N.Y.A.S.R. Not Your Average Shoe Review: Altra Torin

Not Your Average Shoe Review: Altra Torin

Anyone who is serious about running knows that the shoe can be your best friend or worst enemy. Find the right shoe? Buy many pairs because I promise you they will stop making it immediately.

As such, I’ve been seeking a replacement for my beloved Brooks Pureflows. I have 3 pair still, but they are really not built on the cushioning side for running much more than 100K at a time.

So onto these Altras.

In my experience, recommending a shoe is like recommending a wedding dress. All the reviews in the world mean nothing as every runner and every foot is unique from shape to stride mechanics.

Altra is a zero drop specialist. This means you’re running flat footed. Simple as that. Your heel is not elevated.

Running “purists” , whatever that means, have advocated for this in the last few years since the popularity of the book “Born to Run”, which focuses on the Mexican Taramuhara tribe who essentially run long distances this way.

So here’s the Altra Torin and my review that signifies and means nothing if not a couple of minutes of amusement.

Look. They advertise a lot of features but lets keep it real.

Design:

It’s a flat shoe with a decent amount of cushion and wide toe box.

As you can see, the designers spent some time on the sole with that toe pattern. Nothing impresses other runners like the bottom of your shoe. Am I right?

When you’re leading the field of 10 year olds in your local 5k, they will have that image burned into their brains. You can look back and wink, and say: “That’s right, kid. You see this? That’s the sight of my shoe kicking your ass. Life is hard and this is one of the easy lessons.”

High points for this design point.

Fit:

They fit like a shoe. Kinda snug and off-size a bit. That’s good. No point in utilizing a standard used for centuries. Very progressive, Altra. Well-played.

The toe box is wide. Not sure if there’s market for genetic foot mutations, but if you’re one of the foot X-men, these are for you. You literally could have a square foot with all the toes the same length. You’re welcome, X-men.

Feel:

I ran four mile is in these. They advise “working into” runs as zero drop running utilizes your calf muscles more. Since I already run on a near zero drop (4mm) I didn’t expect that to cause any issues. It didn’t during the run.

1 hour AFTER the run? Well…

As a child of the 70’s and 80’s you many remember this:

So yeah, the Altra Torin is basically the thighmaster in shoe-form.

Somehow I have run 50K, 50miles, and 100K races without ever utilizing the muscles tortured by this shoe. Inside of the thighs. As the hours passed I wondered if I had somehow been crushing watermelons between my legs and didn’t remember.

Thanks, Altra! These new muscle will come in handy if I …. Um… need to run in Altra Torins? Yeah. That must be it.

I’m excited about working out a new muscle group that has been somehow unnecessary in my life as an endurance athlete and obstacle course racer.  Awesome.

Conclusion:

I bought these shoes on sale for $55, as I’m pretty sure they’ve released 3 more versions since these. A good value for a shoe? Maybe. But the thighmaster is only $9.95 (plus processing and shipping of course which takes the price to about $400 I think).

It’s really your call.