Ultra Boost X Review & My Favorite Trainers!

Heyy everyone!  I’m pretty excited about this post because I am a massive Adidas Ultra Boost fan, and I’m very happy that they’ve taken the Ultra Boost and made a shoe just for women, the Ultra Boost X. I went to an awesome event in San Francisco to celebrate the launch of the shoe where we went on 5 runs (one of them half run half HIIT workout) and pretty much tested the shoe on the hilly, rainy streets of San Fran! It was a great event full of super inspiring women from around the world, and I’m happy to say that the shoe was worth celebrating. Below I’m going to give you a feel for the overall shoe and my favorite Adidas shoes to run in and train in (Get Fit Guide style).

There’s also a video below (very end) where you can see each shoe I talk about and see me point out all the things I mention, as well as give some of my personal experience and reasons for liking the shoes I train in. The video shows the Ultra Boost X, Ultra Boost, Pure Boost X, Ultra Boost Uncaged, and Edge Luxe.

First things first, here’s a little bit about my foot so you have a frame of reference for the things I’m saying about fit and feel. I have a long thin foot, and I wear a size nine in these but a 10 in a lot of other brands of running shoes. That size is with the little bit of space they recommend you leave above your big toe in a running shoe.

The Ultra Boost X

Key features:

Boost Technology: This stuff is amazing. It really does change the way you feel on your run. Some of the main benefits claimed are energy return on your run, longer lasting shoes (this stuff lasts and gives the same quality cushion and energy from the first run to the last – you’ll get a lot more miles on these than traditional running shoes), temperature resistance (it will perform the same in extreme heat and cold unlike other running shoe bases). I was a little skeptical at first but it really is great. One of the things I’ve noticed about all my boost shoes is that you don’t have that break-in period. They’ve never given me blisters or soreness in random weird spots the first few runs like some of my other new shoes have in the past.

Floating Arch: This is one of my favorite parts of the Ultra Boost X. The arch is not attached to the shoe so it really hugs your foot. This is supposed to allow the arch of the shoe to really adapt to every individuals foot. It keeps your foot from feeling like it’s sliding around at all and really gives a nice snug fit. Like I said, I have a thin foot and this is something that I don’t really get with any other shoes. I usually have to tie the laces ridiculously tight to get a good fit. That being said, none of the other girls I was with said that it felt too tight on their foot. So, it’s not a shoe made for only people with thin feet. The material and lifted arch really do allow for some adapting to individual feet. 

Continental Rubber: This is one thing that I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about had it not been rainy and had we not run straight up a massive and long hill just to run straight down. When going downhill in the rain, I’m pretty much always worried that I might slip. Not that it’s happened to me much, I just really don’t want it to happen. I didn’t slip on any of the surfaces from sidewalk to steps to brick to stone. It seemed to be pretty grippy so that was nice. It’s also laid out in a web design on the bottom that’s supposed to allow for some adaptation to your foot!

Sock Fit: The part of the shoe by the ankle is a sock fit. I’ve never been partial to that but it really does work for this shoe (I still wore socks, but I always wear socks). It worked in a comfortable way that made it so that I didn’t really even realize it was a sock fit.  That’s good because I don’t really want to be thinking about or feeling my shoe, since that means something is probably uncomfortable.

Prime Knit: This is made to stretch and move with your foot as you run but not stay stretched out. You can see me pull on it in the video! I don’t have tons to say here but I do like the prime knit. I feel like it keeps the shoe nice and breathable. I didn’t get that overly sweaty foot feeling that sometimes happens from having a shoe on too long, so that was good.

Overall I think the shoe is great. Like I said about the sock fit, I didn’t really realize it was there. The whole shoe kind of feels like that for me. I had it on for 2 10 hour days and I didn’t feel like I needed to take it off; the runs in it were good and even the interval part of the first day was great in it. I think the shoe is comfy and supportive and really did adapt well enough to my foot that I didn’t have to think about it at all. It’s definitely up there for me with the Ultra Boosts and may even take their place as my favorites soon – who knows!

My Favorites

Alright, now that you know all about the Ultra Boost X, let’s talk my favorites to train in.

As far as running goes, I like the Ultra Boost X and Ultra Boost. I need a little bit more time with the X to allow it to pass the regular Ultra Boost but I feel like it may happen. I just really love that floating arch! The difference in the X is the sock fit, the floating arch and the prime knit upper. So, the X got a lot of new technology from the original Ultra Boost, which was already a super solid shoe! The X is going to have a more snug fit which I definitely like.

When I’m training Get Fit Guide style (dumbbells and plyos) I like to train in the Edge Luxe. This shoe fits well, has a nice flat bottom and keeps my foot feeling secure when jumping around or whatever I happen to be doing in a workout. Something unique about these shoes is the thick laces; I personally really like them and the way they feel as a lace. They seem to give my foot a more secure feeling in the shoe (they come with thin laces as well, I tried both).  I don’t run in it but I definitely recommend it for training. It’s got Bounce technology in it, (like the Alpha Bounce) which is supposed to be a little bit firmer than the Boost but I can’t give you much of a scientific or detailed comparison. You may have to head out for some research if you want that!

 

So, long post here but I would definitely recommend watching at least a little bit of the video so you can see the shoes in ‘real’ time! I bend them, point things out, and show the other shoes mentioned above, so I hope you enjoy! 🙂

 

Sweat, Smile, Repeat!

 

xx Niki