Adizero Boston - Break-in Review

I bought my first official pair of running shoes last January 16, 2010 at a running specialty store in Bonifacio High Street, Taguig (where I also had my gait checked), hoping to be able to use it on the next day's race. The Sales assistant told me not to use the shoe right away without "breaking" it in, or having it road-tested first. I didn't know that shoes have a break-in and road-test also like a vehicle.

So, for the first few days while waiting for my next run on February 7 (the Condura Run), I decided to record the break-in mileage of this Boston shoe, and blog about my observations and running experience while using it.

Date of Birth: 16Jan2010

The Dry-run
Before buying the Adizero Boston, I was able to try other running shoe with a very much different outsole (it has an actuator lugs on the forefoot sole), which I think, the very first of its kind - the Newtons. The shoe is very light (200 grams for size 7) and my feet feels so light too, the odd design of the outsole helps to encourage the feet to strike in forefoot, much like the same as barefoot running.

Then I tried the Adizero Boston. I could feel the great difference between the Newtons versus this one. The Boston feels much heavier (300 grams for size 7.5), and does not have much of the forefoot advantage than what the Newton boasts of. But still, compared to my old Reebok running shoe, the Boston is far lighter in weight. The air-mesh sole of both the Newtons and Boston allows more air to pass, thereby keeping the feet cooled even in longer distance. The price between the two shoes determined my choice with around 37% of price difference.

20Jan2010, 6AM: Day 1 Break-in
Three days after the 2010 PSE Bull Run, I went on to my first day of break-in of the Adizero Boston. I planned to just run on my average pace. The route is from our house (near V. Luna) going to Quezon City Hall and then back to the house which on my estimation, averaged to around 3.3 kilometers.

The shoe really feels light, and I can also feel the wind on my foot coming in from the air-mesh of the shoe. Due to the lightweight of the shoe in my feet as compared to my old running shoe, I have not realized that I was already running my faster pace from our house going to City Hall. That made me exhausted early and running already in slower pace upon going back.

After the run, my feet felt tired but doesn't feel suffocated due to the see-through air-mesh construction. No blisters, no aches yet, and no injuries.

Stretching for the pre-jog.

22Jan2010, 7PM: Day 2 Break-in
Two days after the 1st day break-in, my running buddies from the office went on a weekend night practice-jog/run at UP Diliman. I completed a total of 4 rounds at the academic oval which is equivalent to 8.8 kilometers at a time of 0:57:36. I added an interval trainings on my runs with the Boston, hoping to find or feel an ache in my body afterwards.

The result was still the same as day 1. Though my legs' muscles ached, I felt that it's not due to the shoes but due to the normal-slow-fast interval training that I did. The most astonishing observation I had after the run was, I never felt a stress on my heel. It's like my heel had never stroked the road within the duration of the training except when I am walking.

Overall, my feet felt much relaxed after the run. My heels seems to missed a lot of road striking, therefore, my knees never ached also due to absence of heel-to-knee shock transfer.

Adizero Boston beside the LunarGlide, which is Better?

23Jan2010, 7PM: Day 3 Break-in
Since I already ran a longer distance on the 2nd day, I decided to take this day's training in a lighter mode. At the same time, my running colleagues also felt tired due to a week long of office works. We just walked on the first round at UP Diliman's academic oval of 2.2kms, and an added round of 5.4kms of average speed running pace for me.

Like on the day 2 break-in, it seems that my foot has become accustomed with mid-foot striking. My heels are still relaxed and never felt like it stroked the road at one time. It has been my 4 days (from PSE Bull Run) running already without using knee pads. Mostly, during and after running a distance of 5km, my knees would already suffer from pains like the symptoms of an ITBS or Iliotibial Band Syndrome.

I don't know if it was the shoe that contributed to the non-aching of my knees anymore for the past runs, or if I have just already accumulated enough trainings for 10k distance. I guess it's the combination of the right shoes plus the right running form.

You may check my conclusion review of the Adizero Boston on this post.