I’m free! Uh, Nike Free that is…

I’ve been talking about buying a pair of Nike Free running shoes for the longest time and I finally did so yesterday. My wife and I spent a couple of hours at the Nike employee store loading up on gear (free pass compliments of a friend who works at Nike) We just happen to live 5 minutes from Nike’s world HQ.

I wasn’t actually planning to buy any running shoes there because I normally run in Asics shoes exclusively. Not that I have anything against Nike shoes or any other brand for that matter, I just really like how the Asics Gel Kayano’s fit my feet. So after picking out a few clothing items in the store, I meandered over to the shoe section just to see what models they had.

I noticed right off that the Nike Free 3.0 shoes cost just over $40, which is a pretty good price compared to what I’ve seen elsewhere. I decided to try on a pair and walk around the store for awhile. Wow – they felt like slippers. No wait, they actually felt more comfortable than my slippers. I’m not surprized since they weigh only about 6.8 oz. I had to have them – so I bought a black/yellow pair.

I’ve been wearing them around the house and they are sweet. I’ve never had a more comfortable pair of shoes. The question is…can I run in them? I’m a little nervous because my feet are not what you would call low maintenance. And yes I am worried that I may injure my foot running in a shoe with little support.

So, my plan is to wear them off/on for a week or two around the house first. Then, I’ll try some long walks around the neighborhood. If all goes well, I’ll try a short run and see how it goes. My ultimately goal is to strengthen the muscles, ligaments & tendons in my feet. However, I think it is advisable to ease into this strategy very slowly.

Wish me luck and I’ll report my observations in a later post.