La Sportiva Kaptiva Women's Trail Running Shoe Review

After La Sportiva stopped making the Lycan, I began trying other shoes in their lineup in hopes of finding a likeness to the Lycan. First, I tried the Jackal, which had a stiff, hard collar that rubbed my ankle bones raw and a stiff forefoot. Then came the Kaptiva, which is ALMOST a good replacement, aside from the narrow toe box. Although I have narrow feet and don't requrie a wide shoe, I like to spread my toes around, and the Kaptiva is too much like the traditional running shoe in that it restricts movement of the toes. They're not scrunched or uncomfortable, and perhaps I'm being nit-picky, but they can't spread super wide, in particular my big toe, which I like to be able to adduct. Aside from this one downside, in my opinion, the Kaptiva exceeds the Lycan in the collar area with it's super soft and stretchy sock liner (I REALLY don't like hard, stiff collars) plus it's tongue that stays put. The overall fit is on point, glovelike, making it great for hill strides, hill sprints, tempos on trail and the like. 

Sizing: I typically wear a size 7.5 in shoes, and in the Kaptiva I went with the 39.5, which was too long and kept getting tripped up on the millions of roots and rocks on the trails of the Appalachian mountains where I live. Thus, I went with the 39, and that was a better length, but it didn't bode well for the narrow toe box I spoke of earlier. Nonetheless, I prefer the 39.

The drop is 6mm, with a heel stack height of 17 mm and forefoot of 11 mm, which is very close to the Lycan's specs - Lycan has an 18 mm heel with 12 mm forefoot. 

From February to June 2023, this is the shoe I ran in. All in all, I like it, and almost love it. My overall thoughts:
1. It would make a great sub-ultra trail racing shoe
2. If I could combine the Lycan's toe box with everything else Kaptiva, it would be my go-to shoe with a five-star rating 
3. It'll remain active in my quiver, but I probably won't get next year's model (unless they widen that toe box!) 

However! In early July, I did something I've been waiting years to do: invested in the Altra Lone Peak, a 0 drop trail runner. My foray into barefoot and minimal shoes began in 2011, but after pregnancy-induced plantar fasciitis, heels spurs and a fractured heel due to breastfeeding-induced amenorrhea and pelvic floor mayhem, I steered clear of minimal shoes for a while. 

Now that I'm well beyond postpartum years (sons ages 6 and 10) and those foot issues are behind me, I'm running in the Lone Peak 7. At the time of this post, the Lone Peak has logged 60 miles of trail running and about 25 of hiking. Because of the transition to 0 drop, the Kaptiva feels a bit like a platformed wedge, even though it's on the low side of stack height and drop. Sure, I'll probably come back to the Kaptiva, but at the moment I'm loving the Lone Peak's flexible forefoot, ample toe box and sense of grounded-ness. 

So, do I recommend the Kaptiva? Yes, but as always, try it on before you buy. Or be sure you buy it with a 100 percent guarantee return policy.