In my previous post (On Minimalist Running Shoes: Vibram has Balls, Nike Dropped Them), I expressed my disappointment with Nike for the direction they appear to be heading with their Free line of “barefoot-simulating” running Nike Air Max 90 Mens shoes. In particular, I feel that marketing of the new Nike Free Run+ as a “barefoot-Nike Air Max 90 Damen Rosa like” shoe is disingenuous, particularly given the top-notch science that has come in on barefoot running in the past few years (e.g., Daniel Lieberman’s recent study in Nature). A shoe with a heel as thick as that found on the Free Run+ (see below) will do very little to promote the midfoot/forefoot strike that characterizes barefoot running.Original image of the Free Run+ included with the Wired review. Which Free Run+ is this? (Update – thanks to Dennis in the comments for pointing out that this is an odd photo of the Free 5.0 v4, which makes me wonder just which shoe they reviewed?) [Update 5/15/2010: Glad to see they finally changed the image to the correct shoe!]
Well, reviews of the Free Run+ are starting to come in, and the first one that I’ve found comes from none other that Wired on-line by Steven Leckart. Wired prides www.aadkruiswijk.nl themselves on being on the cutting edge of topics relating to science and technology, and it is for this reason that Nike Air Max 90 Femme I found their review of the Nike Free Run+ disappointing. Not only does it fail to correctly apply the science that has come out, it ignores good information that they themselves put Nike Air Max 90 Femme out last year associated with their review of the Vibram Fivefingers.All it takes is a reading of the first line of the Wired review to realize where it’s heading: “Running barefoot may reduce your risk of injury, Nike Air Max 90 Herr some say.” Yes, some may say this, but lets be clear here: there is no definitive body of literature showing that running barefoot, or in shoes for that matter, reduces the risk of injury.The second sentence isn’t much better: “But jogging in freaky rubber socks like the Vibram FiveFingers? Those just boost the chances of strangers Nike Air Max Classic BW Femme heckling you as you prance by.” Yes, I agree they look strange, and many think they’re ugly, but the Fivefingers do barefoot-like running as good or better than any other shoe out there on the market. If you want to run as close to barefoot as possible, you can’t do better than the Vibram Fivefingers (or maybe something like a pair of Huaraches). Adidas Superstar Femme And ask yourself why they look ugly? It’s because they, god forbid, actually match the anatomical shape of the Nike Air Max 2017 Donne human foot! We wouldn’t want that in a barefoot-like running shoe, would we?Wired then goes on to describe the new Free Run+ as “significantly cooler-looking sneakers that simulate barefoot conditions.” Well, Nike is good at making cool-looking sneakers, I’ll give them that, and if that’s what you’re after, then by all means go buy a pair of these. If “barefoot-like” is what you want, then these are not your best choice.Next comes a line that I agree with: “The company’s earlier models provide even less support (thus are even better at simulating barefoot experience), but unless you’re already an experienced barefoot runner, the Free Run+ is a good place to start.” I’m a huge fan of the Free 3.0 – it still has a heel, but it www.tamarastein.co.ukappears to be much smaller than the one Nike Air Max 95 Donne on the Free Run+, and it offers very minimal support in the upper (see comparison image below and to the left). The Free Run+ is sure to be more flexible and lightweight than most running shoes, and in that sense it would be a good place to enter into a more minimalist style of shoe.Ignoring the comment about shinsplints, which typically are a problem for newer runners, the statement in this review that really raised my ire was the following: “Perhaps wearing a “barefoot shoe” is, in and of itself, a constant reminder to reduce the heel-stomping. After all, you can’t slam your heel down hard www.matthieugranier.fr without a big wedge of rubber under it, so shoes like the Nike Frees force you more onto your midfoot and toes.”