brooks transcend

Shoe review – The Brooks Transcend (DIS FOR ALL MY SHOE NERDS!)

| cheriarmour

So, before you read, 100% understand that I have been team Brooks for millions of years.  And by millions, I mean for about 2 years, which is as long as I have been working for Fleet Feet in some capacity.  Originally, I was fitted for the Brooks Adrenaline, which is pretty decent stability, but my “princess and the pea” hoof was not having that stability posting.  From there I tried the Glycerin 10 which is what I ran my first half marathon and my first marathon in, and moved to the Ghost for my shorter runs.  My poor rugby knee seemed to really really appreciate the cushioning.

Knee InjuryOuch!

Okay so anyhoo, I actually called our Brooks Rep up on the phone, Chris, and had a really good chat with him about the Transcend, because honestly, I’m not sure I was getting the concept.

The Trance, which the Transcend replaced, was a pretty high stability shoe – felt like a dang dream on your foot, but had a really decent amount of stability in the shoe, so we “prescribed” the show sparingly.  Additionally, the steep price point would sometimes scare folks off who were, at the time, expecting to pay maybe $100.  (The shoe’s price soared to $150, and this was before that was pretty standard for a pair of high-cushioned stability shoes).

So anyhoo, Chris had great insight and great explanation for the way the shoe differed.

The shoe is still considered stability, but instead of there being a huge stability posting that your poor pronating foot slams into with each step, the shoe relies on “guide rail” technology that works to gently guide your foot into a more neutral position.  Still following?  The other big draw of the shoe is the cushioning, that Chris repeatedly described as “plush” but it’s referred to by Brooks as Super DNA, which is their original DNA cushioning, really beefed (or in this case), fluffed up.  Whereas the Glycerin or the Ghost felt a little more firm, a little more stable, the Transcend, out of the box feels straight up smooshy for lack of a better word.

Can you tell that I love my sneaks and that I love my job at Fleet Feet?

Okay, onto the review!DSC_0020

Cons (which I always start with so you can end on a positive)

  • I wear a size 10.5 in women’s which is already pretty big.  I felt like the Transcend made my hooves look HUGE.  You’ve got a skinny little chick in tights wearing giant pink shoes – not the most attractive.  In fact, I felt a little goofy.
  • Being used to the snug, foot-hugging Cadillac feel of the Glycerin, the shoe felt huge at first as well.  It took me so definite getting used to.
  • I’m used to the boat shape of the Brooks Glycerin and the Ghost.  The sort of flatter shape of this shoe reminded me of the Brooks Dyad, and threw me off a little at first.

But, after an initial test-drive….

Pros

  • Out of the box, the shoe is obviously a well-engineered, quality-manufactured running accessory.  I don’t need to name names, but sometimes that is not necessarily the case.
  • I got a lot of compliments on the look of the shoe – maybe I was being a little overdramatic on how big they looked on me?
  • My feet usually cannot stand to have any stability within their vicinity.  The Guide Rail technology was very very comfortable to me, and seemed to really do some guiding.  I’m interested to see what my wear pattern might look like after a few hundred miles.
  • Need cushioning?  Bad knee, sore hip?  This is the shoe for you.  You feel virtually nothing as you’re cruising, and that’s so weird, but so cool.
  • The forefoot of the shoe kinda felt like the Ghost used to.  As in, there was a ton of room up there.  In a good way, not in a weird way.
  • The shoe is very smooshy.  I’m trying to think of something to compare it to in real life, but it’s sort of like running on….sorta of like a firmer marshmallow.  A regs marshmallow would be really weird, it has more structure than that.

Overall, I liked the shoe, and I’m glad that working at the store, I was given first dibs on a pair of these shoes.  Had I not been so intrigued and wanted to try them, I may have just stuck in my old habits.  I’m interested to race in them and kind of see what we think in a race situation.

Anyone else tried this shoe?  What do you think?  

[Full disclosure – FF Ral was seeded a few pairs, and I was a lucky FIT Specialist who got a pair.  But all opinions are strictly my own!]

Today was the worst day at work.

| cheriarmour

So in my non-Zumba, non-blogging, and non-Fleet Feet life, I am a social worker, and yesterday flat-out sucked.  I literally told my boss “I hate this day,” before I left the office, and called Austin in a cranky mood.

I was tempted to lay on the couch and call it a day, but when I got home, I cracked one of these.

DSC_0018And I cracked it while I moseyed around and found some clean running clothes, which was no small feat.  There were clothes everywhere, and I had to set out to clean those up.

DSC_0020I did my my-job-is-killing-me run (jk kinda!) in these new babies.  Two things, how good do they look on my new camera?  I played around with lighting, different settings, and different filters today, and it’s starting to turn out beautifully!  I’m not a photographer by any means, but my father has done a lot of photography for years, and I think I caught the same bug that he has.  Second thing, these moon shoes are the Brooks Transcends that arrived last week.  Today was my first real run in them (only 3 miles,) and I will be sure to hit you with the full review once I get some good mileage on them.

The Brooks Transcend is the she that’s replacing the Trance, and honestly, even though I’ve run a lot in the Glycerin (a high-end, high cushion neutral shoe), this shoe is a lot of moon shoe underneath my delicate foot.  On that preliminary tip though, it feels okay, but I’m still not used to having SO much between me and the earth.  But I’m gonna give it that full college try before I tell you for sure how I feel about them.

Now back to the job thing.  What is your real job?  How do you feel about it?  Be honest, I promise I won’t tell your boss!

Happy Monday!

| cheriarmour

Total brain dump for you all today.  

The weekend was really good, but once again, I left it feeling like I didn’t get anything that I wanted to done, in part because all day Saturday, after I finished teaching class, I was laid up with a headache, so I ended up sleeping most of the day.  

Ah well, I will just have to put in a little extra work this week to make sure house gets cleaned/dinner gets made/workout gets worked etc etc. 

So anyhoo, a few items of brain dumpage. 

photo 1

This hair.  Obviously, I’ve been rockin the locs for a long time, but these, these are a feat of majesty and wonderment.  I’m not sure if my hair could take the color, because I work out too much and that already stresses my hair, but I can definitely work to grow it out a few more inches and crunch/curl them so they look all wild and cool like this.  I love.  

 

Tphoto 2

I was back in the store yesterday, and trying on all the shoes.  Still waiting to try on the Brooks Trascend (the new mushy model Brooks is releasing), but for yesterday, I went with the New Balance Minimus Road 10, a Minimalist shoe.  One of these days, we can talk all about minimalist running, but today is not that day.   All I can say is that these shoes are really cute, and I wish my right achilles would allow me to even consider running in this shoe, cause the colors are cute.  

photo 3

I had to drop my little boy, Martin off to get his neuter today, and I was a total wreck.  The doctor said he did really well, but they said he still had a few fleas (GAH) and conjunctivitis in his right eye.  Poop.  So they send him home with a few medications. 

photo 4

 

And by the time I got to him, he was so out of it.  But, even in his medicated state, he was really really loving, and kept nuzzling my hand.  

photo 5

 

He was back to his normal self the following morning, and had managed to break his collar within moments of us purchasing it for him.  Gah what the heck.  

And that is it for today’s brain dump. 

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything fun?