Shoe Decisions

I took Friday off as a late birthday gift to myself (birthday was the 27th) and had a fun running-related kind of day. I started off with my 12 mile long run in preparation for Nike Women's, and it was perfect weather. Later in the day, I wandered around the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon expo in downtown San Jose.

Race expos are amazing - people are excited, you learn about new races in the area, and there are tons of people to talk to and things to buy. This time I stumbled on the Newton Running shoes booth and did a little fit testing. Basically, they aren't a barefoot shoe but they help with running form. Newton shoes are almost no drop from heel to toe, and they have a thicker section toward the midfoot where you should be landing.

The rep was very knowledgeable and spent time showing me how they work, how to transition, and how to run with better form in Newton shoes. I'm most interested in the Lady Isaac S, which is a 'Guidance trainer' in their line with some stability. I like the idea of the technology, they last twice as long as regular running shoes because they don't break down, and they felt comfy in my short running test too. To transition, you wear them for only a mile or so at first, then you slowly increase distance until the body is used to landing midfoot.

I'm really thinking about giving it a shot. Currently I'm wearing pretty heavy stability shoes so this would be a real change - I definitely have concerns about making a big switch so I'm not there quite yet. What to do?