Few months ago, I bought an ALTRA Lone Peak 1.5 trail shoes and after using it on my trail running workouts and putting almost 300 kilometers as mileage, I came up with a Shoe Review which I posted here in this blog. I was satisfied with the shoes with their Zero Drop concept and wider toe box but not so much on its weight when it is wet with my sweat and during my river/creek crossing; its sole traction when running on muddy trails where the sole would gather a lot of mud that would make the shoe heavier to the running legs; and the long period of time for the wet shoes to dry up during its use or when it is being “air dried”.

I concluded in my shoe review that the trail shoes is not suited for the muddy trails in our mountains (Philippines) but best suited for dry trails, loose gravel, rocky and technical as long as the trail is dry! I am not surprised on this because the shoes was conceptualized on what is written on the shoebox of every ALTRA Shoes.

For about a week, I had been running on my new ALTRA Lone Peak 2.0 trail shoes. As soon as the shoes arrived, I immediately used it for my daily stretching and calisthenics. I immediately felt a big improvement on the cushioning of the shoes. This is a big improvement from the Lone Peak 1.5. The shoe lace is replaced with a flat and lighter material, a big improvement from the LP 1.5 heavier and rounded laces. The shoe tongue had been shortened for about half inch. The big ALTRA sign and mountain logo on the outer side had been removed, together with the “black net pattern” and white leather that you can see on the inner side of the shoes. What I don’t understand the reason why ALTRA placed a leather on the #3 and #4 holes for the shoe laces. It could be for aesthetic reason where small prints of the shoe model is written but it is not necessary to sew such where the laces should pass through. The rudder at the back/heel portion of the shoes is still there but it is shortened. The velcro (with cover) for the gaiter is still there. There is a new pattern of lugs on the sole but I still have some reservations on how it would work on muddy trails. The lugs have the same thickness with that of the LP 1.5.

The big improvement on the cushioning is due to a thicker sole, 3 mm thicker than the LP 1.5 and a thicker insole which is 5 mm. There is no change in the “Uppers” of the new LP 2.0 from its predecessor. It means that the new model has the same problem with its water retention, slower drying time and heavier weight when it is wet.

On the website of ALTRA, the Lone Peak 2.0 has a weight of 11.4 ounces while the Lone Peak 1.5 is 9.9 ounces for shoe size 9. It means that the latest model had sacrificed or made some trade off for its weight by adding more cushioning and comfort for the feet. So, this is the reason why I could hardly noticed the weight of the shoes because of the comfortable feeling every time my foot strikes the ground.

For almost 100 kilometers as mileage for this new trail shoes, I am satisfied with how it performed on my feet and on the trails. If you ask me why I did not order for the “Yellow Bus”? I have already my yellow La Sportiva Bushido and this is my first time to have a black colored trail shoes. So, the black “Ninja” shoes was ordered as part of my trail running arsenal.

With this kind of trail shoes, the challenge now for me is how to run faster with them on the uphills, downhills, rocky and technical trails, muddy trails, and when they are completely wet from my sweat and after creek and river crossings. With a new 5.6-kilometer loop of ascending and descending trails as my “testing” ground, I hope to compare this shoes with the other trail shoes in my tempo/progression runs.

I highly recommend the new ALTRA Lone Peak 2.0 as your training trail shoes and if you can manage to adapt on it as your racing trail shoes, then go ahead. Your feet will be happy to finish an ultra distance with them!