that would be a perfect term to remember and say to your running shoe rep and say hey I don't like when the tongue moves around do you have a shoe that has a gusseted tongue to help keep it in place alright there you go okay moving on to the eyelet chain okay actually I called this the eyelets in 2019 but I'm learning more this is the eyelet chain it's what the shoe laces go through this is the eyelet chain starting near the toebox going all the way up the shoe toward the collar and yes this is where you do the runners knot if you like the runners knot at the top of the eyelet chain okay so I will say that the new balance beacon v1 I loved the new balance here's the baby blues remember these everyone I love the beacons but I did not like the eyelet chain I think it was not the construction quality was low they were starting to tear and rip and I just didn't like the eyelet chain on the beacon v1 I think they improved it a little bit in the v2 but anyway I love the beacon so just keep that in mind the eyelet chain is important because it helps you lock down on the top of your foot to make sure you're nice and secure in the shoe okay moving on to the toebox okay that's the that's right it's just like it sounds it's the box that wraps around your toes right around right in the front of the shoe so this is the toebox right here but you might not know about the vamp okay that is the material right on the side of the toebox the vamp and I've recently read that if you can squeeze with when your foot is in the shoe if you can pinch the material more than like a quarter inch then there's too much it's basically the the upper through the toebox is too baggy and I actually don't I can't stand when uppers and toeboxes like in the beacon v2 scroll I call it scrunching when the toebox material is scrunching and actually I remember the Carbon X did a little bit of scrunching on me as in 2019 and it depends a little bit on the volume of your foot when it's inside the shoe okay moving on to the toe cap it's just what it sounds it's this toe cap right there on the very front of the shoe to help protect your feet from kicking rocks but that's not a good example I don't know if this is gonna have a good toe cap yeah well this is not bad this is a La Sportiva trail shoe so that yellow is a toe cap to help protect your toes from kicking rocks out on the trails critical for trail shoes to have a solid good toe cap if you're doing aggressive trail running so the toe cap alright and then let's keep moving here to the overlays alright we talk a lot about overlays here in the studio through this heel counter on the Brooks ghost I think this is the 10 or 11 the Brooks ghost 11 so this is the overlay which sits on it's a plastic or a rubber that sits on top of the upper material whether it's a flying it or a mesh and it provides a little more stability and rigidity through the upper material so that is the overlays is what this is called here through the heel counter okay and last but not least on the upper are the laces I didn't even talk about this in 2019 for the anatomy lesson the laces I'm learning more and more everybody I'm very very I'm becoming more and more particular about running shoe laces not just the material that they use but even the length of the laces have you isn't it so frustrating when you lace up your running shoes and you're running you run out of running you run out of lace and you're like wait a minute I have to like I can only do a single knot because I can't do a double knot or you end up having too much lace for example I've noticed ultra running shoes have a lot of laces and I end up having to tuck the laces in anyway the running shoe laces are actually I think pretty important because it helps with cinching down and just getting that precise fit that you want in the lockdown for your foot in the shoe so who knows maybe a running shoe store would be willing to if you don't like the laces maybe they'd be willing to swap out laces would like in the back they might have some extra shoe laces I don't know it's now you can never hurts to ask right okay moving on to the midsole so here's the deal this is kind of unique but I'm gonna put the insole of the shoe in the midsole category so again the midsole is this cushion here through the midsole but this insole sits on top of the midsole on the what's called the footbed so the footbed is the inside of the shoe and then in the footbed is sits on top of the midsole and the insole sits on top of the footbed bottom line critical insoles are critical again back to the beak in v1 the insole struggled also the hoca Rincon struggled and that you know remember the spinco the green spinco that I put inside shoes to help provide give a little more cushion to the ride I'm telling you like a really well thought out insole is I think it's really important for a shoe so when you're at the running shoe store pull out the insole and just kind of check it out a little bit make sure it's not paper thin like I've noticed in quite a few hoca shoes and some new balance shoes as well all right putting it out there okay moving on to of course stability versus neutral we've talked about that whether you need stability shoes or neutral shoes and you can have you can have either a medial post or a guide rail to help give you stability through your foot strike if you need stability shoes so the guide rail or medial post will be right here on the outside of the midsole just again to provide a little more stability for your foot strike okay moving on to of course this is why a lot of people were not a lot of people some people were a little upset that I I cut open a Nike next percent and a 4% but the reason I did that was again for moments like this when we're analyzing and breaking down running shoes here in the studio I want you all to be able to see the inside of these shoes and analyze with me what's happening in here so just so you know I'm keeping these forever so there's now of course through the midsole a lot of shoes that are coming out with carbon fiber plates in fact I have a list for all of you that I found today let me just pull it up real quick if I can here's all the shoes coming out in 2020 in the next three to four months with carbon fiber plates all right you ready for this take out your pen and pencil go to your running shoe store and say hey when are these dropping here we go the Soccany endorphin pro that's probably the one I'm most excited about the Nike Alpha Fly next percent the Adidas Adi Zero Pro the Skechers Go Run Speed Elite Hyper the Asics Meta Racer the Brooks Hyperion Elite and the New Balance Fuel Cell TC and RC the RC is going to be released later so there is the list of carbon fiber plate running shoes for all of you it's gonna be an amazing 2020 but take that list and go to the running shoe store and say hey when are these dropping can I get a pair can I get a pair now moving on to trail running shoes real quick so just so you know in most trail running shoes not all of them there's a rock plate in the in the between the midsole and the footbed to protect your feet from rocks all right so this Las Portiva Tempesta GTX has a rock plate in there it's a it's really critical if you're going over rocky trails or trails with roots really critical I've been in some trail shoes that I thought had a rock plate and realized after the run that I did not have a rock plate and my feet were barking at me so rock plate is in trail shoes in that midsole okay and then just so you know most midsole okay I should got to be careful what I say many midsole are made out of EVA foam okay in that EVA what does that stand for Ethyl vinyl acetate ethyl vinyl acetate which is kind of a scientific terminology for this midsole foam so there you go that is the composition of midsole's for running shoes I will just say the midsole also creates the drop or the offset of the running shoe so the drop is the slope of the shoe always measured in millimeters just so you know so if it's a six millimeter drop or offset that means for example I don't know what this one is but I'd say the heel has a 28 millimeter stack height meaning the midsole foam is 28 millimeters and then did I say eight so then it would be 20 we'll just say six millimeter so it would be a 22 millimeter stack height in the four foot that's what creates so it's that 28 minus 22 to get that six millimeter drop and that creates the slope in the shoe and that's a huge actually I've made a vlog all about drop you haven't seen it check it out upper right hand corner okay moving on so we've covered the upper the midsole moving on to that outsole okay the outsole again is the bottom of the shoe right there so shoes have some shoes have exposed midsole foam and I'm looking for example this is a perfect example so the new balance beacon lineup this is exposed midsole foam meaning there's no rubber protecting the midsole except in this case right here in the toe in the toe by in the forefoot I should say right through there and then also in the heel where you you might heel strike okay whereas the Brooks Ghost 11 has a lot more rubber on the outsole okay so that's another great if you gosh that's another great thing to bring into the running shoe store and say hey I prefer a shoe I want a shoe that gets me 500 600 700 miles you're probably gonna want to ask the running shoe store rep for a shoe with more rubber on the outsole versus exposed midsole foam like this beacon where if you get more than 300 miles I think you're you're you're living on a prayer so okay so here we go so there's the outsole also I'll say I love it adidas works with continental rubber so I just love the cross pollination and Skechers is now working with Goodyear so I don't know the whole process but what I'm guessing is adidas is buying old rubber from continental and slapping it on the bottom of their adidas running shoes and then Skechers is doing the same thing with Goodyear I think it's brilliant okay also here we go on the outsole this is called the footbridge the footbridge right there through the midfoot so the footbridge helps with arch support and also with creating a little more stability and rigidity through the midsole so you're not overpronating or supinating too much if that is an issue with your footstrike or yeah with your footstrike so this is called a footbridge and it's not all shoes have it for example the beacon definitely does not have a footbridge and the the hoka carbon X does not have a footbridge and this adidas audio's five has a footprint bridge it's usually just made out of plastic to help give a little extra support there through the through the midsole and outsole okay then of course the tread of the shoe all right here we go so back to this last sportiva has a lot of tread there versus the hoka carbon X which has absolutely no tread at all so the tread is just the grip or the traction that you get out there on the trails or even on wet roads it does it can make a difference for you out there so there you have it i know that was a lot everyone here in the studio lots of terminology go back rewatch this and you'll you'll try just try and pull out as many in fact if i if i have time and i remember i'll try to list all these terms down in the description so you have a list and i hope they just help give you the knowledge and the confidence to go to these running shoe stores where listen you show up and there's some of these stores have hundreds of shoes on the wall and it's intimidating it's like this is overwhelming and so if you have this knowledge ahead of time you can say okay this is what i like this is what has worked this is what has not worked for me in the past i don't like a footbridge or i don't like a booty style collar not this one but whatever the case may be all these terms can help give you the confidence to walk into the store and say this is what i like this is what doesn't work and that question of the day here we go i love that i i've never asked this so i'm really interested to hear and i think it's gonna maybe if you have a local running shoe store send them this vlog and yeah i'll just be curious to see but okay do you remember your best running shoe store experience and why was it your best like what what happened in the whole process of buying your running and it was like the best running shoe store experience of your life tell the story down in the comments i'd appreciate it thanks for being there thanks for watching that's today's vlog onward and upward and uh we're gonna toss it back on the right to yes last year's uh running shoe anatomy vlog that'll be on the right and on the left we'll toss it back to the running shoe drop vlog where i explain running shoe drop and offset all right there you go see beauty work hard and love each other see you tomorrow