LA SPORTIVA: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

(LA SPORTIVA CROSSLITE: unisex)

My love affair with La Sportiva began 3 years ago while running Comfortably Numb for the first time. I ended up winning the race and in turn, recieved a coupon for a free pair of La Sportiva shoes. At the time I was running in the Brooks Cascadia and to be honest, had no intention of actually running in the La Sportivas I was about to mail away for. My master plan was to trade them in for another pair of Cascadias.

However, when they arrived (I think it took me almost a year to send away for them), I decided to take them for a spin. To my delight, these shoes felt amazing! They were light, low to the ground, and the best part, I never rolled my ankles in them, like I did in my caascadia. Up until last year, I had rolled my ankles on almost every run. I used to blame it on my biomechanics but now I genuinely think I was in the wrong shoe.

Thank goodness I have spaghetti ankles because it was years before something bad actually happened (fractured cuboid). Nonetheless, I ended up staying with the crosslites and have had a happy and healthy running career ever since. The only sad part about the crosslites is that it has a built in gator, which covers the laces, preventing me from hooking my hot pink gators into them.

So, getting back to the LA SPORTIVA CROSSLITES- amazing shoe if you are looking for something a little more low profile. They are light and super comfortable. If you find you are constantly rolling your ankles in your current shoes, give them a try, you might surprise yourself! They are great for short distance as well as long (I wore them for Western States 100 last June). They have awesome lugs on the bottom which are great for moving quickly through mud. If you arent used to wearing shoes with less cushioning (or low to the ground), work them in slowly as you may notice some calf tightness. New for this year are the women's specific crosslites, which actually have more cushioning than last year's unisex model.


(Women's specific crosslite 2.0)

After doing a few runs after the Dirty Duo 25km, I noticed my soleous/calf area was quite tight. I hadn't been doing anything differently (except for less vertical) but nonetheless, the calf tightness was present after each run. I knew I needed a shoe that offered some more cushioning and that sat higher off the groundd than my crosslites. I had wanted to try the LA SPORTIVA RAPTOR for quite some time but was too attached to the crosslite to give it a chance.


(LA SPORTIVA WOMEN'S RAPTOR)

After the first wear, I was in love! I think this shoe will be a better training shoe for me and the crosslite a better racing shoe. Peter wore these shoes for Western States and had a lot of success with them. Perhaps the calf tightness was caused by my lack of running in North Van where the trails are oh so hilly, versus the flatter stuff I have been running in Squamish (due to the snow up high).

I am super stoked to be apart of the LA SPORTIVA racing team this year. I will also add that I don't just run in LA SPORTIVA, I also use their footwear for climbing and mountaineering! The one stop shop! If you are living in Vancouver/The North Shore, you can purchase all these shoes from North Shore Athletics, located at 101-1200 Lonsdale Ave in North Vancouver.