I have the Newton Distance. This is the racer version for neutral male runners. I have good biomechanics already and am a forefoot striker who impacts directly underneath me.
I have completed two runs using these shoes: a long, slow 90 minute run and a fast fartlek+mile at 10k race pace workout.
These are really great shoes - forget about the lugs a moment. They fit great and the uppers are a very flexible, breathable mesh. The stiching and craftsmanship are at least as good as the major manufacturers out there. They also feel very light on your feet and feel less like a shoe than like a comfortable sock.
On the 90 minute run I ran in the free socks that were sent with the shoes. At first I found the lugs annoying and wishing they weren’t there; walking in the shoes felt like walking in my biking shoes with cleats on. It felt like there were rocks stuck to the bottom of the sneaker. After the first mile, however, my form adjusted for them and I didn’t notice them. For my long, slow distance run, my pace was noticably faster according to the Forerunner 305. At the end I also felt very little exhaustion.
Two days later I did a track workout of a fast 20 minute whistle fartlek at threshold and then I did a mile at 10k pace. The shoes felt fast. It was hard to slow down enough to run at the 10k pace. Again, I didn’t feel exhausted after the workout as I normally would expect to.
For the track workout, I decided not to wear socks and see how the shoes held up. I don’t use socks for triathlons because I don’t want to deal with the delay of putting them on either after the bike and especially not after the swim. I DO use socks for standard road races like marathons and 10ks.
Unfortunately, these shoes left a hot spot - almost a blister had I run further - on my right instep (but not on my left, oddly). This is because there is a pretty ragged exposed seem on the inside of the shoe.
I have a three or so pairs of shoes that I can run in without socks: Nike 2:45s, Nike 2:40s, and the Nike Spiradons (x2). All are nearly new with less than 40 miles on them. Unfortunately they are all discontinued and the ones I race with, the Spiradons, only last about 150-200 miles.
I wonder if any of the triathletes they have endorsed will wear them sockless at races? Maybe I am unique in the friction they caused my inseem, or maybe the athletes take the time to put on socks for the run or have enough callouses (on the inseem?)
I look forward to doing a 10k on Sunday with these shoes but am unsure about replacing my aging or my relatively new pair of spiridons with these for the upcoming tri racing season.
