My favourite running route is the Thames tow path exactly 1 mile from my house, it’s pretty much traffic free and easy to add as many miles as you need to your run without changing route. The only tricky thing is it’s a mixture of pavement and trails, and the trails in particular get pretty wet and muddy during the winter months. This can add miles to your run as you avoid the puddles plus the gravel can really take a toll on your ankles.

The problem is the switching from pavement to path and back again, not a lot of shoes can cope with this stress. Not a problem for the Salomon city trail shoes – X Celerate 2 GTX available exclusively at Intersport. To celebrate the shoe’s launch they sent me a pair to test out and I’m impressed. I’ve got blisters or sore spots on the back of my ankle from a lot of previous trail shoes as my feet aren’t used to the extra ruggedness of the trail, but so far no problems to report on these.

Apparently there’s a pocket to tuck the end of the elastic laces into, which is rather snazzy although I didn’t find this until run number 4 in them, and why they may be flapping around in the photos you see here when they were shiny, clean and new.

The sole is, as you’d expect from Salomon, very grippy. Made from their Contragrip technology, which are a careful balance of density, compound and geometry, according to their website, these soles are designed to wear out at the same rate, provide stability and support while you run.

You know when you get a new pair of shoes and you don’t want them to get dirty… well with these I was the opposite. I couldn’t wait to jump straight into a puddle to test out their waterproofing. The Gore-tex (GTX) is designed to keep your feet dry and toasty warm…and it works!

I love how light these trainers are, I stashed them into Tom’s overnight bag at the weekend as my own bag was too full of girly getting ready things, and he didn’t even notice (until he unpacked at the hotel!)

Salomon and Intersport are trying to encourage runners to make every run an adventure. Whether it’s a new route, a 10K race, a marathon training run or just a 3 mile loop right next to your house. On Sunday I tweeted to say I wished that one of my running buddies lived nearby to go for an early Monday run together and whilst sadly none of them called their estate agents, I did get the offer to be a virtual buddy from Laureen. She texted me to make sure I was up and out for my run by 7am, we then snap-chatted on our run and tweeted each other afterwards. The perfect way to start the day!

Follow me on snapchat at therunnerbeans.

In the spirit of adventure, I challenge you to try a new running route this week. If you’re a pavement dweller, find a trail, park, footpath, bridleway or towpath and throw down some miles. 

Plus the trails make for way better scenery for running photos with fewer people to be embarrassed in front of or to knock over your phone on self-timer.

This post is sponsored by Intersport.