Over the years I have got to know plenty of other brands and models, but when the time came to replace my shoes, somehow I could never go back to my original choice. It always fell to something else. Why? Well, probably because they seemed too stiff to me, a little clumsy... I simply expected more than just knowing I was running safely.
At the start of the year I decided to see how the Cumulus 22 was shaping up, and what a surprise it was. This is not the shoe I remember. My foot settled beautifully into the upper. There was neither too much slack (which I had felt before) nor too little room. The laces are different too, and the kind I like, meaning: tie them and forget them, and the shoe stays tied. Lighter, which is exactly what I want in a shoe. And now for the biggest "WOW": softness and spring in one.
When I took a few steps at a jog, a smile actually appeared on my face, because this was precisely what I had been missing before. That pleasant springiness, optimised so that on the one hand you feel comfortable the whole time, and on the other you never feel like you are walking on an inflated cushion, so it does not hurt stability.
My warm-up went by far too quickly, I was enjoying these shoes so much. Time for a faster effort, and here came more positives, because these shoes simply carry you and help you pick up speed. It immediately brought to mind the situation when customers ask about running shoes they can use in training and in races alike. I knew I had the answer to what they want right there on my feet.
As well as fitting the foot brilliantly, the upper also ventilates very well. Admittedly I have not had the chance to run in them in the height of summer, but that is still ahead of me, and I will certainly come back here to add that rather important detail.
