It’s no secret that I’m an Altra girl: I’m a Sponsored Altra Red Team Member. But even if I weren’t, I’d still shout about their shoes from the rooftops. Their Footshape toe box means my toes aren’t squished into that painful V that happens when I run in other brands, and the Balanced Cushioning means that there’s no drop from the heel to the toe. I had lots of problems with numbness and tingling in my toes in other brands, but it completely disappeared once I started running in Altras.

Since discovering them back in 2016, I’ve run in a lot of different models:

Lone Peak: These were my first pair of trail shoes – if you can believe it! I’d never found a pair of trail kicks that worked for me and wasn’t too bulky, but these are my go-to’s not just for the trail but when I’m on rocks or ice, too.

Torins: Way back when I first got into them, I got myself a pair of NYC Marathon Torins and have used them sparingly – only because they’re so COOL looking. I mainly wore them on weekends and sometimes on runs only because I didn’t want to junk them up. Silly, I know, but they actually got a lot of good wear at my last job where I could wear sneakers every day. It was nice having that comfort every day and knowing that I wasn’t putting more miles on my running shoes:

Paradigm: When it came to running, though, the Paradigm was my first and favorite Altra. I’ve run in almost every model and color way of the Paradigms. I even ran NYC 2017 in them, and that’s the only pair of them that I won’t ever toss. They’re still caked in mushed-up, dried Poland Spring cups from running over them for 26.2 rainy miles.

Escalante: More recently, I switched to the Escalante and liked that they felt so much lighter and grippier. I’ve logged a lot of racing miles in them and still swap them into the rotation when I just WANNA GO FAST (shameless Ricky Bobby reference).

But the drop from the super cushioned Paradigm to the almost racing-flat-like (for me) Escalante was a bit much, and I found myself feeling like Goldilocks for a bit. The Escalantes had gotten me more comfortable with less cushion, but I still needed something more padded for consistent training. And my old faithful Paradigms now seemed to be TOO thick for my everyday, shorter runs, and I missed the feeling of the road under my feet.

Enter the Torin 4 – aka #MyFavoriteAltra:

I honestly don’t know why I hadn’t tried the Torin sooner, to be honest with you. Most of the folks I know who jumped into the brand at my recommendation tended to gravitate towards it, and it seemed to be a solid workhorse shoe.

So when they were in stock in my size, I picked up the pair you see here, and I fell in love. Again, I’m a Red Team Member, which means I do get them for a discount, but like I said before – I would be taking out ads in the paper and telling every runner about these babies even if I weren’t an ambassador for the brand.

If the Escalantes weren’t cushioned enough, and the Paradigms were too cushioned, these Torins are (Goldilocks voice) juuuust right. They cradle my foot and give my toes enough room to breathe so I don’t get smushed, cramped toes after longer runs, and they’re light enough that I don’t feel like I’m plodding as my mileage starts to build.

Right out of the box, these shoes were comfortable. First run, 4 miles, no pain at all. They didn’t require breaking in like other shoes have, and run after run they keep springing back like they just came out of the box.

They also offer a Plush version of the Torin that I’ve heard good things about. But while I haven’t tried them out personally, I don’t even know if I need to. They could be another good option just under the thicker/slightly heavier Paradigm, but so far I have yet to have a bad run in the Torins, and as we runners often say, why mess with a good thing?

Do you have a favorite Altra? Share in the comments!