Gear up for an active year with the Brooks Cascadia 11 GTX trail-running shoes

Are you a runner? I really have never been a runner – unless you count running after kids, which I do a lot of. But, when my kids recently got interested in hiking and running, I knew I had to join them. I mean, it’s free, it gets us outside to enjoy nature, and it’s something we can all do together.

In gearing up for running and hiking with them, I took a good, hard look at my shoe collection and realized it was in a sad state. The first issue is that I went up a full shoe size when I first had kids and have since been in bad need of purging my old shoes that are now too small. The second issue is that what I found in my collection was an assortment of three styles of shoes, and none of those are good, quality athletic shoes.

In fact, at the bottom of my shoe bin I found one lone pair of what could only be described as the most hideous running shoe known to man. We’re talking early 90s clunky soled shoes with aged white leather uppers that look like something you might find in a nursing home. They aren’t even fit to post in a comical sort of way – they just need to disappear and no one ever needs to know that I owned them.

So, knowing this, it would be pretty obvious that literally anything would be an improvement over my last pair of running shoes. But this time around, I wanted to really research shoes and pick a pair that of course looked great, but that also really fit my needs. The perfect pair was waiting for me at BrooksRunning.com, and all I had to do was let them do all the work. By using their handy dandy shoe finder, I was able to find a pair that was ideal for the uses I had in mind, as well as ones that are best for my running and walking style and provide the ideal support. Once I finished the shoe finder survey, I was completely sold on the Brooks Cascadia 11 GTX trail running shoe for a number of reasons. Waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX® membranes paired with rugged outsoles make the women’s Cascadia GTX trail-running shoes the best there is for all the uses I had in mind. As soon as they arrived, I slipped them on and took a few laps around the house. I was already in love by the time I finished. The hardest thing for me to get used to is the feel of athletic shoes after wearing flats for so long, but now I love how my feet feel with great arch support. I feel unstoppable while wearing them, and I actually want to run. Crazy, right? I had followed their sizing advice and ordered up from my normal shoe size but because I’m normally between two shoe sizes, I knew that it was going to be a gamble. The shoes ended up being a bit bigger than I would have normally gone with, but I like that for trail running shoes. If you are a hard fit like I am, I would recommend going in store and trying them in person. Since they have arrived, I’ve worn them while jogging to the kids’ school in the afternoons, I’ve worn them while running laps in the field with the kiddos, and I’ve given them a workout on the trails near us, and I can say without a doubt that I absolutely love them. They are by far the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned and I love the BIOMOGO DNA midsole cushioning that provides adaptive cushioning without weighing the shoe down. Since I’m new at running, I also love the full-length segmented crash pad that accommodates any foot landing and delivers smooth transitions. I feel like I can take on the world when I slip them on and that I can tackle whatever comes my way. Since Pacific Northwest weather is unpredictable, I appreciate the rugged outsole that provides great traction on wet surfaces and tricky terrain.  And, speaking of rain and wetness, I love that the Brooks Cascadia GTX shoes keep my feet dry without sacrificing breathability, which means that I stay comfortable from start to finish, no matter what the Pacific Northwest weather dishes out. If you know me in person, you know that I don’t wear a lot of athletic clothing {speaking of which, that part of my closet could definitely use an overhaul as well}, so I love that the Brooks Cascadia 11s look cute enough to wear with a pair of jeans and a hoodie, which means that I will actually wear them. Because, I always want to wear them – whether I’m running or just running errands.

Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t owned running shoes since my teens. The Cascadia 11s are so much more comfortable than flats even for daily wear since they support my arch and don’t cause foot pain after especially long days of walking and running. I find myself reaching for the Brooks far more often than I thought I would, and I can’t believe it took me this long to try them out.   Don’t be like me. You can’t live an active life if you don’t have the right gear, and an investment in a good pair of shoes can make the difference of getting out and playing with your kids or always sitting on the sidelines. If you are new to athletic shoes, or even if you’re an old pro at this, you should definitely try the Brooks shoe finder and see what would be the perfect fit for your activities and foot type.

You can find out more about the awesome Brooks Cascadia 11 GTX on the Brooks website, as well as all of their other shoes and athletic gear for every activity.