differences between a few nike running shoes

Nike free 3.0 photo by flickr user edtrigger

I found myself looking for running shoes and found myself a little overwhelmed by all of the choices out there.  My goal was to find a semi-minimalist shoe – basically a cross between a flat, minimal shoe with no heel-toe drop (difference in height between the heel and the toe) and a traditional running shoe that typically has a bunch of heel cushioning. I realize that the minimal shoes are already a cross between shoes and barefoot running, but my legs and calves aren’t quite ready for that yet.

I focused solely on Nike shoes.  Nike’s website, while pretty, sucks for obtaining any technical information.  Luckily, Running Warehouse has a lot of good information.   They have a neat shoe fit predictor (“shoefitr”) and good information about the amount of support running shoes provide as well as measurements of heel to toe drop.

Nike Free series:

I like the Nike Free series because they allow your foot to flex naturally, which allows you to build up strength in your foot muscles when training.  There are a ton of different variations out there and it’s hard to tell what the differences are.

• Nike Free 3.0 – most barefoot-like with a super flexy sole

• Nike Free Run + (or variant, however model name must include “run”) – formerly known as the Nike Free 5.0 -

  super flexy sole like the 3.0 but with about 4mm more cushioning throughout

Nike Free Run+ by flickr user Yoshihuang

Anything with “TR” in the model name is for cross training.  This isn’t always obvious.  There’s also a Nike Free Walk walking shoe. The Nike Free Xilla is a cross training shoe. I don’t know what the Nike Free Waffle AC is exactly other than it uses the Nike Free sole with an old school upper. I think it’d function as more of a cross training shoe.

Nike Lunar series:

I did a lot of research on the Nike Lunar series (I purposely focused mostly on these to make my decision easier) and here’s what I’ve found for heel-toe drop.  Once again, Running Warehouse was a great resource:

• Nike Lunar Racer – 27mm heel height/21mm toe height: 6mm heel-toe drop

  Nike Lunar Racer by flickr user edtrigger

• Nike Lunar Spider – 22mm/16mm: 6mm

• Nike Free Run (or Nike Free Run+) – 25mm/18mm: 7mm

• Nike Free 3.0 – 21mm/14mm: 7mm

• Nike Lunar Fly (or Nike Lunarfly) – 29mm/19mm: 10mm

Nike Lunarfly by flickr user Tomat3

• Nike Lunar Swift – 26mm/16mm: 10mm – has more pronation support (which I did not want)

• Nike Lunar Elite – 31mm/20mm: 11mm

Nike Lunar Elite by flickr user edtrigger

• Nike Lunar Eclipse – 30mm/18mm: 12mm

Nike Lunar Eclipse by flickr user makoworks

• Nike Lunar Glide – 30mm/18mm: 12mm – has more pronation support

Nike Lunar Glide by flickr user adamjackson1984

• Nike Pegasus (traditional running shoe, for reference) – 33mm/21mm: 10mm

Nike Air Pegasus by flickr user movimentobase

I looked up some New Balance shoes for reference:

• NB 1400 – 21mm/11mm: 10mm

• NB 101 – 26mm/16mm: 10mm

• NB minimus 10 – 19mm/15mm: 4mm

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fall foliage from seattle

We had a lovely walk through Kubota Garden on a slightly overcast day.

burning bush

This last picture isn’t from Kubota Garden but I had to throw it in.  It’s from a walk along Beacon Hill.  The tree was glowing so brightly.

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seattle at night

some photos taken at night from our trip to Seattle last month

market theater gum wall in post alley

Ranier Tower

King county administration building

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hanging out with dogs in seattle

Our hosts in Seattle included two dogs, Louie and Charlotte.  We hung out, walked, and ran together.

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left coast right coast: week 5

I had wanted to keep the left coast/right coast series to photos from the past week, but there are too many interesting ones from Seattle. Here’s a shot taken along South Jackson St. in the International District.
-Phil

We went for a walk at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge in Laurel.  There were several large flocks of these birds going by.  I call them cowbirds, but don’t actually know what they are.
-Dave

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