Do I have a favorite running shoe? Bwahaha! You’ve read about my struggles with finding my Newton Motions, which yes, is my favorite running shoe. Why did I have to fall in love with a shoe made by a small company? Then why did said small company get even smaller, the shoes even more expensive — and more scarce? Is the universe trying to tell me something?
Newton Motions new go for $175. That is just too ridiculous a price to pay for a running shoe that maybe lasts half a year if you’re lucky.
So here I sit, or run, loco for Newton Motions. Why?
- They’re light. Even Mr. Judy when he picked them up commented on how light they feel.
- They have a minimal heel to toe drop. Minimalist shoes work for me — but I also use them for speed work and long runs, running in “normal” running shoes for easy runs (and those normal shoes always feel so heavy & clunky!). I think minimalist shoes are great — but not all the time.
Then there are those weird looking lugs. From the Newton Website:
The secret sauce powering the speed of Newton Running shoes is its proprietary Action/Reaction™ Technology. Generated by the active movement of the lugs, Action/Reaction Technology creates a responsive, trampoline-like cushioning system that provides quicker bounce-back and loses less energy than a traditional foam-core running shoe.
Although the Motions are considered a stability shoe (hence the name), I actually don’t need a stability shoe. They still lean more to the side of a neutral shoe, but they have a “firmer medial side post” (again, from the Website) to provide some stability.
In the years I’ve been running in Newtons, I have stayed pretty injury free. I can’t completely point to the shoes; there are many factors that go into that. I can tell you that if Newton goes out of business I will be heart broken. I also know I should be trying out some more minimalist shoes from other, bigger companies.
Newtons don’t come in the fun designs (for the most part; sometimes they do special edition designs like Boston or NYC); and the range of colors is pretty limited. I have several orange Newtons. They don’t really match my running clothes, but they match my running form and that is more important to me.
Newtons are not for everyone. No shoe is for everyone! I cringe inside when someone says “cute shoes! what are they?”. You’re better off asking “what type of foot do you have? Do you pronate? Are you a heel striker?
What’s your favorite running shoe?
Have you ever had to break up with a running shoe? Why?
Form or fun colors?
Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner
This week I am also joining up with Running on Happy, Suzlyfe, Crazy Running Girl, and Coach Debbie Runs each week for the Coaches’ Corner linkup
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Still looking for that perfect shoe.
I tried Newtons. Broke my foot. Need more stability.
Now alternating between Nike and mizuno.
One is light and one is heavy. Leaning toward the heavier one for races. And lighter for training.
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I am the exact opposite — I like light for long runs/races and heavy for easy runs. Actually, I don’t like heavy at all, but I just know I need to switch back and forth between the two.
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Wow, I didn’t know that the sneakers were so expensive!
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Insert frowning, crying face. All the shoes my husband has found me are older models — even they can be expensive.
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I have not tried Newtons myself. I do like more of a cushioned shoe. Our local Road Runner Sports gives our MRTT group an extra 10% off of their VIP prices makes a huge difference on expensive shoes. Do you have Road Runner sports near you?
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Nope, we do not have that store near us. Just Fleet Feet, pretty much. But even at a discount, it’s still just too many $$.
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This is the first time I read about Newtons: it looks like a good item.
My favorite shoes are the Brooks. Color: blue.
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Brooks are another favorite of mine. I need to retry their more minimalist shoes (I used to run in them before I discovered Newtons).
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I am a Brooks girl but have run in Newton shoes as well. I did like them and loved the colors too. That is important. 🙂
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I like cute colors, but the shoe is more important to me (seriously, Newtons often come in really ugly colors! Sigh).
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Oh I agree that the shoe is more important. Haha, I love the wild Newton colors!
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What’s your favorite running shoe? Altra seems to work best for me.
Have you ever had to break up with a running shoe? Why? Nike seems to make me ache.
Form or fun colors? Form. It’s nice to have cute shoes, but I will take healthy for me shoes over cute every time.
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One of these days I will definitely try Altras!
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That song, ❤
I'm a New Balance girl, currently in love with their 1080s which are $149 but so far/knock wood, worth every penny for not getting injured. I used to wear their Vongo2s, but the 3s just don't work for me
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Even $149 would probably be more than I want to spend (you do know about Joe’s New Balance site, right?).
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I don’t think so? I have a standing 15% off at JackRabbit, which helps and I tend to grab them on sale when possible
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It’s an online discount site for New Balance. You should probably check it out.
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Even though I have plenty of places I’m loyal to, I also will usually at least investigate other options. For instance, Joes New Balance recently had a sale and those on the email list got an additional 25% off. Just all for your FYI. Now if only I could find a site like that for Newtons!
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It’s always great when you find a brand of shoes that work for you!
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I’m not really sure that Motions are the ones, even after all my shenanigans trying to buy them! But they are the closes I’ve come so far. If only they weren’t so expensive. Grrrrr.
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My husband and I have both run in Newtons for years. My favorite model is the Gravity or Motion III, so yes, those are old. Ever since I’ve been having the issues with the lugs falling off (which was some sort of issue on the III models), I’ve been buying less of them. We get ours of Ebay! I have switched over to Saucony Kinvaras also. Those have been my go-to’s lately.
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I don’t know why, I was not fond of Gravity. I did try them.
I read about one particular model where the lugs fell out, so I avoided that model (can’t remember which it was) and so far, knock on wood, haven’t had a problem.
Haven’t tried Saucony Kinvaras — thanks for the recommendation!
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