The Xero Blog

I bought my first pair of Nike Free about 6 years ago, soon after they came out.I LOVED them. The flexible sole really let me feel the ground in a whole new way and they quickly became the only shoe I wore. Once I had the chance, I went to NikeID and made a custom pair that were all black... my "dress" Frees ;-)On the one hand, I'm glad I did that because earlier this week I needed to appear for a legal arbitration hearing and the only pair of "real" shoes I owned were those all-black Frees. For the last 3.5 years, all I've worn are Xero Shoes running sandals or my sprinting spikes (I'm a sprinter, not a "runner").On the other hand, I could barely remember why I used to be such a Free fan.Compared to huaraches, where the only thing between you and the ground is a few millimeters of rubber, the sole on the Free felt a mile thick.But the weirder thing was how quickly my stride changed. With the big, cushy, heel on the Free, I was almost instantly reaching out with my foot and landing hard on my heel, using the padding. In fact, with the elevated heel, I couldn't even find a way to land on my mid-foot as I was walking... no matter what I did, my heel struck the ground first.Let me back up a bit and add one fact: I removed the insole from the shoe. The insole -- at least the 5mm one that comes with it -- has 2 rubber "bumpers". One under your heel, and one under the ball of your foot. Without those shock absorbers in place, I noticed something else about the Free... the sole offers some cushioning at first, but once you've fully compressed the foam, it's really solid. Jarringly solid.I could feel the jolt of force run from my heel to the back of my head. After just 5 minutes of walking, I had a mild headache!After 2 days of wearing them, my right knee is out of whack and I'm writing this post during a time I'm usually out on the track, training.It's been so long since I've worn any of the "barefoot" style running shoes that I forgot how un-barefoot most of them truly are.