"It" is the Newton Gravity cushion trainer. Now I am rather surprised that Newton still has its shoes designed as cushioned or stability shoes. According to its website, Newton shoes are designed for forefoot running. Based on the literature I have read previously, if a person is running using forefoot, there is really no need for stability or cushioning shoes as the gait and impact point is different and there is no need to stabilise the foot etc
Anyway, back to the shoes. "Whether training or racing, Newton Active Membrane Technology™ provides greater shock absorption, greater energy return while promoting the natural and more efficient forefoot strike of barefoot running". With this in mind, I put it on and instantly felt the different. There was actually 4 piece of protruding foam known as actuator lug right in the middle of the shoes. This raised foam force the wearer to land on the forefoot first and these together with the hollow chamber is supposed to reduce the shock to the legs. So is it really true?
First impression - although it comes in my fave colour, the color combination of orange and yellow was actually quite a turn off. Made it looked rather 'cartoon'. Another runner commented that it reminded her of the shoes in the '80s.However, it was light - in fact very light. When running, there was a bounce to it - much better than my Spira. Cushioning was good and I felt that I could run much faster in it without much impact on the legs. Ran about 6km up and down Fort Canning at varying speed and the shoes felt very comfortable. It really absorb the impact well much better than my Nike Lunar.
As I have been adjusting to forefoot running for the past few months, I had no problem getting used to this shoe and I think I will be wiling to give it a longer tryout. But alas, the trial is only for tonight and I am too lazy to go for other trials. Now if it wasn't so ex!
