This „test“ starts with some music: „This is not a love song„. (And this English version of my blog is a request from a reader of mine on twitter – @pmjbcn. Please be gentle – I am not a native speaker and gave my best writing in proper English)

Spice up your runs with loads of colours.

This test is no test. For various reasons I refuse to „test“ shoes. I explained those in this blog. In a nutshell or for the CEOs amongst my readers – the executive summary: We all have different feet, what’s good for mine does not necessarily have to be good for yours, too.

However, when Saucony offered me to try its newest model Triumph Isofit I agreed. For two reasons. First: I am the curious kind of guy. Second: I am a romantic. My first running shoe was Saucony’s Jazz 12. I wore it when I started my training. I wore it during my first marathon. I keep it though I don’t use it for training sessions anymore let alone competitions. It’s worn out for one reason. And its heels are pretty high. That does not work out with my style of running anymore. I wear rather flat running shoes. The Saucony Triumph interfere with my stride which is at approximately 180 steps per minute. (When I run it looks like I almost stand still. I move however somehow.)

This is not something I would want to blame the Jazz 12 for. Neither the Triumph Isofit. So despite my doubts I „tested“ it. That means: I did a couple of runs.

And the Triumph and me we are not becoming friends – let me get that straight from the beginning. As expected the rather high back part of the shoe (8 mm) kept me from running as I am used to run. More heelstrike less middlefoot/forefoot. (Yes, I’ve read „Born to run“.)

Does that mean that the Saucony Triumph is a bad shoe? Far from it!

Neat laces.

To come to some conclusions based less on taste and personal style I compared it to my Jazz 12. Totally unfair, no serious test would do that. But it gives some interesting insights to what has happened in the past years to a concept of a shoe that I loved in the beginning of my what only few people would consider as as running „career“.

The Saucony Triumph Isofit promises even softer cushioning even more comfort for the runner. And the runner’s limbs and knees and stuff. And it is. The new feature is called „PWRGRID+“ and I immediately wanted to send some vowels to Saucony’s marketing department. Sft nd cmfrtbl – that’s what it is. As promised. That would have helped a lot on my recent first ultramaraton in Remscheid where I struggled myself 900 metres up and – what was really painful – down again. Having had a shoe with a soft heel  like the Saucony Triumph would have made the whole experience less frustrating. When you land on your heel it feels as soft as the soft cushion used in Monty Python’s Flying Circus Episode on the torture by the Spanish Inquisition. I did a couple of downhill runs with the Saucony Triumph, landed on my heel on purpose and felt the softness.

Old and new.

If you’re a runner looking for a soft landing – this could be your shoe. It’s far softer than the Jazz 12 ever was.

Also a feature of the Scn Trmph and coming with all the vowels: The Isofit. This feature promises that the shoe fits around your foot like a sock. It’s supposed to snug around your toes and heel. And it does. When walking. High speed around a corner? It won’t sit on your shoe like concrete. And that’s probably good news.

Enough moaning and complaining. There’s a couple of things the Saucony Triumph Isofit offers which my Jazz 12 did not and I find those pretty useful. The laces. Correct. One of the most overseen aspects in testing running shoes if you ask me. These ones are good. They won’t loosen up easily like the ones I had to tie up twice on my Jazz 12. Also: The laces don’t run through the shoe itself but some plastic things which appear to be lighter and more solid at the same time. It also looks great. Though this is of course a matter of taste. Without a doubt it helps keeping the weight down of the Saucony Triumph which I can easily feel compared to the Jazz 12 without using a weighing scale.

The newer shoe shows less features

So without this test being a test I can conclude that Saucony came up with a couple of neat details and solutions and in general a very comfy shoe.

If it’s good for you or not – I am sorry, you have to find out for yourself. Because this was not a test.