This past summer I was introduced to Zoot shoes. I had spent most of the first part of this summer racing in a pair of Asics Gel-Cumulus 11. The Asics have always been a shoe of choice for when I was racing Sprint or even Olympic distance triathlons.
When I made the decision to switch to half iron distance triathlons I knew at some point that some of my needs would need change.
Firstly, the Asics shoe felt heavy and with 21.1 km run at the end of a half iron I wanted something that was light. When I did the Welland Half Iron distance triathlon I wore my Asics. During the run I felt like my feet had weights on them and I was struggling to keep my stride consistent. Plus the Asics absorbed all my sweat, which made them just so much heavier. Towards the end of the 21.1 km run I felt like I was dragging my feet and you could just see all the sweat kicking from the shoe.
It was after the race that I had decided that I needed a new pair of shoes that fitted my new needs. I had spoken to few other triathletes and some had been huge advocates for Zoots. They stated that the shoe was a light weight trainer/racer. Overall great shoe, but they tend to wear quicker, so the 300-500km you would get out of your regular running shoe, you wouldn’t get out of the Zoots. After doing some extensive research on websites and looking up reviews, speaking to athletes I decided on the Zoot Kalani 2.0.
They are advertised in 4 steps:
1) SPEED OF ENTRY
- The need to get in and out of T2 as quickly as possible.
- Bootie construction, INTAC grabbers and a patent quick lace system with one hand adjustment.
2) SOCKLESS WEAR
- Triathletes don’t want to take the time to put socks on
- BAREFIT TECHNOLOGY
- Dri-Lex and SmartSilver nanotechnology team together to provide antimicrobial and Anti-odor protection for a seamless and sockless wear.
3) WATER RETENTION
- Traditional running shoes can gain an additional 30% of weight during a race
- Tri-Dry- a series of ducts and drainage holes in both the insole and the midsole allow water to exit from the bottom of the shoe.
4) BIOMECHANICS
- Athletes run differently after racing a bike.
- Tri-o-mechanics CarbonSpan shank and Z-Bound foam allow for a comfortable and efficient midfoot strike.
Some great foot wear solutions. Are they enough to give them a try? At a price ranging from $120-$140 they can be an expensive mistake.
I went and bought a pair. They were sold to me as a neutral trainer, and it was recommended that I race in a Zoot racer shoe. This was the first time I was introduced in having 2 pair of shoes for triathlons. I was a custom to training and racing in the same shoe.
My first impression was they are an incredibly light shoe, easy to put on, cool looking but clearly with much less support than my Asics. They did take some getting used to. They did give me blisters on my heal because they are a sockless shoe. The blisters were cured with placing a little bit of Vaseline inside certain areas of the shoe.
I had a great 2nd half tri season. I PB’d with those shoes. I ran my fastest ever half marathon, off a 2km swim and a 90km bike.
I love these shoes, they feel light on my feet and whether I am on my 5km, 10 km, 21km my leg turnover and stride is always consistent.
The downside to all this is, after my last half iron in September ( Rev 3), I developed a hip injury. After x-rays and a consultation with my sports physician it was determined that I had “Bursitis”. I was side lined for almost 3 months with no running. I have just started running again.
I have yet to blame the shoes for this. There are some still unanswered questions about whether the Bursitis was caused by the constant impact of running or with the fact that the Zoots have less support than I am accustom to.
It could even have been a combination of both….
So to sum it all up….Zoots Kalani 2.0 is a great shoe! I highly recommend them. My only suggestion is don’t throw out your usual running shoes right away. Maybe gradually introduce the Zoots, alternating run workouts, starting off slow and gradually increasing your distance and speed.
If you do this, you will prevent any injury from happening and you definitely won’t be disappointed.
Happy racing!
Ajay
