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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Review of My Nike Free 3.0 V3 Shoes!

So I've been using my new Nike Free 3.0 V3 shoes all week for different types of workouts, and I really like them!  Contrary to what I thought, my calves and legs are not sore at all!  I'm very surprised by that because I thought the transition from supportive shoes to minimalist shoes would be painful and take some getting used to.  But nope, I'm up and running just the same!  Literally!

I used them for running on Tuesday, Wednesday and today.  When I used them on Tuesday, I was so amazed that I could feel everything my feet were running on.  It makes you very conscious and "in touch" with the ground.  I felt that I didn't need to change my stride much - I've always been a mid-foot strider.  But I can see how these shoes would change a heel stride.  It makes sense, since most running shoes have a thicker heel, which kind of forces you to land heel first.  But these shoes are flatter in the heel, making it more natural to land mid-foot or fore-foot.  They are so much lighter than my old shoes!  I was able to run faster and more effortlessly.  The only thing was I felt that they made my feet hotter / less breathable than my old shoes.  But it could also be because of how hot it has been lately.  The back of my heel on my right foot and the back of my left calve were ever so slightly sore after my run - I don't know why it only happened on one side of my body - maybe I'm not a well balanced runner lol.  But the day after, any soreness completely disappeared.

On Wednesday, it was my 2nd run with these shoes.  I got used to being able to feel the surface I was running on, and I was not consciously thinking about that anymore.  But I did notice that I wasn't stomping my feet as much as I used to, which was what I was hoping these shoes would cure!  I also did a circuit type of workout that day.  These shoes were great for jumping around and I didn't feel any significant difference from previous shoes.  But when I did squads, it felt very different because of the lower heel of these shoes!  I felt that I had to use different leg muscles to squad down since I wasn't elevated as much.  Interesting!

Today I went to the Santa Monica stairs today, which are these steep stairs built on a hillside that lots of people go to get their exercise.  I went up and down about 10 times.  It's a pretty hard cardio workout.  Today was a bit crowded so I couldn't go as fast as I wanted to when I got stuck behind walkers.  There are 2 sets of stairs about a block away from each other.  One set is wider and wooden, going straight up and down.  The other set is cement, much narrower, and zig-zags a lot.  Some people go up and down one set of stairs, but I usually go up one set, run to the other and down the second set, then run back to first set.  Today I also added pushups and tricep dips in between.  It had been a while since I last went to the stairs, my legs were jello after a few rounds!

Here's a picture of the wooden stairs, I totally stole it from google image search.  It's just a little portion of it - it really looks like the stairway to heaven as you cannot see the top from the bottom!


So I thought the shoes were pretty good for the stairs as well.  It probably really helped that they are so light and I didn't have to drag around as much weight with me so I could go faster and longer!  I ran up and down some and walked some. Sometimes I went up 2 stairs at a time.

Oh yeah, these are also great for stretching.  Hehe.  I was rocking the 80s look today with my electric orange cool racerback and these bright blue shoes!


Oh yeah, and here's an example of how not to do push-ups.  Maybe I thought lowering my forehead towards the ground would get me closer!  Oh well, I did a million dips and full on push-ups before this so my excuse is that I was tired lol.  I just thought this was a funny picture!


So anyway, back to the shoes.  I am pretty much 100% used to them by now, it's great.  I think after this week, I can safely say that these shoes are good for running as well as other types of cardio workouts.  Of course, since these are my first pair of minimalist shoes, I have nothing else similar to compare them to.  But so far they've worked well for me, I don't think I could go back to using my old shoes!  I had originally planned to keep my old shoes around for the gym, but I think now they would just feel like bricks to me.  But I am thinking of getting another pair of minimalist shoes from a different brand so I can have some variety and switch them around!


12 comments:

  1. These stairs totally remind me of the stairs we have here at our local park. The stairs are called "Jacob's Ladder" and a lot of people do the same thing, using them for exercise.

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  2. I totally have a habit of doing that with my head when i do push-ups, too! I wasn't even aware of it until I had to record a video to send off for approval so I could be certified in one of the classes I teach. I watched that part and I was like "wow if anyone looks up at me, all they can see is a big pile of hair!"

    I'm glad you like your free's and that you're gonna try some new minimalist shoes! YAY!

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  3. Just read this and thought of you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_running

    Particularly the segment at the end called "barefoot-inspired footwear". The Nike free shoe is a 5 on a 1-10 scale. 1 is barefoot and 10 is traditional running shoe. Sounds like you chose a great place to start! :) Just whittle away till you get down to those Vibrams, haha!

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  4. @Becky: Yeah! It's a popular workout destination around here! There's always trucks standing by that offer people free sports drinks too. Pretty nice lol.

    @strawb3rries: Haha of course there is a wikipedia page about barefoot running! Yes, I would agree that the Nikes are somewhere in the middle. I still can't believe how much lighter they are! I will be preaching to everyone to switch over to these types of shoes from now on. Can't go back. Hahaha. But, I don't think I'll ever get to the Vibrams...... lol.....

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  5. How about the mesh back of the shoe? I'm afriad that it won't hold up very well, and that one twig can completely puncture it. Also, do you wear the shoes barefoot? Just wondering if they are more comfortable that way.

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  6. I have used these shoes running outside quite a bit now and nothing has ever puncture the shoes. I do have to say that they are not very good for weight lifting or things that require more support. If you try to do a squad with these shoes, your feet will tend to fall to either side of the shoe and it's not very stable. But they are made for running and they are good for that. I usually wear socks with them, but I wore them barefoot the other day and there wasn't a big difference. I did get a slight blister from that though (never got any when wearing socks). So I'll stick with socks and won't have to wash the shoes as often that way.

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  7. Hi,
    I just bought these shoes on ebay in this colorway! I had always loved the look of them, but now I am having second thoughts about what I will pair with them, lol. Oh well, hopefully I can figure out some good matches enough to get some good use out of them. Do you find it relatively easy to match things with them?
    Thanks,
    Stephanie

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    1. Hi Stephanie! I don't usually try to match my shoes to my outfits, so this is not really an issue for me. For the gym I kind of like to be colorful sometimes. Like in this post I wore these shoes with an orange top lol. But I think if you wear any blue hues, these shoes would work with them. And of course neutral colors like black, gray or white tones. I kind of like blue and red too.

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  9. لا شك في اننا افضل لاننا نعمل في تخزين العفش داخل افضل المستودعات التي من الممكن ان تتواجد لدي اي شركة في الرياض او في اي مكان بالعالم عليكم فهم تلك الكمات جيدا فنحن لا نعمل الا من اجل الحصول علي الرضا من قبل العملاء حتي نحصل علي السمعة التي نتمناها طوال فترة عملنا في المملكة العربية السعوجية فاذا قمت
    تخزين العفش في الرياض
    بعمل جولة سريعة للبحث عن شركة تخزين سوف تجد المنارة افضل شركات التخزين علي الاطلاق و ذلك للميزات التالية.
    1- لا تعمل من اجل تحقق هدف واحد و هو المال بل نعمل لكي نكون افضل و تلك ليست بمهمة بسيطة او سهلة.
    2- علينا العمل بجد اثناء تنفيذ احدي طلبات العملاء حتي نكون عند حسن ظنهم فعليكم طلب تلك الخدمة الصعبة من لانك تحتاجونها بجدية تامة.
    3- لا يشترط العمل لدي المنارة ان ننجزة في فترة وجيزة فقط انما يشترط علينا ان نقوم بعمل الخدمة علي مستوي عالي جدا و بيقين لاننا نملك افضل عمال علي وجه الاطلاق فنحن جميعنا نعمل في منذ سنين.
    اليكم اهم الطرق و الخطوات التي تنفذها شركتنا اثناء القيام بعملية التخزين في المستودعات.
    1- عند تلقي الاتصال من قبلكم نقوم بطرح الاسئلة و هي اولا اين مكانك تحديدا ، و ما الوقتي التي تريد ان تأتي الشركة فيه
    2- نقوم بتدوين تلك البيانات كاملة و نقوم بتجهيز الفريق و نذهب سريعا الي العميل و معنا الات خدمات العفش فنحن نحافظ علي خدمة تخزين اثاث و ننطلق سريعا
    3- يقوم الفريق بفك الاثاث بالكامل جزء جزء .
    4- نقوم بتنظيف العفش من التراب الموجود علي اضلعة
    5- نقوم بتفليف العفش بافضل ادوات و اكياس التغليف بالاضافة الي الكرتون الذي نوفرة للاشياء التي من الممكن ان تتعرض للكسر بسهولة.
    6- بعدها نقوم بشحن كافة العفش الي السيارات و تنطلق السيارات متجهه الي المستودعات الخاصة بالشركة.
    لذا فنحن الافضل في تلك الخدمة و هي تخزين الاثاث في الرياض ولا تقلق بشان التخزين فنحن نملك مستودعات تخزين الاثاث بالرياض علية الامان و السلامة فاليك الابواب مفتوحة حول تحديد المدة المرادة

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