Adidas Takumi Sen 8 review, 400m, 300m, 100m

76º and sunny in mid afternoon at the Sewanee track with light winds.  Entering a warm dry period with low humidity.  Today, I tried out the Adidas Takumi Sen 8s today.  A low volume higher intensity set today.

Hoka trainers on

stretches, drills, 2 x 100m, bands

Adidas trainers on

100m - 13.48

400m - 60.75 (28.06, 32.69)

300m - 43.74

After warmups, I put on the Adidas and ran a relaxed 100m.  They were exceptionally comfortable.  After a lot of delay, hemming and hawing, I decided to run a hard 400m, close to max effort.  Goal was 28/32, came up just a tad short, with the last 100m pretty slow (17.49) with rigging in the end.  

The shoes felt awesome.  Especially on the turns.  This is a super shoe, a great advance in shoe technology in terms of cushion per weight and responsiveness. Don’t be fooled by appearance, these shoes are feather light despite the big block of heel foam. An astonishing 5.9 oz in my size 7, about 1/3 oz lighter than the Rincons despite having an equal amount of forefoot stack, about 25mm. They feel like slippers, have excellent toe room, good lock down, and super traction, despite the rather smooth appearance of the outsole. They seem maybe slightly more responsive than the Rincons - perhaps due to the embedded ‘energy rods’ in the sole, a little less protective on the lateral side than the Rincons, but where they really shine is when sprinting left turns on the track. This shoe is every bit a sprint trainer, although marketed as a 5k racing flat, (again - since just a very small % of the running community sprint). When I see a shoe like this, I’m tempted to slice off the heel foam, but it’s light enough as is. Definitely a little firmer and more ground feel than the Rincon, not as smooth a transition from footstrike to toe off as the Rincon. It’s definitely fast and far more protective than the minimalist Takumi Sen 7, despite being just a few grams heavier. Amazing shoe. A BIG Thumbs up. They will definitely be in my training rotation.

Getting my weight under control, 140.4 lbs after workout.