My new running shoes: Nike Free 3.0



The Nike 3.0

It all started on our vacation.  Greg was reading Born to Run and kept sharing the best bits with me.  Born to Run is about a tribe of barefoot / sandal clad runners in Mexico who eat chia seeds and run insanely long distances.  I didn’t read it myself, but the sections that Greg read out loud to me made some pretty compelling arguments for the benefits of barefoot running.  I always thought barefoot running was for crazy people.  Similar to the crazy people who make arguments like “but that’s how we raised children for thousands of years!” ignoring the fact that there used to be only a 50% chance of making it to your teenage years alive.  (I’m pro vaccination, antibiotics, and sunscreen… thanks.)

My mom grew up in the sixties, runs around outside barefoot all summer, and wears those separated webby-toed shoes for boating enthusiasts to the grocery store year round.  I think she only wears socks because she can knit them herself and she likes that.  She’d be a good candidate for barefoot running.  Me?  I don’t wear shoes outside in the summer because I’m lazy, not because I’m fundamentally pro barefoot, or anti shoe, or anything else.  I’m just flat out lazy.  I don’t like having to retrieve my flip flops from near the garage door if I’m going out the front door.  (Yet I’ll get up at 5 a.m. and run 12 miles… weird, right?)

My beautiful, happiest when barefoot mother.

Anyway – suffice to say, very compelling arguments were made, including quotations from expert running coaches and podiatrists (that’s a foot doctor, I didn’t know that until I was like 27) and cool anecdotal evidence of how awesome it is, like some guy who ran in the same pair of shoes for years and years and just kept switching which feet he wore them on and never got injured… I don’t know, lots of stuff.  Pro barefoot running.  Pro chia seeds.

You can see my Brooks Pure Cadence 2’s at the bottom of this shot

I loved them.  They were light, I felt faster, I WAS faster (ok not much, but a little, probably because I was enjoying myself ever so slightly more).  I felt more connected to the road.  I stopped wearing my other shoes, feeling like a ridiculous and foolhardy rebel for running in shoes that hadn’t been professionally recommended to me.  (I’ve since realized that as a neutral runner with a low BMI, I have a lot of shoe options and it’s not SUCH a big deal.)

Fast forward.  My shoes now have quite a few miles on them and I wasn’t even fitted for them, and I’ve got a bunch of races lined up for fall and could probably use a pair of new shoes.

Greg had me hooked on the idea of the Nike Freefly Knit, the newest, latest, greatest (until later this fall) Nike shoe in their barefoot running inspired line.  I went to Marathon Sports and tried a pair.  LOVED them.  Brought them home.  Tried them on to show them to Greg, but five minutes in, my foot started to feel numb.  They were WAY too tight.  The flyknit technology was squishing my ankle and top of my foot, despite the shoe being my normal running size and the sole fitting perfectly.

love the idea of a shoe that feels like a second skin… but it was way too tight for me.

I had to bring them back.  I tried on the men’s in case they were wider.  Nope.  I tried on a larger size.  Nope.  I was devastated.  Until an awesome sales associate at Marathon Sports suggested that I try the Nike Free 3.0.  Same sole technology, even less cushioning, their “most minimal barefoot feel” according to Nike.com.  Still has a snug fit, but is more forgiving than the flyknit.  Ummm, perfect.  Thank you.  Not sure why I didn’t think of it, except that I had it in my head that the flyknit was newer and better and awesomer.  (The freeflyknit was also more expensive, I walked out of Marathon sports with a t-shirt, hat, and some Gu packets and still had a 37 cent credit back to my account from exchanging my shoes!)



My new Nike Free 3.0s

The first pair of Nike Free 3.0 I tried on creased in the toebox when I ran, but sizing down a half size from 9 to 8.5 (my street shoe size is 8) worked perfectly.  Roomy in the toe still, but snug enough to feel like a second skin.

I’m going to ease into them carefully, but I’ve got a real good feeling about this.




Goodbye, old running shoes.  You’re not even in the rotation anymore!

Note: This isn’t a review, so much as an anecdote about my own shoe buying experience.  I don’t receive any sponsorships or free gear from anyone* (except my husband, he buys me lots of awesome running stuff) and my hope for you is not that you will buy the same shoes as me, but that you will also find the best shoes for you 🙂

*anyone looking to offer me free gear please contact me 😉

Other posts you may enjoy:

My 5 AM 9 Mile Run

Running with a double jogging stroller

My new running headband