Friday, May 8, 2009

Product Review: Newton Running Shoes



Don't be fooled by the flashy colors, Newton Running Shoes are serious about performance.



Never hear of them? Don't worry, they're relatively new to the market. Its a company that started out in Boulder, Co (a large running community) that got the name from Sir Isaac Newton and his Laws of Motion. The company was launched in 2002 and just recently started selling their shoes in stores across the nation and sales have just skyrocketed since then.

The entire shoe is designed to transition you from a heel striker into a forefoot runner (check it out here). This means that it makes you land on you forefoot and
keeps you off your heels. It does this because of the red lugs(the long raised bars under the forefoot), which compress into cavities under a membrane materiel and act as the cushioning system. Because the cushioning system is all under the forefoot, the rest of the shoe can be made with less foam, and thus making the shoe very lightweight. One of the best things about this shoe is that they last for about 600 miles, opposed to regular shoes which last for around 400. What is interesting about these shoes is that the lugs are meant to wear down quickly to form to your own unique running style. This will take about a 40 mile break in period but after this is feels like your running in a shoe specifically designed for you.

Some negative things about these shoes. If you use them too much immediately then your calf muscles will be sore and fatigued for quite awhile. The proper way to work yourself into a newton is to wear them once a week, then the next week twice a week, and so on till you are running in them full time. There have also been complaints about metatarsal stress fractures and other injuries, but most of this is caused by using the newtons improperly; heel striking, taking to long of a stride, ex... One other thing is the cost. These are not cheap shoes. The trainers cost $175 and the racers cost $155. Yet as I said before, they can get up to 600 miles, so if you pay per mile then you are paying about the same cost for a regular high millage shoe.

I myself have used the newtons and loved them. I got the full 600 miles out of them and still wear them today as a casual shoe. I would definitely recommend these shoes to someone who is wanting to make the transition to forefoot running.

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