If you’ve been following my stuff over at AJnet Magazine for at least a couple of years now, you probably already know that I’m a runner. I’m not out there doing full marathons, but I average between 15 to 20 miles a week and have a half-marathon under my belt. I’m also doing the Italian Stallion Challenge again this year.
I don’t take my running as seriously as I do my weight training, but I take it seriously enough that I’m always looking for ways to up my running game.
One of those ways was my choice of footwear.
There’s an old saying that goes “You can walk in running shoes, but you can’t run in walking shoes.” For running, the right shoes are at least somewhat important. Running in a pair of Converse is going to fuck your feet (and your knees and your Achilles tendon) up. Most running shoes offer cushioning and shock absorption, as well as arch support.
I had been rocking a pair of cheapo Adidas Duramo SL 2’s that I got on sale for $35. Over the span of a year or so, I put about several hundred miles on them. I could have probably squeezed another couple hundred miles out of them, but instead I decided it was time to buy some new running shoes.
Since I was training hard, I figured maybe it was time to take the plunge and try some of the higher end running shoes. The Adizero EVO SLs caught my eye. They were $120, and the reviews from sites like Reddit were great, so I grabbed a pair.
Yeah, I might as well have given my money to one of the local crackheads. The Adizero EVO SLs suck ass.
One of the big selling points of the Adizero EVO SLs is that the grip on the bottom is made by Continental Tire. In theory, this should mean better grip and higher durability. In reality, it apparently means this:
This is from less than six months and 200 miles of use.
Redditors will say that this is from heel striking. Which it is. But Redditors will also say that heel striking is bad form. This is because Redditors are absolute fucking retards. Heel striking isn’t bad form. Plenty of elite-level runners heel strike. Heel striking is only bad when it’s paired with over-striding, which I don’t do.
And it still doesn’t excuse the piss-poor durability of these shoes. How are my cheap $35 Duramos more durable than a higher end shoe that’s marketed towards distance runners?
I will say this about the grip though. Before it wore down, it was actually surprisingly good. I never slipped once, even when running in the rain. With my Duramos, I have to be careful of running over road lines and crosswalks when it’s wet out.
The Adizero EVO SLs are also pretty light, and I noticed a small increase (or I guess decrease) in my times. I managed to run a 7:30 mile in these shoes. When I went back to the Duramos I definitely noticed the weight difference.
Unfortunately, this minor speed boost wasn’t worth the damage these shoes did to my feet. Particularly, my second toes.
After less than a month of wearing my Adizeros, I noticed pain in both of my second toes. I had what looked like blood pooling under my toenails. Another month after that, and, I shit you not, it looked like a second toenail was growing over the original one. Apparently this is called retronychia, and can be caused by damage to the nail. I won’t gross you out with a picture of my feet, but even now, both of my second toes are still fucked up looking. I have no idea how it actually happened. The shoes didn’t feel tight, and I don’t land toe-first. All I know is, my toes don’t hurt anymore since I’ve switched back to my Duramos. I just hope this second toenail shit sorts itself out, because I don’t feel like going to a podiatrist.
At $120, I was expecting a lot more than a shitty pair of shoes with no durability that cause toe problems. For what I paid for a single pair of Adizeros that barely lasted six months, I could have bought three pairs of Duramos and had running shoes for the next several years. The Adizero EVO SLs are overpriced terrible shoes, I can’t recommend them to anyone. You really fucked up on this one, Adidas.
With that said, they’re still better than those trendy overpriced piece of shit HOKAs.
