Saturday, November 10, 2012

New shoes experience: Brooks PureFlow, Day 1, Recovery run

Purchased Brooks PureFlow to run in the coming Macau Marathon after much consideration, which I still doubt whether it's a good choice.

Currently, I have two pairs of shoes which is:
Glycerin 9 - for most of the run and logged at about 1300km, and 
Green Silence - for tempo and interval which I feel less cushioning for me to run the full marathon, worrying my feet not able to fully accommodate to the stress.

I have two choices in my mind for the race which is Brooks Launch and Brooks PureFlow.
Launch - good reviews by runners as lightweight trainer/racer
PureFlow - featuring the recently popular "barefoot" concept, and it's said to provide more cushioning than PureConnect.

I eventually picked PureFlow due to:
1) Newly marketed with new technology such as DNA midsole (as compared to Launch).
2) I thought I've always been running midfoot so it should be able to adapt to barefoot trainer.

And the first run made me wonder.

Take away the heel support on your running shoes and you know which type of stride families you belonged to. 

The first few steps walking in PureFlow I could feel that the heel is gone. 
The first few meters on the road, I realized this not going to be good, especially when the race is 3 weeks away. I couldn't feel the heel and I ran entirely with mid/fore foot. Only now I realized I was always using some support on my heel. Which tells from the worn out pattern of my shoes.

It's actually a good shoes. 
The light weight didn't compromise the softness and comfortable.
It's quiet flexible and cushioning is sufficient.
It wrap the feet well and if the shoe size is right, you won't get the feeling of "feet being wrapped around" 

For those who would like to learn to run barefoot, this is a good shoes to start with. 
Your landing will automatically transformed to mid/fore foot which still providing protection for your feet.

Do check Brooks website to determine your suitable size before getting one. 

It's good to start with this shoes at the starting season of training, that one's muscle will able to develop adaptation to the shoes. 
However, 3 weeks to a race?

I have always been accustomed to shoes with heel support and the benefit of a change in such a duration is questionable. Althought Green Silence consider "flat", but it still have some degree of heel support.

All the effect contribute by the "heel-to-toe offsets", which measure the difference between the "heel" and "toe" of the shoes.

A comparison will see the different.
Heel-to-toe Offsets
PureProject Collection: 4mm
Green Silence: 8mm
Launch: 9.5mm

Today's 8km recovery ran in a cautious mode, counting the steps.
Along the way there were some pain on the leg here and there which subsided at the end of the end, could it be psychological effects?
Will do the test again on tomorrow's 32km long run and hopefully it will give me some idea on how it will perform for a 42km.











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