Nostalgia for the Perfect Shoes

The best running shoes I've ever had were a pair of Nike Free 5.0s from around 2015. They were black, lime green and orange, had a split sole, and were as light and comfortable as running in bare feet. They followed the craze for barefoot running, but in an accessible way. In terms of “support”, They didn’t have any of the fancy energy cell or cushioning of shoes of today. Certainly no carbon plate. They simply stopped my feet from getting hurt by stones and roots underfoot. 

They were perfect for running alongside the river at Barnes, as well as for tearing around Bloomsbury and Silvertown. I definitely wore them for longer than I should have done, judging by how many house moves they went through. I even wore them for trail runs whenever I visited my parents in Hampshire. I never got the chance to, but I’d have loved to try them for speed work. They performed a mean sprint finish. 

Nike Free 5.0

The sheer versatility of these shoes is increasingly rare. I love my New Balance 1080 V10s, but on a rainy day or with even a hint of mud, I may as well be wearing bars of soap. I have spent the years since then trying to replace those shoes. I should have bought more at the time. I moved to the Free RNs in 2018, and I loved them a lot, but I had to spend 5 minutes before each run flicking yesterday’s gravel out of the grooves in the sole. 

I know, no pair of shoes is perfect. But for me, this pair was. I found them. I really found them. The problem I have now is that this sort of shoe is just not what’s fashionable anymore. It’s all about cushioning, responsiveness and big heel drops. It’s about encouraging a forefoot strike, or supporting your heel strike. I bought the Nike Free 5.0s because I’d just read ‘Running With The Kenyans’ by Adharanand Finn, and it confirmed my suspicion that I just needed something to replicate how my foot moves.

The time has come to replace my all-rounder shoes again. I have had a few pairs since the heady, 5.0 glory days, and gradually got used to not being able to feel the ground under my feet. But my current favourite shoes are my Salomon Sense 4 Pro trail shoes because I can feel everything. I don’t need a shoe to tell me I’m running sideways over treacherous, slippery ground, I am able to react by myself, thankyou, if you'd only let me feel it. The first time I ran on the Hampstead Heath in more “supportive, responsive” shoes, it was terrifying. I nearly twisted my ankle. 

Salomon Sense 4 Pro

I flit between the websites for Hoka One One, New Balance, Salomon and Nike, and decide I’m just going to have to wait until the fashion changes again. Because we know it’s not science. We know that our feet are incredibly intelligent, and can tell our brains to adjust our movement accordingly. I don’t need to be told how to run. When I first started running proper distances with those Free Run 5.0s, I had no idea what I was doing. I just ran. And the shoes came along for the ride. 

But hey. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for those free, innocent, uncomplicated adventures.