Under Armour Fat Tire Low Trail Running shoes

I got my hands (or feet if you wish) on a pair of Under Armour Fat Tire Low Trail running shoes and decided to do a small review.

At a first glance, when seeing them on the Under Armour website, they looked a bit weird and funny because of the wide turquoise sole, I'll admit that. But I think they look much better in real life!


The shoes are a bit heavier than my other trail shoes (Salomon Speed Cross 3), but I don't feel it when wearing them. The front has been reinforced a bit (read: not toe protection), and there is plenty of room for my toes, though still with a great tight fit around my feet.

The first mile or so I did in them, felt a bit funny and very bouncy due to the massive amount of cushioning, but I quickly got used to the different but very pleasant feeling. The sole is thick so I don't really notice small-ish rocks and other uneven ground under my feet, however it doesn't feel like I loose contact and feel of the ground.


The sole is made for trails and crafted by Michelin - WildGripper. The quite distinct turquoise colour can be discussed, but as the shoe only comes as seen, it's not gonna be a long one :-) And I actually think the colour combination is growing on me :-)

After taking them for a spin on some local trails, with awesome weather for running (a great mixture of thunder, hail, sunshine and really heavy rain) I am even more pleased with them. They kept a tight fit around my feet through out the whole 51km, even though the laces untied once, which I didn't notice until I looked at them at some point. But they stayed in place for the rest of the run (~35km).


While running in mud, I didn't get the feeling that they got stuck in there, which I have experiences before with other shoes. They did let go quite easily in the type mud I forced them through on my run :-) On steep muddy slopes while running uphill, I felt a few times that the shoes didn't get a decent grip, but I've experiences that with other trail shoes as well. So that doesn't worry or bugger me.

The heavily cushioned shoes in combination with the Michelin sole were great when traversing ground with smaller rocks as I hardly noticed the sharp uneven edges. 

The laces go up relatively high providing a great fit and support for my foot.



Based on my first long trail run, I must say that I find them really good and they have just become my new favourite trail shoes!

I am seriously considering using them for my Race To The Stones 100km run mid July! UPDATE: After having tested them further, I'm sure I'll be using them for the Race To The Stones :-) Love 'em!

2nd UPDATE Used them for Race To The Stones (100km in one day) and they were awesome! Had two not-too-bad blisters on my big toes - that's it. :-) Loved the cushioning!! 

See you out there on the trails!

#YouVsTheYear #RunWithFight #IWILL #UnderArmourUK

Best. M

PS. Views are my own! and are not affected by being an Under Armour #YouVsTheYear ambassador. The shoes were provided by Under Armour UK.

T minus one month: Race to the stones

The date is getting closer for my 100km run Race to the stones!

For the past many months I've been training for this event, which is now getting seriously close... One month till I'll be standing on the start line 99% full of excitement and 1% nervous about the whole crazy thing I signed up for... :-)

To prepare myself for the race, I've been increasing my weekly mileage from somewhat 80km to approx. 140km and I have been increasing the distances of my weekend long-runs too. Instead of doing a single really long run, which would take longer to recover from, and probably increase the risk of injury, I have chosen to do shorter back-to-back sessions over the weekends. An example of a long-run-weekend would count about 72km in total for both Saturday and Sunday - 42km Saturday (with +500m elevation gain) followed by 30km Sunday in a slightly faster pace. For this particular run, my legs felt strong for both runs :-) Throughout this weekend I also managed to do some kayaking both days (10+13 km), so I guess I'm starting to feel more and more up for it, as I see my level of energy and confidence go up :-) 
I'm aiming to taper for 3 weeks before the race, slowly reducing weekly mileage, but maintaining intensity.
Some training plans for this type of distance, aim for longer distances than I've done. Others build on "time-on-your-feet" over distance. I've tried to follow a schedule based on multiple training plans found online, and altered them to fit into my world... This "altering" has been ongoing throughout my training as new non-running-related weekend-plans or new travelling plans came up.
My life is not defined by my training schedule - My schedule changes to fit my life! :-)

I sort of know what kit I'm gonna wear and what kind of food and hydration stuff to bring along the route. I am aware that there will be food stations for every 10km, but I still want to bring my own - at least some of it, as this is what I've used in my training runs, and therefore I know what to expect from it. I've also figured out, how to tape up my toes to protect them a bit. Let's see if that works for 100km also ;-)

For me it is gonna be very interesting to see if my training - both physically and mentally - has been enough to prepare me for a 100km run! I guess time will tell...

I'm really getting excited about this :-)
See ya on the start line...

#YouVsTheYear #RunWithFight #IWILL #RTTS2016 

Best M.