Gel-Bot Winner and Pearl Izumi Streak II Shoe Review

The winner of the Gel-Bot is:

Dani!!!

Congratulations!  Send me an email (40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) with your contact info and I'll pass it on to my contact.

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One of the perks of blogging is that sometimes you somehow catch the attention of certain companies, who offer you free stuff in exchange for a review.  And as we all know, free is my favorite price.  Still, there are some things that I decline, either because I don't (or wouldn't) use them myself, or I can't get behind the product enough to endorse it to you.  I had a bit of an internal struggle with accepting Pearl Izumi products for review, and although in the end I obviously did, I'd like to explain why.

Pearl Izumi markets their products to what they consider "real" athletes.  To them, I'm not a runner.  I've seen their print ads in magazines and, rightly so, was offended by them - to the point that I wouldn't look twice at any product once I realized it was made by Pearl Izumi.  They don't consider me a runner?  Fine.  I don't consider them worthy of my money.  There you have it.  Hope that ad campaign appealed to someone out there, because it certainly wasn't me.  Actually, no - I hope that even the famous runners - Kara Goucher, Dean Karnazes, Paula Radcliffe - were offended by those ads...I mean really, why would you want to exclude anyone from your sport?

So. I'm reviewing these Pearl Izumi  Streak II shoes that I received for free.  Still feel like I sold my soul for them, though.  But it's not like I ever would have tried them on, much less bought them, with the attitude I have toward that company.  And what if they were the magical shoes that did the trick in helping me to run better?  What if my ankle pain miraculously disappeared when I wore them?  (it didn't)  I was willing to give them a try.

The shoes came via UPS.  I didn't know what to expect - Scott at Outside PR had asked for my size, nothing more.  Imagine my delight to see these pink and white beauties:

Now, if you know me, you know that I was instantly captivated - I loved the colors, and the shoes would go with so many of my running outfits - woohoo!  I took a picture of them and sent it to Jeff, who was out of town.  His reply?  "Good thing they are pink or I would take them" - I'd say he's getting cocky since he absconded with my sunglasses!

I have to tell you that these shoes are shockingly lightweight.  So much so that I actually got out my kitchen scale and weighed them, and then compared the weight to my other running shoes.  Here's the stats:

Pearl Izumi Streak II - 6.8 ounces
Brooks Defyance 4 - 8.8 ounces
Newton Terra Momentus - 9.9 ounces

Back when I had my glorious two weeks of running, before I was so rudely denied by my orthopedist, I tried the shoes out on a few runs.  As I was just starting back up, there were no long runs, so I don't have that to reference, but I did try them on both the street and the track.  I liked them ok, but I definitely felt the ground through the sole.  Which, considering how minimalist these are, is normal.

I also wore them at the track for sprints during our speed work - they felt fine for the sprints that I managed to run.  I appreciate that I can put these on - a brand new pair of shoes, and run in them with no blisters or issues like that.  I usually wear a size 8.5 for my running shoes and these fit perfectly.

Pearl Izumi describes them as a racing shoe - "your new go-to PR shoe."  I might wear them in a 5K race, but I wouldn't expect the shoes to give me a new PR.  Still, when I finally get back to running, I'll wear these for shorter runs, and, of course, when I want to complete my running ensemble!  More examples of that below:

Super cute shoes - they also have a lot of reflection on them which will be nice when I run early in the morning.

I loved this outfit - and having pink/white and black running shoes that matched my skirt was the icing on the cake!  Paco still isn't too fond of the shoes, though - I had to hold him to keep him still for the picture!

When the shoes first arrived, I took them outside to get some pictures.  I always shoot several  - and died laughing when I uploaded them and saw this one:

Paco ALWAYS manages to get in the shot!

Kip had to check them out, too:

"Why you get so excited about shoes, lady?"

The Pearl Izumi Streak II shoes retail for $110.  Thanks to Scott at Outside PR for arranging the try out for me - hopefully I haven't blown doing any future reviews from him - but at least you know that when I review something, I'm completely honest!

FTC:  Really?  We gotta go there?  It's pretty obvious.  Free shoes, honest review.

Source: http://www.myjourneytofit.com/2011/04/gel-bot-winner-and-pearl-izumi-streak.html

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