 and we're wrapping up the shoot here at Red Rocks with the trail running shoes. Oh my goodness. A lot of traction happening right now. Let's see if anyone can figure that out. Traction. Welcome back to Trail Running Shoes Part 2. A couple days ago we talked about this, but in trail running the diversity of options for different types of trails is just vast. Very vast. Because the, and this is number one, the dirt that we run on is different literally in every country around the world. It's amazing whether it's high alpine trail running, whether it's running through the desert, whether it's running through like boggy situation like muddy situations or there's a race called the Hurt 100 in Hawaii. I've heard it's one of the hardest 100 mile races in the world because you have to negotiate routes, R-O-O-T-S. That's right, tons of routes from the big trees in Hawaii. So there's a lot of different types of racing out, of trail racing out there and just one more for kicks is there's literally 100 mile races where you run around someone's backyard. It's a big backyard, but you do laps and laps and it's basically the last person standing and so it's a very buffed out trail where you're just doing laps upon laps upon laps. So anyway, there's a lot of different types of trail racing which means there should be a lot of different types of trail racing shoes to match those races and that's where hopefully I can shed a little light and listen. I don't have every trail racing shoe on the books. I would love to reinvest in a couple new ones sooner rather than later, but I again need to get healthy and so for me, my approach to trail racing shoes and let's just pull a couple up right now, replace the Speedcross 5 and replace the Wild Horse 5 with the Terra Kyger 5 there. Okay, basically I attempted 100 mile race in 2018, did not finish it. I hope to get back to the 100 mile distance down the road, but for now just so you have the context of how I how I am approaching trail racing right now and in the not so distant future, I'm looking for high alpine shorter races with a lot of vertical gain. So we're talking like anything from a 10k up to basically a 50k or a marathon right in that range, nothing over a 50k. So I'm not looking for a shoe for 100 mile race. I'm looking for more speed shoes, shoes that are a little more aggressive meaning the out the lugs on the outsole have a nice good grip and bite for the dirt and the rocks when I'm climbing up big mountains. So anyway, that is the context for how I am approaching trail racing in the not so distant future and but where you live, who knows, like there are literally trail races all over the world and I'm continued to be impressed with the East Coast here in the United States. Almost every weekend I am seeing photos on Facebook on Instagram from a lot of you out there that I follow who are posting photos from 100 mile races in Pennsylvania or a 100k race in in South Carolina. Like there's there's literally ultra races all over the United States, not just here in the West or here in the Rocky Mountains. So wherever you live, I would encourage you to just get on Google or ultra sign up.com and just start looking for some races if you're interested in getting into this crazy sport that we call trail running aka ultra running. Now my trail racing shoe lineup is not as vast as my trail training shoe lineup. Okay. And I must say like, I actually now I'm not saying I could be sponsored by an ultra or hoka. I don't know if I'm quite fast enough, but I'm glad that I'm not. Why? Because I can talk to all of you about all of these different types of shoes. If I was sponsored by Solomon, I'd have to run in Solomon and I'd have to talk to you only about Solomon or if I would if I ran for the Nike trail team, that would be it for me. It would be the Terra Keiger five that we'd be talking about right now. So anyway, let's break down. Here we go. We've got for the trail racing shoe lineup in my quiver. Here we are. We've got the Nike Terra Keiger five, a new release. Oh, in the last two to three months, we've got the Solomon ultra s lab ultra. And I'll talk more about this in a second. Then we've got the Solomon s lab sense six sg and the Solomon s lab sense seven sg. So let's start with these two, I guess. So the sense six sg is the 2018 iteration. And this is the 2009 the sense seven is the 2019 iteration. Now you might be asking yourself, if I wanted to save a little money, should I just buy last year's model? I'm going to tell you right now, I would not. I would strongly recommend spending the extra money to get the sense seven. So the sense seven is a huge update, especially to the upper. It sheds almost an ounce, which is a lot, not quite, but almost an ounce from its older brother, the sense six. So I would strongly recommend looking at the sense seven for your trail racing shoe lineup. How will I use this shoe? Aggressive half marathon races with vertical gain. I'll probably, I could, I would use it for a marathon as well. Just keep in mind, your legs might feel a little more beat up when you cross the finish line because the midsole is not like it's not, it's not the ultra. I'll just put it that way. And it's definitely not a hoka. It's not an ultra. It's, it's designed to go very, very fast. I would say preferably around that half marathon distance, although I do think you could take it up to the marathon. I would, you know, I'd be careful at the 50k distance for this sense seven only because the midsole is not as thick as you might want. And the name S lab sense seven SG, what does that SG stand for? Soft ground. That's right. The lugs on the bottom are designed to dig through mud, dig through, you know, loose dirt. Why did I go with the SG? Because the peak race for this summer, the pike's peak ascent, the, the trail is, has a lot of gravel. So like loose gravel, it's not good. It's, it's not good for traction. That's why I went with the SG. So again, if you're looking for a trail shoe that's got some really, really amazing grip, this is for you. All right, moving on to the Solomon ultra. So this is last year's model. The ultra two was released about a month ago and the midsole between the ultra and the ultra two exactly the same. Okay. Same with the outsole. It's the upper where the, the ultra two lost some weight from the ultra one. And what are my thoughts on the Solomon ultra? First of all, you should know it was designed to go the long haul meaning 100 Ks, 100 mile races. We're talking long, long trail races. And I don't know if the midsole is quite thick enough for a 100 mile race. Personally, I think I would want a little more cushion through the midsole. If I was going to go run for 20 hours, you know what I mean? So anyway, I'm not convinced by the Solomon ultra lineup. I think Solomon is really nailing the shorter distance trail racing lineup like the, like what we just talked about with the Solomon S lab since seven. But anyway, if you are an ultra fan from Solomon, let me know down in the comments. I just think it, it could use maybe a little more cushion for the long haul. Yeah, but it is a very, very well built shoe. I put a lot of miles into it and it still has a lot of miles to go. Okay. And last but not least, this is crazy, but it's the Nike Terra Keiger five, which I have not raced in yet. Okay. I've run in it quite a bit. I need to put more miles into it. I am fee, but I haven't raced in it. Just want to be completely transparent with you. And so for the Terra Keiger five, what would I use it for? I am sensing that the Terra Keiger five will be great for more rolling hills. Okay. For, for races that are not steep, aggressive uphill racing, but more like, for example, if you live in Colorado, you know about the like the quad rock 25 and 50 mile race, I would consider using this for a 25 mile race. I wouldn't do it for a 50, but for a 25 miler, absolutely. It just, it's, it's actually, it's feeling very fast. And what will I use the Terra Keiger five for? For trail racing, half marathon races, rolling hills. Okay. More so than steep, aggressive trail racing. This will be nice for like a half marathon, marathon 10 mile, just like ready to rock and roll, not on overly aggressive, although the outsole could handle some pretty rocky conditions. Absolutely. But again, if you want, it's that zoom, that zoom foam through the midsole that is just, it's got some nice pop to it that makes me want to run fast on the trails. So that'll be like, if you live in Colorado, just real quick, the quad rock 25 miler up in Fort Collins, this would be my shoe over the Solomon options or over the ultra, although I wouldn't race an ultra over a Hoka option. I would probably grab for the Terra Keiger five for a race like that. All right. There you have it. I know we covered a lot. Oh my goodness. I am excited to invest at some point in some more trail racing shoes. Question of the day, what is going to be or maybe what is already your go to 2019 summer trail racing shoe and why make your case? All right. I am. I love trail racing shoes. I don't know out of all the genre. That's a good question, actually. Do I like to talk or break down trail racing shoes more or road racing shoes more? That's something to consider for another day, but I hope that helped again. My trail racing lineup is not quite as vast. Someday, I'll be able to invest in some more shoes to break down and talk about with all of you. But for now, we're going to stick with these four, the Solomon S lab sent seven SG, the six from last year, the Solomon ultra and yes, the Nike Terra Keiger five. All right. That does it folks. Thanks for being here. Thanks for watching and I will update you very, very soon on how the foot is feeling. Sound good? Take beauty, work hard. Go hit those trails now.