Ok here is my full opinion:
I've been running on them every other day for a couple weeks now and I must say that I LOVE THEM!!!!11!
Thing is though I might have painted myself into a bit of a corner being that I will explain later.
*my short running history*:
Finally, finally after I dropped the extra weight I thought that I would pick up running. I ran (ok walked) and bought some asics gel kayano 13 shoes (which are supposed to be top of the line) over at paragon sports in manhattan. And then I went out.
I tried jogging (if you can call the pathetic pace I was keeping jogging) but I would always stop after only a couple blocks because I was about ready to hurl with my feet and knees aching and chest about to implode. All this while pretty female joggers, big dufus show-off dudes and even little old ladies would run past me.
I kept hoping over the weeks that I would improve....and I did a little....sorta. But improvement was slow. Which was ironic considering the gains I've made over several months of hard cycling.
Then I saw the article about newton running in triathlete magazine and thought it might be a good move to get the shoes and adjust to forefoot/midfoot running. And it was a good move for me because I don't have a lot of experience running so there wouldn't be a dramatic adjustment on my part.
Gawdddddddddddddd almighty after two weeks of using the new shoes I now can say that truly I am a runner now. Not simply a sorta jogger/fast walker but an actual runner now!
When you run in these shoes you can actually feel the little trampoline effect as you land and launch from the forefoot. Your stride definately has to change but your saving the energy in your legs...hell saving energy in general. With the extra energy you can either go faster or at a slower pace for a much longer distance. Plus, no pain in the knees at all!! Well of course not because with the different running style your using different leg muscles in the quads and calves and ankles which take the pressure off the knees and of course the heels. I had an advantage because of the conditioning I had on my legs from the months and months of cycling.....wasn't a problem for me.
Damn. Can it be that I can train now for long distance marathon type running???? Yesterday I did like 7 miles on my lunch hour up the west side of manhattan just for fun and I didn't throw up once!! hahaha and those dumb show off jocks while they were still able to run past me because they were in better shape they were running in the traditional style. They were making heel strikes with longer reach strides. Fine they run past me. But after a couple miles they would stop because they were out of breath. So I just kept on going right pass them.
The only downside is now I have to slow down so as to make sure I'm still behind the pretty female joggers.
Now the painted corner thing. I tells ya that my new super powers are mostly due to these shoes. If I want to continue running I will have to get some more newton shoes when the ones I have finally wear out. Perhaps by then I will be in much better shape so it won't matter what shoes I have....then again I will be totally spoiled and conditioned for forefoot/midfoot striking.
On a side note I do notice the newton shoes are not very good for walking. Ironically the kayano 13's...while designed for running...are now depended on for walking.