A few short months ago, I was writing about road shoes for the first time. I kind of thought it would be my first and my last. But, here I am again, talking about another road shoe that I LOVE [sometimes I surprise myself]. I still do not love road running, but it does serve a place in my training routine, and it’s made much more tolerable when the shoes are bright and light.

Before I get too far into my shoe geek conversation – please remember, I am in fact not a shoe geek or a perfect fit specialist and I probably don’t know what you need most in your shoe, but I definitely know what I like and I can usually articulate why I like it, so I will share that with you.

All of my thoughts:

I broke the Fli-Lyte 2’s in over a cold, rainy [borderline sleeting] 5k. Now, I had no ambition to go outside for this run – but, I did have the prettiest new shoes and I was running in support of a really good friend battling cancer. I made it through the run, managed to smile while getting hit in the face with sleet and my feet were happy. Now, I can’t say I trusted my judgment on such a short run, so I ran in these shoes a few more times [track, treadmill and a few more road miles] and the verdict post run every time was the same. Another good fit, good looking shoe by Topo Athletic.

The details: 

Fit: The best feature of the Topo Athletic shoes, Fli-Lyte 2’s included — they never smush your toes together. The shoe fits snug through the mid-foot and still has a wide toe box for the coveted toe splay. This fit is when I finally understood the wide toe box craze, before this, I just associated craze with crazy. I value the space for my toes and am so grateful that someone figured out you don’t need a wide shoe for a wide toe box. Moving on from the toe box. The Fli-Lyte’s are…light. But, they have a bit more stucture than some of the other light shoes on the market so they are suitable for a variety of distances. Most importantly, they are highly responsive – foot to ground connection, spot on. I wear a size 7, which is what I usually where – so the shoes fit pretty true to size.

Shoe Geek Specs:

4 MM RUBBER OUTSOLE

14 MM EVA (HEEL) / 11 MM EVA (BALL) MIDSOLE

5 MM FOOTBED

23 MM X 20 MM TOTAL STACK HEIGHT/ 3 MM DROP

WEIGHT: 6.9 OZ. (SIZE 7)

Aesthetics: When you open the new shoe box and find the shoes in the brightest colors, it’s love. You don’t even have to put them on your feet to know it’s love. The color options for the Fli-Lyte 2’s are amazing. If you don’t believe me, check it out here. I had the hardest time picking which color combination I wanted to start with. Coral and aqua eventually won. I won’t lie – I start with the shoe that looks good [a little vain? maybe] and then move on to find out if the feel lives up the look. [I know I am not alone in this].

Company: Topo Athletic has been around for a few short years and the small team is definitely making the mark in the shoe industry. By now, you all know, I love a good company – this is important. And, Topo is genuinely amazing – responsive, the customer service is spot on, and the team is passionate about what they do.

Check out the Fli – Lyte 2’s ! Use MUSCLESANDMILES20 for discount.

Make sure to enter the Instagram GIVEAWAY to win a pair of Fli – Lyte 2’s.

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