Newtons, retired

I finally retired my first pair of Newton Gravities.  Well, at least semi-retired.  I got two replies from the @sirisaac twitter feed on my query about when to retire them, and they were a bit different.  (I assume more than one person does the job, but I didn't ask.)  The first said that they have a number of runners get more than 600 miles out of them, and the second expressed concern that I was keeping them past 500.  I asked about what the limiting feature was, as long as the lugs were still in decent shape, and they replied that there is a membrane beneath them that wears out over time.

So, at 557 miles, I have put my first pair on reserve, to serve as backup shoes in case of emergency need or need to go out in yucchy conditions.  Here are a few key photos (click to enlarge):

   

As you can see, there's more wear on the right forefoot and a bit more on the left rear. However, they still appear more than usable.  When I switched to a new pair, I really can't say that they felt dramatically different as is often the case when you go to a new pair of shoes  from an old one of the same model.  Thus, although I will leave them retired, I believe there is still a bit of life left in them.

And thus I come to my n=1 conclusion.  Newtons are a big change in the type of shoe for most people.  (You read of some people who love them from day one, but I believe that's a rarity.  See the Slowtwitch reviews, for example.  I think this is a good example of how they grow on you, or you grow into them.)  As most people know there is this investment in trying a new philosophy of shoes that they may or may not like, there is a hesitance to buy them and try them because of the relative high cost:  $175 list.

Although I still think this price is excessive, at least for me, the Newtons certainly performed on a dollar-per-mile basis comparably to another pair of shoes that would cost a bit more than half of that, but only be good for about 300 miles.  This is the range that I have most recently experienced with other shoes, regardless of whether the outsole has worn out.

[An interesting point:  At 300 miles of wear and $100 cost, you get 3 miles/dollar.  If you run 7-8 miles per hour, that's pretty close to $2.50 per hour of running just in shoe cost!]

Another caveat I have to consider is that these shoes had a majority of their miles run indoors, where I presume the wear on the lugs is lower than it would be outdoors.  Come spring, we will find out if this high mileage holds up.

In any case, I am pleased with the Newtons on these points:

• The high initial investment on the shoes was accompanied by a high wear factor, so they didn't end up costing more per mile than I've been paying already.
• The upper is just super comfortable, especially for someone like me whose toe joints stick out a bit and can get dug into by some shoes.
• After a long, slow adaptation, they really are supporting a new forefoot/midfoot style of running for me.  I am not one who gets a lot of injuries anyway, and I will not yet claim that it makes me a lot faster.  However, at 10K-marathon pace ranges, I now feel more efficient.  Next season will see!