New Balance Minimus Road: Shoe Review

Video post reviewing the Men's New Balance, NB Minimus running MR10 11 M


Pros:

• Light weight
• Good feel
• Minimal shoe
• Durable
• Can be used for trainer and racing shoe

Cons:

• Will still take time to get used to it
• Not 100% zero drop shoe

Overall:
I think the New Balance Minimus is a very good shoe that will meet a lot of my needs for training, racing and I hope to get a lot of miles out of them. I would definitely recommend this to someone that has been running in a minimalist shoe for a while and is looking to continue or further they training in a minimal shoe.


Runner's World Review:


NEW BALANCE NB MINIMUS ROAD
Price: $100
WIDTHS: Standard
WEIGHT: 8.5 oz (M) 7.6 oz (W)
CONTACT: 800-253-7463; newbalance.com

WE SAY: With a stripped-down design, the lightweight Minimus Road boasts a snug fit, firm cushioning, and a thin sole (just 19.2 millimeters in the heel and 13.8 in the forefoot). The heel is only 5.4 millimeters higher than the forefoot (with most shoes, it's 12 to 14 millimeters), which encourages midfoot striking. Some testers found the forefoot hemmed in their toes a little. We recommend it as a speedwork shoe to use when doing strides, or as a foot-strengthening tool when walking.

WEAR-TESTER'S SAY
"The shoe fit well, but it had very little cushioning."
—Kate Galinus, 53, Allentown

"I liked how it forced me to land mid-foot, even though the toebox was off."
—Kim Aeschliman, 36, East Lansing

Product Review: Thermal Quickdraw Hand Held Water Bottle from Nathan Sport

Thermal Quickdraw Hand Held Water Bottle from Nathan Sports I have used several times now, for both short runs and a couple 30+ mile runs. It have a good fit on your hand and has an adjustable strap to tighten or loosen the hand grip. The holder also has a small pocket that can be used for keys, small cell phone or about 3 gels. This thermal version from Nathan Sports works as more of a barrier from keeping you hand from warming up the contents of the bottle, I don't think it will actually keep liquids much hotter or colder because of this.

The bottle holds 22 0z. and uses Nathan Sports quickdraw water valve, which isn't much different from your normal water bottle, pull up to open, press down to close. The lid is a bit tricky to get on and off and make sure that the lid is tightly on, because if not the first time you squeeze the bottle you will lose most of your liquid. The bottle fit very snugly into the thermal sleeve so getting it in and out take a bit but there is no real reason other than cleaning that you need to be taking the bottle out of the sleeve.

Pros: Good fit and feel on your hand, nice sized pocket and adjustable grip strap.

Cons: Lid is a bit tricky to secure.

Bottom line: This is a very good product overall, with only one minor issue. I would recommend this product to others.

Retail Price: $25.00 USD

Product Review: Nike Free 3.0v2

I know that I did an product review for these when I first got them, but I figure now that I have put a few miles on them I am in a better position to give them a thorough review. The Nike Free 3.0 v2 are Nike's latest version of minimalist shoes meant to simulate barefoot running, at least as much as a athletic shoe company will allow. The Nike Frees come in several different versions the 3.0's being the most minimal and most closely simulate barefoot running.

This is an extremely light weight shoe and the sole is extremely flexible to again simulate running barefoot. The top is almost completely made of a light mesh that wraps the foot well and seems to keep everything in place, as long as you are not doing too much lateral movement.

When I asked how many miles I can expect out o the shoes I was given the usual response of 200-300 miles for this type of minimal shoes. However, because I got this from the Nike sales rep, I wasn't too certain of how much that information was influenced by the desire to sell me more shoes. Anyways, now that I have put over 500 miles on my Nike Free's I am now starting to feel some of the wear and tear. The Frees really do not have much to them, very little cushioning, support and padding, so my thought was what is there to really wear out, but alas like all shoes they have yield to the miles.

I did notice that they would definitely help promote a more natural stride and discourage me form over striding and landing on my heals. They also simple felt great to run in, very similar to running in racing flats, you just feel light and fast in them. It did take a while to get used to running in them and I would not recommend most runners to use them as your primary trainer. I took me several months of slowly incorporating them into my workouts before I could use them on a regular basis.

All in all a very good shoe which is very functional for my purposes and feels great to run in. I'll definitely be getting another pair soon.




Check out other reviews of the 3.0's

Product Reviews:

I should mention that I don't recommend racing flats to most runners because if you have not trained properly they will greatly increase your chance of injury. The marginal benefits from a lighter shoe are not worth the increased rick of injury.

Here are a few links to more information about the

Brooks Green Silence

Skins Travel and Recovery Tights

I will do a follow up post when I have had a chance to use these products a bit more and provide a more thorough review.

Garmin Follow Up

I have to say that I am more than impressed with my new Garmin 405.  It not only syncs very quickly and easily but the amount of data that it stores and the functionality of the device is great.  Once you are finished with your workout you sync it to your online profile and it will display your entire workout, from your heart rate, speed, elevation and pace at any point during your run.  Plus the Touch Bezel and during the run functions are really easy to see and use.  

I have a race on Saturday, the Wildwoods Challenge, that I am excited for and will be really excited to see the results that I get from running a race.  I have never gotten data of my HR and Pace throughout a race so it will be very interesting.