New Balance Tester - MR1080v2

About six months ago I thought it would be awesome to be able to be a tester for New Balance, since I figured my chances of being sponsored are slim to none.  Well finally I received the email last week that they are shipping me my first test shoe!  Once I found out what shoe I was going to be testing I was thrilled and a bit nervous at the same time.  I've been running in the NB minimalist shoes for over six months now and have really got use to the feel of the lightness and style of my shoes.  Whatever I'll suck it up and give them a try and give my feedback as required.  Of course I do not want to be bias about these well cushioned high heeled shoes!  I use to run in these types of shoes and never had any issues with my running style at all.

Well I finally received them in the mail yesterday and when I opened them I could tell they must of been fresh off of the assembly line.  The fresh smell of toxic glue and rubber quickly filled the house, so I decided to leave them outside and in the garage over night before giving them a test run.  I was planning going for a trail run by Boulder today, but I've already put in close to 50 miles this week and thought it might be best to take the day off and get a good long run in tomorrow (Saturday).  Then I thought well maybe going for a quick 4 mile run with the new shoes wouldn't be a bad idea.  As soon as I put them on the first thing that came to mind was they felt like I was wearing high heels, but the cushion was very nice kind of like riding a Cadillac.  So I went out for my quick Westcliff loop, which is 4 to 5 miles depending the route I take back to the house.  The wind was starting to pick up, so I figured I would stick with the 4 mile route instead. First part of the route was going down hill and could tell the sole was very responsive to the sidewalk and seemed to be adjusting fine to the higher heel.  Once I got on to the crushed fines they seemed to respond just fine too.  I did have to stop once to adjust the shoe laces, which is typical for wearing new shoes.  After that I picked up the pace and despite the weight of the shoe I had no problem keeping a 7:30m pace up until the head wind kicked in.  I ended up walking for probably a minute due to the high winds, but after that I sailed right home in time to take Reese to pre-school.

First thought would be the toes feel a bit tight, but that might be the type of thick socks I'm wearing.  I wore the comfy Balega socks, but maybe the next test run I will wear my thinner socks instead.

Here's my garmin run with the test shoes:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80775536

Wearing the new test shoe

NB MR1080v2 Shoe