Shoe Fetish and Free Swag Product Review: Pearl Izumi Streak and Tri Fly II

They say you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes, so what does this say about me? The other day (per roommate's request) I was doing a little cleaning by gathering my mass pile of shoes at our door. As I picked up shoe after shoe, I began to realize I may have a problem. All of these shoes are currently in my rotation.

Top Row (L to R): Asics Trail Running Shoes (for trails, duh); Mizuno Wave Creation 9's for long distance (>10 miles); Mizuno Wave Rider 12's for mid-distance.

Bottom Row: Pearl Izumi Streak (racing flats) for Tempo and Intervals, Mizuno Wave Creation 8's with lace locks for Triathlons, Pearl Izumi Tri Fly II cycling shoes (for Triathlons) and Shimano cycling shoes (for long rides).

You don't even want to know how many retired shoes I have sucking space in my closet.

I am very proud of my latest additions to the FrayedLaces footwear fanclub: Pearl Izumi Streak running shoes and my Pearl Izumi Tri Fly II. I ran into the folks at Pearl Izumi at the Las Vegas Marathon expo, and began to talk story with them. I admitted that I hadn't really tested out their shoes because when I tried them on it felt like I was wearing nothing and that kind of freaked me out. They convinced me to give them a try, so they sent me these two shoes to test out. They both arrived Christmas Eve, and I opened the packages with glee:

As much as I wanted to take my fast-looking, rocket-blue Streaks out for a test run the day I received them, I decided to wait. I promised myself that this shoes would be reserved for speedwork days only. Not only would running consistently in racing flats put me at risk for injury, I also needed a little extra motivation to get me out the door on speedwork days, since they are usually the training days I dread the most. I have now done two speedwork days in them: One was a tempo run that I did hungover and still blasted at 20 secs/mi under goal pace, and another was a mile repeat track workout in which I ran the fastest mile of my life and ran 36 seconds/mile faster than goal pace. These shoes rock! They feel like basically nothing, and they have seamless uppers plus an integrated lacing system that make the shoes fit your feet like a glove without any risk of hot spots from seams. They do run a little small, as it warns on the website, and I really should have asked for half a size larger. Other than that, I am 100% sold on these shoes. If you haven't given Pearl Izumi a try, I suggest you do! Go to your local running store and take em for a test run. You'll be glad you did!

I also am a big fan of the Tri Fly II cycling shoes. My current cycling shoes are not meant for Triathlons, and there is an additional buckle that is awkward and adds seconds in the transition time (you triathletes know every second is precious in the transition zone). The Tri Fly IIs have two straps, and they are both designed to be easy to fasten and designed not to slip out of their metal buckle. The heel of the shoe also has a strap so you can quickly pull the shoes onto bare feet. I tested these shoes on my bare feet and they survived a 30 mile test ride. I recently took them out on a longer ride and they performed just as well with socks. After I break these in a bit more, I plan on doing the majority of my training rides in them with bare feet in preparation for my Honu half Ironman in May.

A big thanks to Pearl Izumi! You have certainly changed my mind about your products.

Have a great weekend everyone!