Yesterday, I bought a pair of Nike Free 5.0 v4's and I got to try them out this morning. Everybody warns you to start out with low-mileage, so I did about a 2km loop by my house. I've had discomfort in my left foot for the past couple weeks while wearing shoes and walking, but I never noticed any pain while barefoot. That was the impetus for me to buy the Nike Free's.
Starting out, my left foot hurt like hell and I was wondering if it was such a good idea to try these shoes. The pain is normally the type where it'll be fine for 100 steps, and on the 101st, a twinge of pain shoots up my foot, but at the start of the run, I felt it on every step. I almost turned around after going 30 feet. Just as I was about to call it a day, the pain subsided and didn't rear its head again for the entire run.
After completing the loop in the Free's, I stopped home and got into my normal Air Structure Triax 12's and went for another 3.7 miles to get my mileage in for the day. I immediately noticed how clumsy and abnormal my normal shoes felt. Amazingly, after just 1.3 miles in the Free's, my feet had started getting accustomed to them. Now all I have to do is build up strength in the parts of my feet and lower legs that have atrophied from using running shoes all this time, and I'll probably switch to the Free's full time.
Overall, I'm still not sure what I think of them. They felt far better than normal running shoes, but at the same time, I think they still cushion a little too much. I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to run in them. I chose these shoes to be an intermediate step to barefoot running, so once these fall apart, I think I'll give the Vibram FiveFingers a try.
I'd deffinitley try out Vibram FiveFingers if you want to get into barefooting! They are really minimalist and have no cushioning at all - i don't really think the Nike Free give you a real feeling of barefooting, far too much cushioning! I wear FiveFingers and my feet have strengthened and posture has improved!
ReplyDeleteI fully intend to, but I have a habit of going all out too fast. I'm trying to take it slow and have an intermediate step between stability shoes and nonexistent shoes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you in the Frees and looking forward to hearing what you think of the Vibrams when you get them! I just started them myself this week. Been doing 10 minutes every other day--all I can handle anyway, given that December on the treadmill really rocked my IT bands. So far, they are grrrrrrreat! Even took 'em outside in 15 degree weather w/snow on the sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a fav route around the new house yet?????
I have hardly run since our last race. My foot really started acting up, and then I got sick. I just ran yesterday for the first time in several weeks; twenty mins on the treadmill and I was pooped. Everything felt great though, so hopefully I can start ramping back up.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow's supposed to be nice, so it will probably be my first outdoor run at the new place!