At the tender age of 25 I reckon I could lay claim to having owned upwards of 60 pairs of shoes in my lifetime. From little fluffy booties through to velcro shoes and eventually shoes with laces, I reckon I've tried a fair spread of footwear. Even now, I own about 12 different pairs of shoes, all of varying shape and purpose, and all with their valued place on my shoe shelf. So when I was packing my bag for a trip to Sydney recently, and not knowing what I was going to be doing, there was one pair I knew I could take that would be up to the task of doing anything and going anywhere - my inov-8 f lite 195s!
Originally designed as a hardpack trail shoe, the 195s have been adopted by the CrossFit scene in a big way. They're lightweight, incredibly comfortable, and breathable, with a flat but grippy sole - so perfect for CrossFit. But as I found out recently, they're also good for everything else.
One particular day during my visit to the land of Oz I whacked on my 195s, together with some casual shorts and a hoodie, and shot out the door en route to breakfast at an inner city café. That finished up and I opted to catch the train out to the Blue Mountains for a jog around. Shorts and hoodie came off, running gear came on, 195s stayed on my feet, and two hours later I was reminiscing about the joy of the hard, soft, wet, dry, up and down trail run that I'd just completed. Another train ride, another clothing change (this time into some jeans) and few beers with a friend at a suburban bar to cap off the day. And yip, still in the 195s.
Aside from the fact that what I did was probably not the most hygienic thing to do, I can't emphasise enough just how versatile the f lites are. If you've looking to shrink down your personal shoe range, or if you're forced to only every one pair of shoes at all times during the remainder of your lifetime, do yourself a favour and pick up some f lite 195s. You won't regret it.
