Just When I Thought I Was Out, They Pull Me Back In

After almost two years of intrigue, my recent experience had finally convinced me to give up on the notion that Newton Running shoes might be the perfect running shoe for me. If you have no idea what I'm talking about (first of all . . . where've you been?!?!), read this first (and be sure to read the comments).

As you can see, the Ironman at Law Blog is read way up in the land of Newtonia (either that, or those pesky spies at Google tattled on me). I haven't been able to locate Newtonia on my little "recent visitors" map, but I think it's near Boulder. Anyway, one of the Newtonians left a comment this week explaining that it was possibly the user, not the shoes, that were the problem. ("It's not me, it's you!") Yesterday morning, I spoke with the Newtonian that left the comment. Let's call her . . . Tory (since that's her name). And I must say that the Newtonians are very nice people. I wish more companies would take the time to talk with their customers the way Tory took the time to talk to me.

Two things in particular surprised me about our conversation. First, I expected the Newtonians to believe that everyone should be running in their shoes. This is not the case. "Nothing is for everyone" was one of the first things Tory said. And while Tory and I may still have different opinions about the percentage of runners that "should" be wearing Newtons, the fact that she did not say 100% was a pleasant surprise to me. The way I understand it, Newtons are designed to get us to run the way we were designed to run. Traditional running shoes are designed to keep us from hurting ourselves when we decide to run in a way that we weren't necessarily designed to do. Whenever we try to outsmart our Creator, bad things tend to happen (see, e.g., processed cheese and high fructose corn syrup).

This is why I've wanted to try the shoes for so long. Even though I was a candidate for motion control shoes, the more I ran in them, the more I was injured. Several years ago, I finally gave up on them, corrected my running form, shortened my stride, increased my cadence (I run with a 90-95 cadence now), and am now running a lot more miles, a lot faster, with a lot less injuries. This is what Newton Running is trying to encourage.

Tory also explained how to adjust to the shoes in a way that is somewhat different (or perhaps just more detailed) than the information found on the Newton website. The website says, "A general rule would be to take it easy for several runs. Enjoy the new feeling and do runs of 2 to 4 miles until you have about 25 miles total. At this point you should be fully adjusted and ready to go farther and faster." I had read this prior to trying the shoes, but like most people, did not want to decrease my mileage to only running 2-4 miles at a time until I adjusted to the shoes. I therefore planned to do one or two short runs a week in them, and do the rest in my traditional running shoes. You know the rest of the story.

Tory explained what sounds like a better approach to me. She suggests starting each run by running in the Newtons for 10-15 minutes, then changing into your normal shoes to finish your workout. After a while, you are able to increase the amount of time in the Newtons until you are eventually running all of your miles in them.

Ok, that makes sense, but I was still not convinced. That sounds like A LOT of trouble. "What's the benefit?" I asked, "Are you saying that if I take the time to adjust to these shoes, that I will be faster?" Her answer was the second thing that surprised me about the conversation. She said, "No. I can't guarantee more speed. But what I can say is that because of the technology, you will not do as much damage during your runs and you will recover faster than in a traditional running shoe." I followed up with, "So you personally notice a significant difference in your recovery time now that you run in the Newtons?" Her answer, "Absolutely."

WOW! Now they have my attention! I'm drinking the Newtonian Kool-Aid (or in my case, the Grape Soda)!

Every endurance athlete spends lots of time and even more money trying to figure out ways to recover faster. Just look at all the products out there (both legal and illegal) that are designed to get you back to training faster. We probably spend more money on recovery shakes than any of the other foods in our pantries. We wear compression socks/pants/shirts that promote blood flow to our muscles while we sleep and ride in planes. If recovery is what you're selling, endurance athletes (triathletes especially) are buying!

But how confident are they? Well, after my marathon in February, Tory has offered to send me a pair to try. I will then update all (or both?) of you, my faithful readers, about my experience. You and I will find out together if they will completely ruin me, or if the benefits outweigh the inconvenience of "adjusting" to the shoes. So far, I'm not yet convinced. My recovery time for my first 6 miles in them was a little over two weeks. But as the saying goes, "It's the poor musician who blames his instrument." This time, I will play it the way they tell me.

So that's where the Newton Project stands. After swearing to never run in them again, Tory served me up a nice tall glass of grape flavored Recovery Drink. And I'm preparing to drink it down with a huge smile. I may someday run in a blissful state of Newtopia. Or I may once again end up with a purple tongue, a stomach ache, and begging Lindsay for forgiveness. But either way, I will tell you all about it.