Becoming an Altramaniac!

Becoming an Atltramaniac?

Maybe? Possibly? Succeeding?

Ok let me explain.

A couple of months ago I heard of a shoe company called Altra Zero Drop and was quite intrigued by their shoe design. I did some research on minimilist running, and since it had a wide toe base for my toes to spread and my bunions to breath, I may beable to go Zero Drop. Most shoes that fit great in the store, dont feel so good after a couple of miles running because my toes spread on impact and my bunions rub and make my big toes ache. (T.M.I. sorry). So I have been a loyal Saucony Kinvara wearer for a while now and still am, but I wanted to give a minimilist shoe a try. I am not brave enough to go barefoot, so I researched the Altra Zero Drop, and the making of an Altramaniac was born.

From their website

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The Altra Story

Running technique has always been a big deal in my family. My dad blew out his knee playing college football and was told he would never run again. He learned to avoid heel striking and run with proper technique to pull the pressure off his knee. Reducing the cushioning and weight of the heels in his running shoes helped him maintain proper technique and stay injury free. Since then, he's won major marathons, worked for running shoe companies and built our dream running store in the Rocky Mountains.

20 years after starting the store, we still felt there was a large gap for truly biomechanically correct footwear. We believed that shoes shouldn't encourage a heel strike; they should let the body move naturally.

For years, we had cut down the heels of regular running shoes to test our Zero Drop™ theory and had seen incredible results with our staff and customers. It eliminated injuries and helped people get back into running, just like my dad.

Working with engineers, designers, elite runners and biomechanical experts, we started making prototypes to bring Altra footwear to the masses. Our unique, Zero Drop™, foot-shaped, gender-specific design was exactly what we were looking for - a shoe to help everyone run naturally!

We've seen our footwear reduce injuries, improve running technique and change lives. We know it will help your customers run better and healthier. Life's short, run naturally! Hear the Story

-Golden
Founder, Altra Zero Drop™ Footwear

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I was lucky enough to meet Golden at The Rock n Roll San Diego marathon last month. I have worked with lots of companies in my social media life and this is one of the most friendliest and helpful companies I have ever worked with. I had contacted Altra back in April about possibly reviewing their shoe and they graciously agreed to send me a pair of Delilahs. My contact person Felica was amazing at getting the ball rolling and keeping me updated on them sending me the shoe. I received my size 10's in the mail a couple of weeks later and tried them on. I loved the way they felt on my feet, however my toes were hitting the top of the shoe and I knew if I run in them, that may be a problem. I contacted Felica asking about the fit and she told me yes that I would need a bigger size. One of the great things about Altra is they have a free exchange program, YAY! I was leaving for my San Diego trip shortly and decided to wait till I got back to exchange them.

Then out of nowhere Golden entered my life, lol! I was enjoying my time at the RNR San Diego expo...

And I saw the wonderful Altra booth. So I go up to the guy, not knowing it was Golden, and explain to him that I had a size 10 at my house back in Alabama and wanted to try a size up to see how they felt. Basically so I could tell Felica the size I would need. So he got me a size 12 and on foot it felt good. And then he told me to take them, I was like huh?what?seriously? and he explained to me that he was basically the man behind the shoe, and I was like crazy, and THEN he said he had looked at my blog not too long ago, and THEN, I was like way cool! And THEN I let him get back to work because they were super busy,YAY, and havent stopped talking about that meeting since!

I'm tired now! lol

Ok so fast forward to last week...unfortunately I wore the 12's at SeaWorld and walking in Phoenix and they were too big, so 11's are what I needed. After contacting Felica and Golden through email, explaining to them the situation and trying not to be a pest, after all they had graciously given me 2 pairs of shoes now. LUCKY? YES! And I was told to contact them for an exchange, no problem. I called the exchange number and got the wonderful Jean on the phone. She had not been aware of my exchange need and since I didnt really have an order number, she listened to my back story, my loooonnggg back story, and set me up for an exchange in like 5 minutes. 4 days later UPS picked up my shoes and 6 days later I recieved my new shoes, HAPPY GIRL...

Running as a new Altramaniac, has been interesting. They fit so perfect and getting used to them has been fun. It has taken a few runs to get used to the way they feel, but I have had no IT band issues since running in them this past week. I have run a 2, 4, 5treadmill, 11, and 6 miles in them. Yes, my calves are sore, but I knew dropping to a Zero Drop shoe that would happen, and my feet are sore, not bad though. I feel like they are getting stronger and I love that. I think I am going to try the Altra Provision to mix between the two.

So as my training for the Marine Corp Marathon continues, I hope to continue being an Altramaniac and bringing you guys updates on this venture!

Altra Zero Drop provided me with the Delilahs to review and all opinions in this blog are of my own and only my own.