Review: K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5: Fast!

When you love running in a particular shoe, you worry if the succeeding versions of the shoe will live up to the performance of its predecessor. Tinkering too much or too little might make the upgraded version a downgrade in effect, similar to how movie sequels failed in beating box-office expectations of the previous film. But then, there are rare movie sequels that satisfy the audience thinking that the sequel is oh so much better than the first one.

The K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5 racing flat is such a sequel.

After 409 kms on my K-Ruuz 1.0, it was time for me to buy a new racing flat. The upper, in particular where the pinky toe resides, have worn out due to the numerous runs and races that this pair has joined in.

Fortunately, during the Tripalooza at the Piazza Mall in McKinley months ago, I was able to acquire at a very good discount the K-Ruuz 1.5 version.

The 1.5 sports a fiery red and yellow look and, compared to its 1.0 predecessor's 9mm heel to toe lift, this one has a 10mm lift as per the runningwarehouse.com web site. The 1.0mm difference is very unnoticeable, unless you're the Princess of the Pea.

Once you get out for a run in this shoe, the noticeable difference between the 1.0 and this one is the more comfortable feel of the improved upper. The outsole markings remain the same so you'll still have the small stones getting into the drainage holes from time to time which was the same experience for the 1.0.

Still, the lightness of this shoe (at 6.0 oz) makes you run fast with quick turnover due to its lightness, as expected in every racing flat such as this.

I have a small issue though on the sock liners since the drainage holes in it are a little bigger compared to the 1.0 version. The result of which, during and after a sockless run, is some mild pain under the foot since the   holes have marked heavily there. I was able to fix this by swapping the 1.5 sockliner with the 1.0's so my sockless runs have been comfortable since then.

After 146 kms so far, this shoe has helped me this year in my tempo and speedwork training runs which has resulted in improved performances in my 10k, 21k races and in last November's maiden duathlon (where I saw that it was being worn by about 3 out of every 10 duathletes there).

Definitely, this is a serious racing flat for serious runners that want to achieve PRs.

Of course, I'm hoping that the next installment (the 2.0?) will live up to the hype to complete the K-Swiss K-Ruuz (successful) trilogy.