product reviews
Real reviews
Name: Jane Hung
Store: Zelus Pacific Fair
Age: 26
Name of Shoe Reviewing: Nike Women’s Free 7.0
Current running/walking shoe that you wear: Nike Shox TL, Nike Air 360
About me:
I was a member of a local gym for over a year, and I went to spin classes at least four times a week, so I was physically quite fit. Early March, I decided to take a bit of a break from the gym and was planning on just doing some running by myself and had set myself the goal of participating in the Gold Coast Marathon 10km run in July. However, my good intentions of starting to run were hindered by a bruised knee bone from a fall, which stopped me from exercising for almost a month. So my current fitness level would be ok, definitely not as fit as I was before my fall.
Fitness Goals:
Other than getting my fitness level up again, I’d still like to enter the Gold Coast Marathon 10km run, which is a distance I’ve never tried to do at once before. It would be a great challenge, which is a kind of motivation to get me started again.
First Impressions of Shoe:
My first impression of the Nike Free 7.0 was that they’re pretty different looking, and the fact that they’re so flexible, very bendable. When I tried the shoes on for the first time, my first thought was: “The shoe soles are very thin”, which they are, compared to my old shoes, which I’ve had for quite a while now. When I tried walking around the store with them on, they do feel quite strange, quite different to what my sneakers feel like on my feet. It also felt a little high toward the heels, so that the shoes seem to have a “steeper” slope from toes to heels, but not uncomfortably so. But they were pretty comfortable, just different to how it felt with my other shoes.
WEEK ONE
Date: 15/04/07
Type of workout: Running and walking. About 30 mins, with about 10 mins of running interspersed in this time.
Notes on shoe performance during workout:
With the shoes on, the feeling of the feet hitting the ground was very apparent, which was probably because the soles are thinner than what I’ve been more used to, but I guess that is the idea behind the Nike Free shoes – the closest thing to running with bare feet. Because I was still wary of the bruised knee, I was paying a lot of attention to my knee seeing if it was hurting at all, but there wasn’t any discomfort.
Notes post workout:
I was told by the lady in the store that for the first few times of exercising with them, I might feel sore in the calves. But after my exercise, there wasn’t any discomfort in my calves, perhaps because it was only for 30 mins. A little soreness came after a few hours in my thighs, but that could be due to my lack of exercise for a while before this. Overall, no obvious discomfort related to the shoes and I’m happy with how they felt while running.
Date: 19/04/07
Type of workout: Running and walking. About 20 mins, 5 mins of walking to start, then 10 mins of running and finished with 5 mins of walking.
Notes on shoe performance during workout:
At the beginning, I can distinctly feel the inside right heel of the inside of the shoe very clearly against my heel, maybe it’s because my feet are fairly flat, i.e. the arches are not very high. But after a couple of minutes of warm up I stopped being aware of it.
Notes post workout: My legs feel fine, no particular twinges or discomfort on any part of the feet and legs, except for some minute carried-over soreness from the last workout.
Date: 21/04/07
Type of workout:
Running up and down steps by the beach, walking.
About 30 mins
Notes on shoe performance during workout:
I’m getting used to the feeling of running with these shoes. They’re now comfortable and gave me plenty of support while I was running up and down the steps. The thinness of the soles let me feel the ground pretty acutely, which I liked.
Notes post workout: No discomfort in the feet and legs. I’m happy.
WEEK TWO
Date: 24/04/07
Type of workout: Running and walking. About 20 mins, 5 mins of walking to start, then 10 mins of running and finished with 5 mins of walking.
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Comfortable
Notes post workout: No discomfort in the feet and legs.
Date: 26/04/07
Type of workout: Running and walking. About 30 mins, 5 mins of walking to start, then 20 mins of running and finished with 5 mins of walking.
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Comfortable
Notes post workout : No discomfort in the feet and legs.
Date: 28/04/07
Type of workout: Running. About 7km.
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Comfortable and very supportive
Notes post workout: This was the first time I’ve tried to run this distance and although I’ve had to slow down to a walk at times during the distance, I’ve had no discomfort in my legs or feet during the exercise. After the run, my calves were a little sore.
Date: 29/04/07
Type of workout:
Running up and down steps by the beach, walking in Burleigh Heads National Park and on the beach. About 30 mins on the steps, one lap around Burleigh Heads National Park (approx. 30 mins) and about 15 mins walking on the beach.
Notes on shoe performance during workout:
Comfortable at the steps and walking to and from the National Park. The shoes probably weren’t too suited on the uneven terrain of the National Park because I could feel very well the unevenness of the ground through the soles and that wasn’t very nice, but they still offered plenty of support even on uneven ground.
Notes post workout : I had very sore thighs after the workout.
WEEK THREE
Date: 05/05/07
Type of workout:
Running up and down steps by the beach, walking in Burleigh Heads National Park and on the beach. About 10 mins on the steps, one lap around Burleigh Heads National Park (approx. 30 mins) and about 15 mins walking on the beach.
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Similar to last time
Date: 06/05/07
Type of workout: Running and walking. About 9km, walking intermittently
Notes on shoe performance during workout:
Comfortable and supportive, although by the end of it, my feet were feeling the impact of the ground.
Notes post workout: Calves were slightly sore afterwards.
WEEK FOUR
Date: 09/05/07
Type of workout: Running & walking. About 3km running, then walked for about 1.5km
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Comfortable and supportive
Notes post workout:
My knees felt a bit sore before I started, but it was more a soreness in the joint, rather than of muscle tiredness. The soreness lasted throughout the workout, which was the reason I walked the last 1.5km.
Date: 12/05/07
Type of workout: Running up and down steps by the beach, walking in Burleigh Heads National Park and on the beach. About 30 mins on the steps, one lap around Burleigh Heads National Park (approx. 30 mins) and about 15 mins walking on the beach.
Notes on shoe performance during workout: Comfortable and supportive.
Overall Summary
I liked the Nike Free 7.0 very much. Although they took a little time to get used to (of which I was told by the shop assistant beforehand), they were comfortable once I became accustomed to them and very supportive. The light-weight of the shoes was an advantage, although the thinner soles, as compared to my usual running shoes, became a little uncomfortable during the longer distance runs - so perhaps I wouldn’t recommend them to serious runners that run 10km or more at a time, but I would certainly recommend them to joggers who run for shorter distances and walkers.
