The other day, I noticed that I was just about to hit the 500 mile mark on one of the pairs of New Balance shoes in my current rotation, and you know what that means–time to shop for a new pair! This time, even though my New Balance shoes generally work pretty well for me, I thought it might be time to try something new.
I’ve been interested in the Newton running shoes for quite a while, since the technology sounds interesting and quite a bit different from most of the other shoes currently on the market:
The genius behind the Newton running shoes is the patented Action/Reaction Technology™. When using the ultra-efficient Land-Lever-Lift midfoot or forefoot running gait, the technology absorbs and then returns your own energy back to you.
Fortunately, a store not too far from me–Active Imprints in Boulder, Colorado–carries the Newton brand so I went there to try them out.
Active Imprints is a small, independent store. It’s a wonderful place to shop for shoes because it’s the kind of place where they are actually runners so they really know how to make sure you’re going to get the right pair. When I walked in and said I was interested in the Newtons, the store owner asked me a couple of questions about the wear patterns in my shoes, had me do a quick test to see if I under or over-pronated, and based on that, steered me towards the ‘Gravity’ model, which is a neutral training shoe.
Once I got them on, I walked around a bit and immediately noticed how different they feel than most shoes. Walking in them is a bit odd because the shoes really do seem to want to move you more away from your heel and onto your forefoot, which isn’t necessarily ideal for walking but is good for running. They are also fairly light for a training shoe at about 8.2 ounces (for the women’s size seven, anyway, which is a bit smaller than mine!).
Then I went outside and took them for a short trial run. They felt good; very responsive, quite comfortable and not at all awkward to run in. After being told that they had a 30-day satisfaction guarantee return policy, I was sold.
So far, I’ve only taken them out for one run–the tempo run I did on Thursday, and I felt pretty good in them. And maybe it’s at least partially psychological, but it was my fastest tempo run in weeks. To sum up my thoughts on the Newtons so far:
Pros:
- Lightweight and comfortable
- Promotes a more efficient running style (less heel-striking, more midfoot/forefoot running)
- 30-day satisfaction guaranteed return policy
Cons:
- Expense. At $155-175 depending on the model, these are some of the most expensive running shoes on the market.
- Adjustment time. Although based on the way I already feel in the shoes I don’t think this is going to be much of an issue for me, Newton does say on their web site that many people will require some time to adjust to the shoes since they promote changes in your running form.
Other notes:
- The mesh over the toes is quite open, which makes them an exceptionally well-ventilated shoe. Although this is going to be great in the summer, it might not be the best thing when it’s cold or wet outside. Edited to add: Newton does make an all-weather trainer which sounds like it would be much better for cold, wet weather.
- They seem to run slightly smaller than some shoes; the size I ended up with was about 1/2 size larger than my normal shoe.
Here’s a link to the Newton web site in case you’d like some more information or a list of retailers that carry the shoes.
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