It seems like only a couple months ago I had just started wearing my last pair of new shoes. Oh, wait! It really was only two months ago. No, the shoes are not worn out already, since I only have 200 miles on them. However, it is only 5 weeks until the Miami marathon, and I know I will be border line on the timing for needing new shoes. Because of that I decided to buy the new shoes now and give time to break them in.
So, why did I change my shoe and not go for the “cushy” Nike Zoom Vomero 4 again? Well, my plantar faciitus (see past post on that) has really become a “pain in the foot”, and I have resorted to running in my old New Balance cross trainers this past week, and my feet are feeling better. (Not healed since that will take some time, but still better.) This makes it appear as if the cushioned Nike Zoom Vomero 4 shoes may be a partial cause of my problems, so it is time to say goodbye to them. (Of course I will wear them on occasion since they still have more than 100 miles left on them.)
Hearing good things about the Nike Free shoes that are like barefoot running I thought I would give them a shot. After viewing the customer feedback on the different sites I decided that I would opt for the Nike Free 3.0 instead of 5.0 version. The 3.0 seemed to get more 30+ mile per week runners, and the feedback was amazing. The 5.0 seemed to be for the under 20 mile per week crowd, and the feedback was good for them as well, but many complained about rocks getting stuck in the 5.0 treads. From what I could tell the 3.0 was a bit closer to barefoot running, while the 5.0 had a little more support. (Yes, I know. I have never been a half-way kinda guy, and went for the 3.0.) I just wish that Nike would come out with more “realistic” and/or “reserved” colors. I had to get a black pair like the picture above because there was nothing else available in my size. (NOTE: I ordered a half size larger than I normally wear in running shoes, because the Free shoes run a little small.)
