Lululemon Blissfeel Trail Running Shoe Review: These Sneakers Help Beginners Dip Into Latest Terrain

There’s nothing quite like a run in nature: trees around you, a fresh breeze within the air, dirt at your feet, and possibly even a stream burbling in the gap. But entering into trail running can feel intimidating—especially if you happen to don’t have the proper gear to start.

Enter: The Lululemon Blissfeel Trail, the brand’s first off-road shoe that was designed to assist ease runners onto those peaceful paths. As a part of SELF’s 2023 Sneaker Awards, I tested out a pair to see just how well it handles trickier terrain.

Who it’s for

The Blissfeel Trail is an on a regular basis trail running shoe, or more accurately, a “road to trail” sneaker, as the corporate describes it. That implies that it’s rugged enough to guard your feet on uneven ground, but not so bulky that it might probably’t go on the pavement too. To me, the shoe is for runners who want to provide trails a try, but probably aren’t going to leap into really intense ones right off the bat.

Out of the box

The “road to trail” aspect was strong when unboxing these: Other than the lugged outsole on the underside (which helps provide traction) and little more hardiness along the upper, the shoes look lots like an everyday running shoe—there’s no high ankle support or laceless fastening that you simply see with some trail-specific models. I’ve tried trail shoes with each those features previously, and they carry form of an…intense feel to them that I believe is perhaps a bit off-putting to those dipping their feet right into a latest sort of run.

Fit and feel

Like all Lululemon sneakers, the Blissfeel Trail was designed specifically for a girl’s foot, and which may be why I used to be capable of wear my usual street shoe size as a substitute of going up a half size, like I normally do with trainers.

Once I tried these on, the shoe really hugged the curves of my foot, giving it more of a streamlined look than I expected with a trail shoe. My foot felt cradled and supported, and although I wouldn’t call it cushiony, it definitely felt comfortable. To me, it was a welcome relief from some trail shoes, which may just feel like lots as soon as you slip them on.