Firm and supportive.
After running on the super squishy Intuition 2.0 for a year, these shoes feel REALLY firm. And after running in neutral shoes for three years, these shoes feel REALLY supportive. Neither of those things are necessarily bad. In fact, despite the first couple of runs killing my calves, I’m starting to think more support—at least sometimes—is better than none. I would kind of like to have different kinds of shoes in my rotation instead of just running in one pair all the time.
I’m sure I’ll get used to the stiffness of this shoe after a few more runs and I can already tell that my feet and knees and hips are liking the stability…BUT… (you knew there would be a but)
THE HEEL FIT SUCKS. One thing the Intuition 2.0 completely spoiled me for was the way the heels fit and felt. They were soooo comfortable, particularly after coping with older models. The cushioning was perfect and my feet never slid around in them. Now I’m back to deciding between loose heels and lace bite during every run. <sigh> Altra just can’t seem to get this part of the shoe right, at least in their women’s models.
Onward.