Sketchers Go Run 2 - A Non Runners Review

I have to start out by saying I hate running, but like everything in life, I run as a trade off.  I do like food, desserts and occasionally good beer, and all of those calories have to go somewhere.   For anyone that understands my "whiteboard sessions", running never made the white board, but I do it every day.  3 miles on the road at home, and 5 miles on a treadmill when I travel.

So Why Do I Run?

At the beginning of 2012, some readers might recall that I was planning to have knee surgery.  After preparing for the surgery and planning to be out of work for several weeks, the last doctor to look at my knee looks at me and simply says "Your knee doesn't need surgery, it sounds like rice crispies because you are too fat".

With that little slam, he sent me out of the office to go exercise and lose about 30 pounds.  I have since lost the 30 pounds and feel great, and part of the path was walking a lot and then running.

New Balance at the Start

When I started running, I had New Balance because they were the only US made shoes I could find.   As I worked my way up to running two miles, I learned from another Doctor that I was running wrong.   He gave me some pointers on a better technique for my back and knees.  Within days I moved from two miles to three miles with little additional effort, and I shaved a minute off of each mile.

At this point the New Balance shoes weren't cutting it, so I tried a couple of other brands.  The New Balance have since worn out and the new pair are relegated to long walks, biking and skateboarding.  My wife won't let me buy Vans but my niece is working on it.

Sketchers Go Run 2

Shoe shopping with my wife is a regular event for me, and occasionally the mens shoes are close enough I can wander off without the leash choking me to badly.

I came across the Sketchers Go Run 2 and read the box, mostly since it was there.  The Go Run 2 is designed to encourage a mid foot strike and to keep you off of your heels.

Since changing my running style so that I land on the balls of my foot, my shoes had been tearing up my feet.   The light weight and stretch upper material of the Go Run 2 made them quite comfortable when I tried them on.  I didn't walk in them though.

My first outing on the Go Run 2 shoes was a success.  Right away I felt better running in the new style shoes.  I don't know how you run, but I have an iPod with music and the voice of Nike Fit telling me how I am doing.  With the Nike Fit ap set up for 60 minutes, I head off running.

Five minutes into my first run, I was four houses farther towards the beach than I normally would be. I figured the light weight of the shoes was fooling me so I slowed down a bit.  By 10 minutes I was quite a bit farther down the beach than I normally would be and I felt great.  I had found the winning running shoes for me.

My run normally ends as I leave the beach and enter back into my little neighborhood.  From there I walk home to cool down.  Here is the only thing I don't like about the Go Run 2.  You can't "heel walk" at all.  There is a hard section just forward of the heel that makes your feet do funny things when you try and walk using a heel stride.  After 20 years in the military, breaking the heel stride is hard to do.

If you have Sketchers Go Run 2, tell me what you think....