New Shoes - TNF Women's Double Track

I have several brands of trail shoes. I have tried Asics, Salomon and TNF, and I mix them around for runs, depending on the distance and my mood.

I had a pair of TNF Sentinel which I won from a previous TNF race, and it was surprisingly a nice pair of shoes for the trail, with good support for my arches. I was looking for a replacement, googled some ideas, and came upon a fellow runner's blog about a new model from TNF. So here's another ultra runner who used to wear the Sentinel and tried a new pair, enough persuasion for me to check it out when I was in Chicago.

The TNF Women's Double Track  is an award winning trail shoe, providing structured cushioning support while maintaining a lightweight body. It weighed about 272g per shoe and had a very roomy toebox. The shoe did not feel constricted and I felt like I was running with my normal road shoes (eg. Asics GT or Kayano). By comparison, my other pair is the Salomon Crossmax Guidance (structured/ stability), which reportedly is 300gm per side (to be fair, they have their pluses too). The Double Track had a very cushy tongue and heel cradle (it felt snug, like the Asics Kayano), and a mesh front with a couple of drainage holes near the toe area to rid water quickly (should you step into puddles).

I took the Double Track on a maiden run. It was light enough for the tarmac, and snug enough for the trail. I started off with a loose lacing, and my feet slid as I went into the trail. After tightening the laces, I was a lot more in control. The grip was ok - but then again, it was a dry trail.

The run turned into a mud-slosh when the downpour hit. Oh might as well, a chance for me to test the shoes in the wet trail. They were lightweight to begin with, so they did not feel too heavy even when totally soaked. The front drainage holes also helped in relieving the water inside the shoes. However, they had no grip on wet down-sloped granite covered with algae. Trail runners in Singapore would understand that terrain - huge slabs of granite on an incline, covered with a layer of green moss and algae, and incredibly slippery when wet. Otherwise, the traction from the shoes was fine on the trails and other rough rock surfaces, even in the rain.

The other downside of the shoes was the soft mesh toebox. I guess it is a tradeoff between weight, protection, and responsiveness. The ability to flex our toes and respond quickly to the terrain means that the toebox area cannot be too stiff (eg. road shoes vs trail shoes, Double Track vs Crossmax). As such, I could feel rocks and stones on the sides if I stepped into a messy bunch of them. I am sure as a run gets longer, and my legs more tired out, I would end up losing my posture, strides and control of where my steps go. That meant that I am bound to kick into more rocks, which is not good with a softer toebox.

Nonetheless, I was happy with the shoes. First run, 26 - 27km of dry road, dry and wet trails, and I had no abrasion or hotspots whatsoever. The arch support worked well too (no discomfort is good news). All in, it is a superb pair for soft trails, eg. MR loops, and 20 - 30km distances. I will try the shoes again for a better sense of the 'rock-kicking' impact, before deciding if they can go on an ultra.