And the Winner of the Saucony Triumph 9s Is....

Congratulations 
to 

Julie Samuelson, 

the winner of the Saucony PowerGrid Triumph 9s!

To read more about my awesome experience running in the PowerGrid Triumph 9s with it's new lower 8mm toe-to-heel offset, be sure to check out my review.

Be sure to come back to the blog soon! The next giveaway contest will feature the new Soleus GPS 1.0 Watch! Weedoggie!

Your support and readership of the blog means so much. If so inclined, a vote of support for RunnerDude's Blog at The Top 100 Running Sites would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your readership!

Shoe Review: Saucony's New Cortana

If you're wanting a more flexible responsive shoe, but tend to be a mild to moderate overpronator and still need a little support and guidance, the you may want to check out Saucony's new Cortana. It's gotten rave reviews and won several awards including "Best Debut" from Runner's World Magazine, September 2011 and "Best New Shoe" in Running Network's 2011 Fall Shoe Review.

I've always been a big "the proof is in the pudding" kind of guy, so while reviews go a long way with me, I still like first hand experience to make my final decision. Saucony sent me a pair of the Cortana about  two months go and I've been testing them ever since. In this case the "pudding" is pretty dang good.

While not really a minimalist shoe, this shoe is like a souped-up racing flat. It's very flexible, but also provides a touch of guidance. It contains Saucony's PowerGrid technology the entire length of the shoe which is what provides great cushioning. The other feature that I really like is the 4mm heel-to-toe offset. This "close-to-the-road ride" really helps promote more of a midfoot or forefoot strike. The shoes are very light weight at only 10.7 oz.

I've run exclusively in the Cortana since I received them in August. I've done short tempo runs, speed work and longer runs up to 14 miles. In each case, the shoes were very supportive while at the same very flexible and cushy. The only thing that was a drawback was the the upper began to fray pretty quickly near the ankle area. For a shoe in this price range ($145), I expected the upper to last a little longer. Now this may be due to my particular stride, but I've not had other Saucony shoes' uppers wear so quickly. I think it's just the particular fabric used. The fraying doesn't affect the shoe's performance at all however and wouldn't keep me from purchasing a second pair.

So, if you're looking for a low profile, flexible, responsive and cushy shoe, I highly recommend the Cortana! And.....you're in luck! Saucony is giving one free pair of the Cortana away to one lucky RunnerDude's Blog reader!

WIN A FREE PAIR! To enter, simply send an email to runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com. Put "Cortana" in the subject line and your full name in the body of the email. You have until Saturday, October 15th to enter! Each email will be assigned a number in the order that it was received. Then the TrueRandomNumberGenerator will be used to select the winning email number. The winner will be announced on the blog on Sunday, October 16th. Good Luck!

Two Great Running Products from Saucony

Recently, I had the opportunity to test two products from Saucony. The first product is Saucony's version of a minimalist shoe—the Progrid Kinvara. I've tested a lot of shoes over the past two years, and I can honestly say that this shoe tops them all. I've been testing the minimalist waters and the shoes that I've tried have worked well, but the Kinvara worked great for me right out of the box.

The first thing I noticed is how lightweight they are—only a little over 7oz! The second thing I noticed is the amount of cushion they provide. I have very little natural padding in my fore foot and heel, so I need a good cushioned shoe. The Kinvara's cushion rivals the cushion of Saucony's Progrid Triumph shoe, which is my personal favorite neutral trainer.
It does take a little getting used to wearing the shoe. There is very little heal and if you're wanting to work on more of a midfoot/forefoot strike this shoe's construction allows you to do this very easily. Just be sure to test them on some shorter runs first to let you body get use to the lower-to-the-ground construction.

The Kinvara won't break the bank, either. Retailing for $90, it's right in line (maybe even on the lower end) of other running shoes on the market today.

Runner's World also like the shoe and gave the Kinvara its prestigious "Best Debut" award for 2010. Here's a video review from Runner's Word's Warren Greene. (My test results ended with my having pretty much the same conclusions as the Runner's World testers—Awesome!)

The other Saucony product that I had the opportunity to test and also had great success with is the men's Epic Run Vest in the ViZiPRO color. As runners find themselves faced with shorter daylight hours, I discovered that Saucony is working hard to ensure safe running with its highly reflective ViZiPRO Collection. The ViZiPRO collection provides enhanced visibility with its bright neon orange color. The collection features jackets, footwear, sport tops, vests, hand gear and head gear, both in women’s and men’s sizes. According to industry-standard chromaticity testing results, Saucony’s ViZiPRO fluorescent orange fabric rated highest in visibility within the running industry.

I have training groups that run in the early evening, and when the time change recently occurred we had to don head lamps and/or carry flashlights to see our running routes as well as let drivers see us. On one of these dark runs I tested the Epic Run Vest and it was very light weight. It kept the cold air out but was breathable at the same time.

The vest is made of 100% woven polyester with water-resistant DWR coating. The outer shell is constructed with reflective piping down the sleeves and along the front zipper. There's also reflective mesh panels on the front shoulders and along the back hem. The vest also sports lots of pockets including a media pocket for an iPod or MP3 player. The vest even comes with a removable USB LED light that's rechargeable by inserting it in your computers USB port. You can leave the light hooked to the jacked and set it to flashing mode or you can remove it and set it to steady beam and use it as a flashlight. The bright neon color and reflective piping and panels worked very well.

If you're having to do any runs in the dark, I highly recommend Saucony's line of ViZiPRO shoes and apparel. Both products, the Progrid Kinvara and the ViziPRO Epic Run Vest, receive 5 dudes out of 5 dudes on the RunnerDude's Rating Scale!

Note: While Saucony did provide the Progrid Kinvara shoes and the ViZiPRO Epic Run Vest, I was in no way encouraged to write a positive review nor did I receive any form of payment for writing this review. This review is based entirely on my personal experience using both products.