Topo graphy

I wore my Topo Ultrafly’s today, took them for a around the block run and they’re just too small.   I wear a size 12.5 to 13 depending on the brand and at 13’s the Ultrafly’s were killing my toes.

Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass being as big as I am, not literally, well not usually.”

The Topo Ultrafly shoes definitely run small.   But that means I have to jump to a size 14 if I want to try them because no one makes half sizes after 12’s.

I was looking at the Altra Paradigm 2.0’s as well but again the same issue.  Everyone says size up a half size.  Well when you’re a 13 that means going up to a 14.

Not sure what the ratio might be but my pointer toes are longer than my big toe and my middle toe is as long as my big toe.  Both the pointer and middle toe were either hitting the end of the shoe on impact or pushoff on both feet or just getting compressed down due to lack of height of toebox.

In either case it meant I had to box them up and take them back to the store.  I really wanted to like them, I took their almost identical twins, the terraventures out this morning on the trails and did somewhere between 3 and 4 miles without any problems at all in the same size 13’s.

After some rummaging around and trying on alternatives I swapped the ultrafly’s out for some current model Hoka Cliftons.   I’d tried some last year and the marshmallow cushioning was just too offputting for me as a new #notarunner.  I felt with each step I was going to turn an ankle.

These new Clifton’s are not nearly as mushy and honestly feel a lot like my Nimbus 18/19’s.

But I really want a splayable toe box which means the Altra’s or the Topo’s.   My Altra Lone Peak 2.5’s are as mentioned the most comfortable shoes I’ve worn ever.   They’re just not 50K shoes.  I’ll  use them for shorter trail runs without any problem.

I don’t think the Terraventure’s are going to be a 50K shoe for me either. We’ll see how they do with some more miles on them but I’m still looking.

In a road shoe as well I have the same problem.   The Nimbus 18/19 are not a marathon shoe for me I don’t believe.   My longest run to date is 11 miles and I think maybe a half is about as far as I want to take those shoes.

But I have whatever miles are left on my 19’s and a spare pair of 18’s as an emergency backup solution.   And now these Clifton’s.   How they work out remains to be seen, they’re not honestly wide enough for me to be a 50K shoe either I don’t think, not without some serious breaking in, but they may be okay as a trainer.

Sometimes it’s a pain in the ass to being as big as I am, not literally, usually.  But things like finding shoes that fit or even clothes, I fall into a weird size where my waist size and inseam are unusual.   Apparently people with my inseam size are much fatter than me or people with my waist size are taller than me.   Not that that’s always the case now.  I’ve lost enough weight that I’m starting to look like a shar pei puppy from the right angles and need a whole new wardrobe.  But do I buy for the ‘me now’ size or the ‘me I wanna get to so I can run further faster’ size?