Brooks Trance 9 And Gear Review
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Since I was lucky enough to get a ton of gear from Brooks for my training for and racing at Ragnar, I figured I would share my experience with the gear.
The Shoes
Most importantly, the shoes. For the few weeks leading up to Ragnar I was rocking the Brooks Trance 9′s on most of my training runs. It is their flagship support shoe and was all I raced in during Ragnar.
I am coming from running in the Asics GT-2140‘s if that give you any perspective.
They are just about the same weight as my Asics, but feel a LOT lighter. The other thing that I noticed immediately is that I didn’t really have to break them in at all. They just fit. My feet were happy in them. Period. I could have done a +12 mile run for my first time in ‘em and probably would have been just fine. I heard the same thing from a lot of other Brooks runners too.
While the description on the site says that they are super plush, but I still think that the 2140′s win in that category. Hands down. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Extra cushioning in shoes tend to take away from the extra muscle strength that your feet and ankles build up from running.It boils down to the whole barefoot running philosophy that (in theory) I really like.
While the Trance 9′s didn’t need any breaking in, I did notice a little extra soreness in my calfs and ankles from running with less cushioning than I was used to. Extra soreness sucks, but if It means that my legs are stronger because of it and less dependent, I’m all for it.
The mid-sole is also biodegradable and the laces are made from recycled material, so that appeals to the green freak in me.
I’ve been a huge fan of my Asics over the last two years, but training in the Trance 9′s definitely opened up my eyes to some of the different options that are out there.
The Shorts
All the guys got hooked up with Infiniti Notch Short. These would probably be the last pair of shorts that I would ever buy in the store. I always go for the shortest short with the softest fabric that still covers up the naughty bits. (I hold comfort and anti-chafing above modesty). 
They are definitely the longest shorts that I own (and Sam definitely loves that) and the fabric is a little stiff. Part of the reason I go with short shorts is because they are less likely to chafe, but because these shorts are longer, stiffer and have a built in boxer-brief rather than just the tighty-whitey style brief inside, they are totally comfortable. Another win.
Night Life Gear
We all also got hooked up with some of their bright night running gear. While it looks a little awkward walking around in daylight, it was a huge confidence booster when I was doing my first leg in the pitch black. Being super reflective made me really easy to be seen by the few cars that I saw out there. Being comfortable and stylin’ was a nice added bonus too.
Tags: #brooksragnar, brooks, brooks sports, night running gear, product review, trance 9 | Posted in Reviews, Running | 2 Comments »
