First run in a revolution

Posted by simon on 4/20/2007 on simon's blog

By now I had hoped to have interviewed Danny Abshire, man behind the revolutionary Newton running shoes and be inundating you with technical detail, the story of the seven patents behind them, a podcast and so on... but things have got in the way.

Day one when I turned up at Newton Running so did the container truck with 6,000 pairs of shoes inside: the first delivery. So instead of talking to Danny I pitched in and helped unload. "I'll come back tomorrow", I told him. Day two, I'm tired, short of sleep and have a one-hour hilly run on the schedule. I'm figuring I'll do a couple of miles and if I'm still not feeling good, call it a day, then head over to interview Danny.

But there was a catch. I set out to break in the new pair of Newton Gravity trainers I'd picked up fresh off the truck. So half an hour goes by and I'm feeling good. I head straight up the grassy side of the steepest hill in sight. Descended. Up the next one. Hm. Head out and up on the road. Then down a long road section. Still feeling good...well, long story short, my feet and legs felt so comfortable than instead of doing a hour or less, I stayed out for TWO hours! Too late to go and get the story.

When I phoned Danny to apologise he wouldn't have any of it. "I'd much rather you had that experience than came and talked to me", he said. "Now you've seen for yourself what the shoes are all about. That's just the response we've been getting from our elites. They say they can train longer without trashing their legs."

Yes, by then I was raving about the shoes. They actually let forefoot runners like me -- run. Without any interference. In fact, I get more of a sensation of "barefoot" running in these than I do in my Nike Frees. But the outstanding finding was that these shoes do somehow soak up impact without feeling like a pair of foam mattresses. Your feet can still get proprioceptive feedback from the ground.

We then segued into a technical explanation of WHY this is so. I'll save it. Just let's say that there is more technology crammed into these lightweight shoes than you can shake a stick at. I stand by my original comment here, that the Newtons represent the first real breakthrough in running shoe technology since Bill Bowerman stole his wife's waffle maker and created the soles that were to launch Nike.

Full story later -- I promise.

* www.newtonrunning.com

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5 comments

Jetfuelburner says:

I can't wait to hear the full story of the Newton technology. I am anxious myself to try a pair of those gems, but for now must wait for some mad money to appear...I have been pretty liberal on my shoe shopping lately, and need to ease off. GO GET THAT INTERVIEW! You have one very interested reader awaiting...:)

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."

by Jetfuelburner on Sat, 2007-04-21 00:06

baselbutt says:

I have a demo pair coming my way. Once I give them a go, I'll let you know how they work.. I ran about a quarter mile in a pair at Ironman Arizona last weekend. The biggest difference I felt is that they really throw you forward on to your toes..

"if you run for yourself, you might let yourself down, but if you run for someone else, you'll never let them down..."

by baselbutt on Sat, 2007-04-21 19:28

simon says:

That's a dead giveaway, Bobby! Your escapades on the ice have obviously turned you into a heel-striker (unless, of course, you've always been that way inclined!).

The shoes aren't designed to do that, but they will encourage a natural footstrike -- which is forefoot first, despite what the running shoe industry would have us believe. Natural forefoot strikers don't feel they are being thrown forward; the usual response from those I've spoken to is that finally they've found a pair of shoes that doesn't get in the way of their style.

If you ARE a heel-striker and want to stay that way, then these shoes are not for you. (Excuse all the assumptions about your gait.)

by simon on Sun, 2007-04-22 01:14

baselbutt says:

Hey! Who are you calling a heal-striker????? Them's fightin' words! : )
A good friend does business with the folks at Newton, so he's getting me a free pair to demo. If they don't work for me, I can always go dancing in them.. they're quite snazzy looking.
B

"if you run for yourself, you might let yourself down, but if you run for someone else, you'll never let them down..."

by baselbutt on Mon, 2007-04-23 17:50

NJXC says:

I could equate the experience to the first ride I had on a pair of Powercranks. The discovery of weak spots in my pedal stroke was an eye opener. The strength I gained and power wattage increase that was achieved in minimum time was astounding. A new learning curve for my neural system. Well worth the time.

Moving on to the pair of Newton Motion Trainers that arrived the other day. Mind you I am rehabbing an injury at this time. So some light jogging was allowable on the PT schedule. Plugged in the orthotics and away I walked for about 5 minutes, little lite jogging for about 8 minutes, a little DWU and lo and behold a lot less pain than I have been experiencing.

How did they feel, much like an exoskeleton on my feet. Something the Nike Free’s could never approach. But I digress, because I did a couple of 440’s, mainly due to the fact I really want to go sub 5, and damn it would be nice to know I can run a 75 sec quarter or better.

Mind you up to this point in this training period I never broke 80 seconds, well I cranked out a 75, boy howdy, 4 of those strung together and I ‘m almost there. (Yeah if it were just that easy). The point being I have not been running for the past few weeks. Was it physiological or psychological? It’s all Newton to me.

But when I finish my PT and ramp up the training again, I’ll compare old video with new and see what’s happening to my gait.

And yes, very little soreness in my legs from intervals. Something that was much more intense before.

Definitely seem to be worth the time and expense.

by NJXC on Sun, 2007-04-29 22:47