Altra Footwear Men's Escalante Running Shoe,Blue,US 9 D

I have now owned three pairs of Escalante's. I use my Escalante's for marathon training. My 1st pair was the 1.0's, my 2nd and 3rd pair are the 1.5's. I really like the 1.0's midsole better than the 1.5's midsole. The 1.5's seem to have a more responsive and less plush midsole than the 1.0's, and I kinda miss the plushness but it's not a deal breaker. However, the whole heel area feels more secure, and the new tougher laces are nice! Personally, I don't notice a big difference in breathability. Some people say it's better in the 1.5's, but I also never found breathability to be a problem in the 1.0's. The toe splay is still fantastic for my wide flipper-like feet. It still feels like a fast shoe. My first pair of 1.5's are silver, they look awesome and they don't boil my feet in the sun. If they put the midsole from the 1.0 into the 1.5, I think this shoe would have been 5 stars hands down. But I'm still giving it 5 stars because I can run 16 - 20 mile long-runs at the end of 60 mile weeks and my feet and knees will still feel good. I do want to note that this is the only shoe I use. My workouts include; recovery days, tempo days, track days, and of course long-run days. This shoe performs great in all of these areas for me. NOTE ABOUT BLACK ON BLACK: I bought a second pair of 1.5's in Black on Black for work, and I want to note that they are ALL BLACK, not like the ones in the picture. The one's pictured have a reflective piece on the tongue and a reflective piece on the heel and a white logo on the outside. My Black on Black pair are ALL BLACK EVERYWHERE! This is great for me because I bought them for work and I wanted something that was entirely black. If you too are looking for a totally black shoe, YOU'RE IN LUCK! But if you're looking for the few white accents, you best go for the model with the white midsole.