What’s on the Shoe Rack?
A peek inside my (probably excessive) shoe rotation
On one of my first ever dates with Morgan, we hiked up a local Utah peak, chatting along the way. She reminded me recently that on the way up I asked her, “If you could only use one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, which shoes would they be?” In my mind, there was a right and a wrong answer to this question. Her answer—some cute black shoes that she told me “matched any outfit”—was wrong, but reinforced my belief that you can learn a lot about someone by their shoe choice.
I’ve always been a little bit of a running shoe nerd, but running for Nike and having full access to their wide variety of trail and road running shoes has pushed me even deeper. With many brands offering many trail running shoe options, it can be a little confusing and overwhelming trying to find the right shoe for what you’re doing. You probably know that feeling well if your YouTube feed looks anything like mine, full of Brett’s Conversational Pace shoe reviews.
This isn’t a sponsored ad saying “Nike shoes are great, go buy them.” Yes, I’m contractually required to run in them, so of course there’s bias—but no one asked me to write this. I'm genuinely excited about the shoes I’m using, especially upcoming releases. The best shoes for you are the ones that are comfortable on your feet and make you feel whatever you need to feel (fast, secure, fashionable, in touch with the trail, etc.). Finding the right shoes often comes down to trial and error, and each year things change—I’ve found that the more recent versions of Nike shoes I’ve tried work much better for me than previous models. I always think it’s interesting to note which shoes people use for different situations, and maybe you do too.
With that said, here are the shoes on my shelf right now and how I use them:
The Daily Trainer: The Zegama 2 has been the shoe that I’ve logged the most training miles in, by far. This is Nike’s most cushioned trail runner and feels great for me on just about any type of terrain and any distance I’d cover in a training run. With the Wildhorse 10 releasing soon I’ve switched over to using those about equally now, and they’re pretty great too. They feel a lot like the Zegama 2 but with a lower stack height, which is nice for rockier trails where I want to be closer to the ground, and they have a bit of springiness to them that I wasn’t expecting.
The Long Distance Racer: It seems like the secret is out that I’ve been racing in some prototype shoes (not publicly available yet) for the past year and a half or so. Without giving away too much, these have come a long way since I first started using them and they’ll continue being the shoe I use for racing pretty much everything I can think of for a while. They’re responsive, comfortable, and stable enough to wear over 79 miles of technical Transgrancanaria terrain. I used the original Ultraflys a handful of times and didn’t love them, primarily because they just didn’t feel stable enough for most races I do. But these are very different (in the best way). It’s been cool being part of the testing process, giving feedback and seeing it implemented in later versions. I’m very excited for their release.
The Trail Ripper: If I’m doing a short hill or interval workout on trails, the Kiger 10 (coming soon) is the shoe for the job. They’re light and responsive and I feel like I can turnover my legs quickly in them. For a longer workout, like a trail tempo, I’ll usually go for the same prototype shoes I’ve been racing in.
The Mountain Goat: The Wildhorse 8 (the current publicly available version) has been my go-to shoe for when I need good traction, with the most aggressive lugs that can handle steep snow and mud, and decent toe protection. When we summited Mont Blanc together last year, Morgan threw some crampons on the Wildhorse 8 and they did the job just fine. If deep lugs aren’t necessary, I love the Kiger 10 for technical trails and scrambling because they’re grippy and fit like a glove, with low stack so I can really feel the rock beneath me. This is the shoe I used for the WURL (a local Wasatch 30-ish mile scrambling route) last fall.
The Pavement Pounder: These don’t happen super often for me, but when I do a road or track workout, I usually go for supershoes. If it’s something longer, the Alphaflys. If it’s a shorter, faster workout, Vaporflys. I don’t need to say much about these, those shoes are iconic.
The World Traveler: Both the Pegasus Premium and the Vomero 18 have been my shoes of choice while traveling lately. They look good, are super comfortable for walking around in, and are great road running shoes for a loop around town. I used to hate road running because I felt like my joints and bones were taking a beating, but these shoes are cushioned and comfy enough that I actually haven’t minded it as much. The Vomero 18 is also a sneaky good road-to-trail shoe for the types of more tame dirt trails and roads that you sometimes find as you work your way uphill from your hotel on a trip.
The Tester: at any given time I usually have a couple pairs of test shoes of various models in the rotation as well. Depending on the shoe, I’ll use these for standard trail runs, workouts, and long runs—paying attention to things like fit, comfort, stability, durability, and responsiveness. I get in enough miles in each pair to feel like I can provide valuable feedback, and I’ll generally get many versions of a given shoe throughout the development process. While testing, I fill out regular surveys and have occasional meetings with product teams to discuss. I really enjoy this part of my relationship with Nike and it’s rewarding to feel like I have a voice in shaping the direction of some of these products.
While my shoe lineup is admittedly overkill, having a rotation of shoes for different purposes has helped me make the most of runs on different types of terrain with varying goals. I believe that using different shoes can also help your body stay adaptable and prevent injuries that could occur from repeating exactly the same mechanics and impact stress in every single run. Hopefully, seeing my approach helps you think through your own rotation—whether that includes any of the ones I’ve mentioned or not. Ultimately, the right shoe is whatever keeps you out there running happy, healthy, and excited to hit the trails.
P.S. I asked Morgan the same question again today about which shoes she’d wear if she had to only pick one. She got it right this time by naming a trail running shoe—she says Wildhorse now.
I must be really cute considering I still got a second date… even though I had the wrong answer ;)
I appreciate this sort of insight, and it’s one heck of a buying guide for Nike. I’ve been running exclusively in Nike trail shoes for the last 5 or 6 years and for me, the Pegasus trail has been a solid go to. Many of my runs are 50/50 pavement and rocky limestone trails. The peg trail handles both quite well, they’re fairly affordable, good longevity (getting 500ish miles per pair), and most importantly they just feel good to me.