Running: ON Cloudflow Training Shoe Review

Running. What is running? To some it is torture and to some it is pure bliss. Getting outside or hopping on a treadmill and just going is one of the easiest forms of exercise to start because it requires minimal equipment and occurs almost anywhere. I have never been in love with running although through the years of playing football and baseball it was a need. A few years back I tried to run a 5k which I succeeded in however I ran a 33 minute 3.1 mile run which to me was horrible. I spent four months perfecting my running and lowering my time to a 27 minute 3.1 mile run. During that four-month training period I had a bunch of nagging injuries that kept coming up. Shin splints, knee pain, hip discomfort, groin pain, and even lower back pain. Perhaps it was because I was over two hundred pounds, perhaps it was because I was never taught to properly run, or maybe it was my shoes.

on running shoesFast forward a few years performing sprinting intervals for running since the 5k training I found a style of shoes which some of my trainer friends (men and women) were wearing that looked sleek and I found myself intrigued. I went online looked at the price and my frugality kicked in so I decided not to buy them. The shoe style was ON which is a Switzerland based company specializing in running and training shoes. A few months passed and then on my birthday February 14th my wife surprised me with an awesome gift. She gifted me the ON Cloudflow running training shoes. I fell in love with the look and style immediately. I decided then that these shoes would be my mode of working out two days a week as I start to get back into running.

Another gift was from a client who gifted me the Peleton application for Christmas which has thousands of running videos where the instructors run you through proper progressions and teach you how to properly run, warm-up and cool-down. Now I’m an expert when it comes to working out, weight lifting and stretching, but when it comes to running I decided to click on the beginner classes. I’m happy to say I am now two weeks in and my running is already improving. Side note: running is like pull-ups, squatting, bench press, and deadlifts where I truly believe if you don’t run you will lose performance quickly. Use it or lose it.

The ON Cloudflow Training shoes are amazing.   I mentioned above how my whole body would hurt when I ran before which kept me from running distance as a two hundred plus pound man with many previous athletic injuries, but not with these shoes. Honestly improvements and the pain reduction could be from perfecting my running form but I really do give a lot of the credit to the ON shoes. They are so comfortable, they fit perfect, and I find it very natural to keep a flat foot strike while running on the treadmill. I’m finishing thirty minute run interval, hill interval, and walk/run classes with “relative” ease. I believe if I can keep the injuries away that I could progress to the intermediate classes by April just in time to get outside for spring!

What is your go to local running trail? What is your go to running shoe? How do you progress your running?

The answers to these questions would be fascinating to know. For now I will give my ON Cloud Flow running shoes a 9/10. Why a 9? Because there is always room for improvement!

Onward and Upward!
~Mike

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