u/Jigs_By_Justin — reddlx

Evoke/ Uphill Athlete Plan differences

Don't torch and pitchfork or tar and feather me, but I found the Uphill Athlete "Trail Running: 100 Mile Mountain Ultra- RPE" plan before I realized Scott had branched off and formed Evoke. I had read the Training for the Uphill Athlete, and just searched from there. The race I had planned on using that plan for got canceled.

I have since discovered Evoke exists and love the community. Now with a new build starting in June, I'm trying to decide whether to keep using it or buy another from Evoke. I'm not confident enough to make my own at this point. While I'm willing to pay for a new plan, but being budget minded, I have to ask what significant, if any, game changer differences may lie in one vs the other if they're both built on the same principals theoretically.

Looking at the differences in the previews they seem to differ some, but I can't really tell how much, or what basic principals may change. Hate to be "that guy" but $55 is still $55.

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u/Jigs_By_Justin — 4 days ago

▲ 3 r/Ultramarathon

Shoes- Too picky?

Still struggling to find a trail shoe I love. What I’ve had, and what I liked and don’t like. 6’1 200lb

Topo Ultraventure-
Liked- responsiveness
Didn’t like- never could get it locked down on my heel; seemed to have a lot of ground feel for the stack/cushion, fairly slick on wet rocks and roots

Topo Vista-
Liked- responsive early in life/run; great fit; great lock down; grippy
Didnt like- too plush for me which also caused stability issues, and seemed to also suck energy due to the compression of midsole in every step. Comfortable ride but after 50-60k it just seemed too soft like you were running on pillows with no energy return. Also seemed to exacerbate some pronation issues.

Mount to Coast T1-
Liked- fit; stability; grip
Didn’t like- they do seem to be a bit harsh. I’m trying to love them but it seems like it’s the far other end of the spectrum as far as ride, from the Vista.

Hoka Speedgoat 7-
Liked- grippy, responsive, seem to have a decent ride from a responsiveness and cushion ratio.
Didnt like- FIT. I’ve never had to wear a wide but with these I do. It’s still not wide enough. I also had to go up to a 13US. Still feels a bit short in the big toe area but also too loose in other areas, but wide and loose in others? I don’t know how to explain it but it’s too small and too large at the same time. I’ve played with lacing, etc and just can’t get it to where it feels good. It also feels clunky. Granted I’ve only got 40 miles on them, they just feel really rigid in the upper like they won’t break in and form to the foot so to speak.

All that to say I just feel like I’m being too picky but at the same time, I don’t see me personally being able to tolerate any of the above for 100mi without relatively preventable issues.
Anyone else going through to that? Road shoes it seems a lot easier to find something you love. Maybe I’m being too critical?

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u/Jigs_By_Justin — 8 days ago

▲ 43 r/RunningShoeGeeks

6’1, 215lb down to 198lb currently.

Miles ran last year 1802

Other shoes I like: MTC T1, Hoka Speedgoat 7, Adidas EVO SL

About the fit. I wear a 12.5 in most shoes, including a Topo Vista, but wear this one in a 13. The toe box is super wide, which is great for a wide footed guy like myself. I don’t inherently wear wide shoes, but narrow shoes like the Speedgoat 7, I go wide. I didn’t experience the arch pain some claim to have with this shoe either. The longer I wore it the more comfortable it got. It pained me to retired the shoe.

Bought this shoe last year as a daily trainer while marathon training. Hated it initially. I’d heard how fast and poppy this shoe was. I didn’t feel it. Come to find out, for ME, I was trying to use a screw driver as a hammer so to speak. I was asking it to do everything my Superblast 2 were doing, and it simply wasn’t the tool for the job. Fast forward to last fall through this spring, I started using it as a daily cruiser for low and slow z1/z2 miles. The more I ran in it, the more I loved it for those purposes. I’d still do impromptu speed work, mostly strides at the end of a run, or maybe some 6-7/10RPE hill repeats.

This shoe also saw some use as a fill in trail shoe on largely nontechnical, clay/sand/gravel trails. The shoe sports a pretty tall stack, but it feels like a low rider. Extremely stable.

Some wear in the upper on the outside of the little toe but it never blew out, but also never was a pressure point.

Cool (relatively speaking) to run in, in the summer (southeast USA).

All in all, nothing fancy, no frills, no speedster, but just an honest mileage builder on the daily. I wanted to keep wearing this shoe, but I think mostly unrelated Achilles issues drove me to retire them after noticing I was sinking pretty low into the midsole on footfall. It’s not something I’d paid much attention to, but did notice a bit of knee pain prior to Achilles issues, chalking it up to the load I had placed on my schedule as well as gym work. At this point I was over 500 miles into it. I kept trying to come back but just couldn’t due to Achilles pain. I figured it was best to move on to a new pair and chalk these up as having done their duty. I replaced with a brand new pair. Before the Specter 3 releases this fall, I’ll likely have to replace these, and when I do, I’ll probably snatch up 2-3more pairs. Hoping Topo doesn’t mess up a good thing!

I’ve attached a few comparison photos of the worn pair and a fresh crispy pair. You can tell by the Topo logo on the side how much I had compressed and/or worn them down. 😂

u/Jigs_By_Justin — 17 days ago