EngineeredTheology

Review of Nike Free 5.0

I was in need of some new shoes, and the Nike Free series had really caught my eye. I have been in favor of more natural running styles (closer and closer to barefoot running). There are always studies that will prove any idea you have, so if an idea sounds plausible the only thing to do is try it out. Granted, a sample size of one does not imply a trend, but that one sample (me) is all I’m really concerned about.

I have seen major changes in the comfort of running and overall speed due to a shift from a heal-toe to midfoot running style. Another claim of barefoot running is that the stiffer sole of running shoes prevent the foot muscles from strengthening properly, and moving to a more flexible (or no) sole will increase foot strength and can solve pronation problems. The major plus of the Nike Free shoes have extremely flexible soles (there are cuts in the sole that allow it to flex unlike normal running shoes.

When I first pulled the shoes out of the box I noticed
1. Good lord these are the ugliest shoes I’ve ever seen – I could only get them in “blinding green” seen in the picture above.
2. They are extremely light (I thought the box was empty)
3. They don’t have a spot for a Nike+ sensor

The Nike+ sensor is a little accelerometer that can attach to a shoe. There is a mating reciever for your iPod, and it can roughly calculate your speed and distance run (for me it is usually +/- 2% in accuracy). All new Nike running shoes support this, apparently for this one.

I’ve logged three runs with the new shoes. I’ve heard that if you don’t do a lot of barefoot walking (I have a genetic aversion to shoes) you feet will be sore until they build up some strength. Because of this my first run was a sprint interval of about 3 km to take it somewhat easy. The second run was 8k, and I ran a 10k for the third (then got the flu and haven’t run in a few days).

From those three runs I’ve seen
1. I can’t wear socks with the shoes, they are too form fitting.
2. They really are light. I’m surprised a few ounces makes a difference
3. I feel a lot lighter on my feet
4. I have a much smoother gate (I had some slight pronation issues)

The most dramatic thing is I am running significantly faster (shaving about 20 seconds off my mile to average a 7:30 mile on the 10k). I don’t know how much of this is psychological and how much is physical (I suspect the psychological is having some effect) – but the data shows I’m running significantly faster.

We’ll see how I feel after a month or two, but right now I’m impressed.