In preparation to my 2014
Road/Tri season I had the opportunity to
put hundreds of miles in the EM Road N1 and the EM Trail N1 shoes
throughout the last couple of months. This particular line of shoes has taken
my running to a whole new level from running a new PR at a local 5K to helping
achieve my dream of qualifying for Boston and also qualifying for the 70.3
World Championships in Mont Tremblant, Canada. Below is my little recap of
PROS
- Great neutral training option for biomechanically efficient runners
- Wider-Form fitting toe box (Awesome!! Especially for those with a wider forefoot such as myself)
- Level 1 most minimal midsole (1mm Toe to Heal offset)
- Very comfortable shoe, 19mm of thickness for that “Cushiony” feel
- At 8 ounces (for Size 9) , it is extremely light-weight, yet cushioned enough for marathons.
CONS
- Color options may not be for everyone
- Very similar to the PI Road N2
- May be to minimal for some people (Great thing PI has Higher offset shoes in the EM line)
The very first time I laced up the EM road N1 it was very different feeling and yes I mean different as in weird. At first they felt very harsh and firm, not as comfortable as I initially thought. As I needed to give these shoes a chance I decided I needed to put in a little more miles in them. By putting the miles on the pavement the shoe started to grow on me. It surely became my go to shoe for my off-season (Oct-Dec) as the miles came the responsiveness and comfort came as well. It seems that being the type of runner that switches and races with different shoe year to year it takes time for the foot to get accustomed to what it has on. So I’m really glad I put the time and effort in giving this shoe a chance to impress me rather than give it a bad review on its very first test ride. After putting in hundreds of miles on pavement I can honestly say that the N1 is a FANTASTIC all around shoe. I ended up using the N1 as my training shoe and my racing shoe without any problems.
You can see scuffs and wear from the lateral heel to the mid-foot, The cool part of this EVA foam is that it’ll give you some indications of your wear pattern and tell you what type of runner you are. I typically run with my forefoot and only you some heel whenever I’m fatigued during those longer mile runs. As per the durability of the shoe, which is always on everybody’s mind, the shoe last quite a while for being so light and minimal. I was able to get over 200miles on them before the material started getting really soft for my build. For lighter runners this shoe can more than likely hit the 250 range!
All in all I give the Pearl Izumi N1 two thumbs up, I highly suggest this shoe for triathlons and marathons as I have found success in both types of races maybe you can to! Head on over to VRC and try on a pair!
Races raced with the Pearl Izumi N1
Houston Marathon
2:56:45 (Boston Qualified)
Oceanside 70.3
4:40:26 (1:29:04 Run split)
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