Nike Katana Racr3 - First Impressions

I did what you are not suppose to do which is to do a long or hard run in new shoes but I didn't to be a big foolish and take my new Nike Katana Racr3's out for my first run and do a hard tempo run.

Long story short, it was a great experience. I hit all my split times on ran with no pain during or after the run. The Katana's are wonderful shoes. Although they have a 5-6mm heel differential, that didn't bother me one bit and they are light and very comfortable.

I'm a big proponent of barefoot running and I continue to do barefoot running myself but there are advantages to running shoes and one advantage is the reduction in leg fatigue. To put it another way, I can maintain the same fast paces in shoes but not have to expend the same level of energy and I have fresher legs after a run in shoes. Now, I'm talking about racing shoes and not minimalist footwear like my Evo's or KSO's.

I've come to the conclusion that shoes are not inherently bad but "bad shoes are bad" so the key and challenge is to find healthier running shoes. I'm finding that racing shoes tend to be pretty good shoes while the heavy over cushioned, heavy, motion control shoes are terrible. I think the shoe companies know this but they are protecting a valuable revenue stream by continuing to produce those terrible marshmallow shoes and they also fear cannibalization of existing shoes lines but that will change in the near future. We have companies like New Balance with its Minimus shoe line coming out in March 2011.

I never thought I would return to regular running shoes and now I'm rotating the Nike Stream Xoom XC and Nike Katana Racr3's. I use Mizuno Wave Universe 3's for track work and some limited racing but the Nike XC and Racr3's are becoming my primary footwear.

HHH