I would like to take this opportunity, just before New Year’s, to announce my first new partnership for next season. I am excited to be joining the Skechers Performance Elite Team in 2015. This has been in the works for several months, but I can now finally say that I am excited to be joining teammate Mikael Staer Nathan on the Elite Team, and the Ignition Fitness squad as a whole in Skechers running shoes next year. I am excited to be working with this innovative company, and I look forward to repaying the faith with results in 2015. I have also proudly added the Skechers logo to my Sponsor logo sidebar, and to my Sponsors page. Check it out!

The journey started with a conversation with sales rep Nick Resch at the Toronto Triathlon Festival. Shortly after, I got my hands on a couple pairs of GORun shoes (the GOMeb Speed 2’s and some Nite Owl GORun Ultra’s), and immediately fell in love. Through every phase of the process, I was impressed with how engaged and invested everyone I talked to was with making the jump of Skechers into the performance footwear market a success. Indeed, Skechers Performance is for real.

I raced in the flats at Lakeside, and have been using the Ultra’s for the bulk of my mileage since the season ended; so far I have enjoyed both. The GOMeb’s were the closest feel I have ever had to my beloved Type A5 flats, and I actually prefer the natural last of the Meb’s to the more traditional build of the A5’s. It promotes a much more natural midfoot strike that lends itself excellently to short course speed. The complaint I have always had about the Saucony flat was the traditional feel of it; at times, I felt like it was guiding my foot in a way that was not natural, rather than letting it do what it wants. So far, I have not noticed the same thing with the Meb’s.

I’ve also really enjoyed my mileage in the Ultra’s. They are much wider in the toe box than I am used to, but I have been pleasantly surprised by the feel. I had the same complaints about my Mirage’s and Ride’s as I did with the Type A5’s: when I got tired, I found that they “guided” my feet in an unnatural motion more than I wanted. I haven’t found this with the Ultra’s yet, though admittedly I have not done a 75-90 minute long run in them. I do really like the feel of the last, and they are light enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to wear them for a long progression or tempo run that dips down below 4:00/km. As an added bonus, the lugs on the tread have been great in tricky terrain!

I am really looking forward to getting into the 2015 line of GORun Performance footwear. The new GORun 4 is completely redesigned, and has been favourably compared to the incredibly popular Kinvara 5. I’m also excited about the update to the GOMeb’s…some combination of these will likely make up my race footwear next year. Hopefully I can get into some of the GOBionic Trail shoes as well…I always shy away from trail running after a bad experience slipping on some mud in ill-equipped shoes, but I love to get muddy once in awhile. 2015 should be a great year, and I’ll be doing my running in Skechers for all of it. Go like never before, and have a fast day!

Until next time…keep Du’ing it!