I don’t want to wear a different pair of shoes for everything I do. My life isn’t a Broadway Musical, or one of those concerts where after every song you go backstage and trade your outfit, and your shoes. That’s exhausting.

So what’s the value statement for GORUCK’s I/O Cross Trainers? Support and Versatility for travel, everyday wear, and for training under weight. One shoe to replace five. Not flip-flops, the other five.

Sure, it’s easier to sell you something built for one thing and one thing alone. Buy these for walking, those for jogging, those for sprinting, those for running, those others over there for weightlifting and another yet pair for functional fitness. And you can’t use the same shoe inside as you can outside, so you’re supposed to buy another new pair. It’s exhausting, and not how I want to live my life.

Here are the three main areas that GORUCK’s I/O Cross Trainers (I/O for Inside/Outside) solve for me, and they all center around versatility and support:

Support for Travel & Daily Life

I travel a lot and need something versatile. When I travel, I walk and ruck and move around a lot. I want support that cheap shoes (like Chuck T’s) simply don’t provide over time and distance. Athletic shoes that aren’t built for distance start to break down too soon, which leads to pain like shin splints. I hate shin splints. 1,000 miles later, my I/O’s are still going strong – no shin splints, and my feet don’t feel smoked at the end of a long day.

My daily life is back and forth to work – sometimes I ruck, sometimes I bike. Sometimes we work out in the afternoon at HQ. Sometimes I have a dinner to go to, date night style. Stuff pops up, I don’t want to change my outfit all the time. Like I said, life isn’t broadway. One pair of shoes simplifies my life and I love that.

Classic Style = Versatility

That means Rule #1 (Always look Cool) at the bar and around town. These shoes blend in whether you’re at a software conference or taking in the sunrise in Paris from Sacré Coeur, then heading to the Champs Elysées. We don’t really chase fast fashion at GORUCK, that stuff comes and that stuff goes. What we find is this: the simpler, the better and with the minimum number of features required to get the job done. It has to work and work well. It’s why our stuff ages so well, and why it’s versatile with whatever you’re wearing, wherever you are.

Training

Your feet are your thankless warriors. They put in all the miles and PT, day in and day out, and we rarely thank them. The best thing you can do is support them with shoes that have inserts that will hold up and last. This is one of those decisions you make (for your feet) like where to live or how much time to spend in traffic in your life. The more you set yourself up for success, with less stress where you can avoid it, the happier you’ll be. Choose your footwear wisely, and your feet will reward you handsomely. More adventures await if you’re up to it.

 

I think of them as Travel I/O Cross Trainers. They said that name was too long. Bottom line: you can probably find one better shoe for any specific thing you do, but not everything you do. These support your feet and are versatile in style no matter where you are going, Baghdad or NYC. Plus all over America, doing Star Courses, working out at CrossFit Louvre and then chasing sunrises in Paris, and back and forth to work about five hundred times so far.

They have a lot more life in them, and so do I.

– Jason

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Featured Gear:

• I/O Cross Trainers
• Men’s Simple Pants
• GR1
• The Rucker
• Ruck Plates
• Field Pockets