All the Altras!!!

I am an Altra Ambassador and have received my Altras as part of the ambassador program. 

My Altra collection has grown significantly since the last time I wrote a review.  This year as an influencer for the Runner's World Festival  I was given the Torin 2.5 to test.  I know, crazy that as an Altra enthusiast, I have yet to run in one of their most well known, popular shoes.  The other three new models I have tried out this year are the Lone Peak 3.0's, Olympus 2.0's and the Paradigm 2.0's.  I have worn older versions of all 3 of these however all of these models are brand new to me.  I feel like they are worth the review since they all have had major changes since the old versions. 

Torin 2.5: Neutral, high cushioned road shoe.  First, I LOVE all the new colors/designs of the Torins.  They were pretty basic in the past but now I find them very attractive.

sexy shoes

As I learned from Golden this past weekend, they are probably Altra's model that comes closest to being similar to a traditional running shoe.  They obviously are not as light as the One2 but they are definitely far from heavy feeling or clunky.

wore them in the 5K & 10K

With the high cushioning they are very comfortable, not as much cushion as the paradigm but pretty significant.  I found them great for both training runs and even running races.  I didn't feel like they hindered my ability to run fast at all.

fun shoes!

Lone Peak 3.0: rugged trail shoe.  I have to confess that I have always LOVED all the Lone Peaks.  They are really my only trail shoe I ever use.  They are light yet cushy yet rugged on the bottom to handle those technical trails.  Being that I'm not one for fashion, I never cared much what they looked like, I didn't care that they were always kind of plain, bland colors.  That said, the new Lone Peak 3 designs are super cool.

I love all the different colors and the mountain designs on the sides.  Some of the other new changes/features on this latest version include a sturdier upper and more aggressive tread.  These new changes are great for me especially on the rocky, rooty technical trails that are all over PA.  That said, the increased sturdiness has caused a more rigid shoe especially in the back/heel area.  I've had many long training runs that were great in these shoes however Emir and I both had issues with bad heel blisters at our race in Bosnia.

Granted we were on our feet 30 hours and at several times are feet were soaking wet.  Emir did experience some blister issues again at Oil Creek 100 and he actually ended up switching to his Olympus after 60 miles.  So while I love the new look and the new sturdiness, I miss that extra cushiness the 2.5's have.  Those I wore soaking wet for 12 hours and no blisters.  But alas can't always have everything.  I have seen tons of reviews that rave about the 3's so it could be an issue with us and our feet.  I still really like them for my long trail training runs.

Olympus 2.0:  Max cushioning trail shoe.  So the olympus was actually the first Altra shoe I ever fell in love with.  I actually back in the day used it alot on roads.  It's super cushy so was great for long road miles.  Then I started doing more and more on the trails and the old olympus just didn't have the traction I needed for the technical sometimes muddy trails.  Fast forward to the new and improved Olympus.  The addition of the Vibram Megagrip outsole literally makes these my perfect trail shoes.  Not only are they super cushy but they have the super grip I need.

 I wore these straight out of the box for my 100K race last month and loved every step.  It was called Boulder Field so needless to say there were pretty technical sections.  The Olympus handled all the various terrains wonderfully.  I really couldn't have been happier.  My feet came out of the shoes in perfect condition and they still have that amazing comfort that I fell in love with a few years ago.

Paradigm 2.0: Max cushioning road shoe.  I'm sure after reading my thoughts on the Olympus, it's no surprise that the Paradigm is my favorite road shoe.  I love and crave max cushioning.  I'm sure it has a lot to do with all the miles I run but it really doesn't matter why and more importantly, it's amazing that Altra makes these shoes for people like me.  I've been logging most of my road miles in the previous Paradigm version until a few weeks ago since I had like 10 pairs of them.

As I mentioned last post, I can get a boatload of miles out of them so they last me a while.  I even ran C & O canal 100 in them since it was a towpath type trail, the road shoe was just fine.

 This newest version isn't too much different which I'm very happy about.  I love all the new colors that are available but most of the features I love have remained the same.  Other than color the main change is the updated mesh upper which I found is sturdy yet more breathable so I think it's a great change.  My next big even is the NJ one day, a 24 hour race on mainly paved, crushed gravel so you better believe I'll be wearing my Paradigms!