That's the bold claim made by Adidas in relation to the Ultra Boost
running shoe. The latest (and best?) incarnation of the Boost family
of shoes.
I have had a pair now for a few weeks and covered around 120 miles in
them. I have been using them as I rehab from my latest injury. My
longest run in these shoes has been 12 miles and around 90% of the
miles have been on Tarmac, the other 10% being on groomed or compact
trail. Nothing too mucky!
Just to recap that I switched to Boosts on recommendation from my
local Up and Running store. Having had a couple of pairs of Hoka's
which I really loved but that disintegrate after around 300/350 miles
I was looking for something soft but durable. The Boosts truly fit
that bill. I have had a couple pairs of the Adiboosts - they are
great. The upper is flexible and comfortable, no chaffing or
blistering from these and the outer rubber, made by Continental no
less, durable in the extreme. I have a pair with 800 miles of them and
they still look great, even if they do feel a little less than
responsive by now.
I was therefore very excited to be finally getting my hand so a pair
of the Ultra Boosts. Excited and disappointed that my attempts to get
a pair to trial for Adidas never came to anything.
I opted for the orange ones, they are incredibly bright. I love them.
If bright is not your cup of tea then they currently also do black and
blue. I saw on an email today that a green and a yellow pair are now
available for pre order. The colour ways are fantastic, modern
production techniques are really being used here to develop some funky
eye catching designs that in a running shoe also serve the purpose of
highlighting the runner on the road. Reflecting light or simply
catching the eye.
These shoes have a knitted upper that is a single piece. Your foot
slides into the shoe and is actually pretty secure without lacing then
up. The laces are threaded view a basket type arrangement that uses
the Adidas 3-stripes to secure the shoe and provide some stability
through the width of the shoe.
The heel cup is, as it is on the Adi-Boost, is an external skeleton.
Rather than have the plastic in the heel, for the heel to rub on, it
is external. With the shoe on the first thing I noticed was how low
profile they are. They sit incredibly low around the ankle. This did
take me a while to get used to and to feel secure in. I did worry that
my ankle would roll. It doesn't, hasn't and shows no signs of doing
so.
These shoes have a drop going from 33.1mm at the heel to 23mm at the
front. In this age of zero or low drop shoes it is quite interesting
that Adidas has decided to keep to a more traditional style running
shoe. They are not alone in this with Salomon also have a heel to toe
drop in many of their models. Thinking about this the rationale makes
sense as if these shoes are designed for ultra's then in the latter
stages of a race form will be ragged and heel striking will creep in.
Also when running down hill fast you use your heels. It's why the foot
and ankle can flex both ways.
I run on the mid/forefoot and these shoes feel great to me. The
softness in the Boost sole seemingly at odds with its depth.
The outer rubber is, again, Continental rubber so there will be no
issues with durability. They are also incredibly sticky; out of the
box they were squeaking like new tyres in a car park as I walked
around my kitchen and on the road they feel no different.
What I have started to experience when I run now is the boost return.
My recent injuries have been due to poor form. Essentially running
using my hips and quads and not engaging the glutes and hamstrings. As
I recover I am making a more conscious effort to pick up my heels and
use all the muscles that are necessary for running. As I do this in
these shoes my pace picks up naturally for little additional effort
and I feel like I am bouncing along. It's really a fantastic feeling.
It's like achieving flow on every run.
