Adidas and La Sportiva

I know, this is a review, and I don't like'em. But I'm so happy with my shoes that I want to tell you about them.

I struggled letting go of my kickass first generation fluorescent green Cascadias for a long time, even gluing them together with superglue (that brought my shoes to smoke (toxic white fumes) when the glue touched the plastics). They made it through the Bandera 50km I ran in January, but after that, I used them sparingly, and only on special occasions.

I then bought a pair of the red cascadias and got so many blisters I threw them in a box and went back to my beat up green cascadias.

I finally caved and went and put my feet into a pair of Adidas AdiZero XT trail shoes about 3 months ago. What??? Adidas makes trail shoes? Ummm, yeah, and they're nice and light! Sure I know I'll need to eventually get some sturdier trail shoes, but until I get to the point of running well over 50miles, or on crazy terrains, I'll continue enjoying a lightweight "performance" trail shoe. The Adidas shoe was great for my 2-4 hour runs. I loved it, and still love it.

Prior to our trip to Colorado, Eric and Steve suggested bringing two pairs to Colorado just in case. I was originally planning on just bringing a pair of roadshoes as my backups, but 2 nights before leaving I was at the store, and Eric put Julia and I into La Sportiva Crosslites that were on clearance. Holy shit! They felt great from the start as well, and maybe even a little sturdier than my AdiZeros. So I got them at the phenomenally great clearance price of $40!

I wore the La Sportivas for a quick 4 mile run the day before we left to make sure they were good for my feet, and they seemed to be on par with my needs.

So in Colorado i wore my La Sportivas on Day 1, and the Adidas on Day 2. Day 3 would be for the winner... and drum roll... the La Sportiva won out for the last 5 hour run on rocky terrain. I love that shoe!

I do think the Adidas is definitely lighter and much better at drying out after a creek crossing, so on days when I'm off for 10 miles or less and will be crossing streams, I'll use those. But for my longer adventures, even though they kinda look a little flashy, with the brand name on them across the side, I won't hesitate to put them on.

Bottom line: You can't go wrong with either pair if you're looking for a lightweight "performance" trail shoe, but do keep in mind that the La Sportiva Crosslite will definitely provide more support, in what is still a pretty light trail shoe.