Gear Review : Adidas Supernova Glide Boost 7

I generally don't review gear, I mean, I do but it is for my own use. But in another first, I have decided to write a product review and if this goes well, will do the same in the future for all my gear.


Product : Adidas Supernova Glide Boost. 7 (Men's UK 8)



                                      


Technical Specifications :

Arch Support : Neutral Pronation
Weight : 306 gm

Drop from heel to forefoot: 7.3 mm

Pros : 

• Responsive cushioning to nullify the impact of running surface.
• The upper is highly durable. So is the sole.
• Fits great

Cons : 

• Takes a fair bit of mileage to break-in.
• Slightly heavy

My Experience  : Adidas Supernova Glide Boost was given to me by Adidas in February during my Knee Injury recovery phase. Prior to this shoe, every shoe I had used had been in the range of 3-5 mm drop.
Given that my Stride Rate is, on an average, at 178-180 spm @ 5/km pace and 190-196 @ 3:30-4:00 pace and my strike is pretty much midfoot with very small ground contact time, I was never having issues with low drop shoes.
However, with lack of conditioning and rest paired with continuous pounding, my knees decided to give up and take a break a while

Given, for the my next race I couldn't just hop on to a 4-4:15 pace workout like I used to (because it was an Ultraman! ), I too agreed to run, for the 1st time in my life in shoes with 7.3 mm drop. 

My first few runs were slower because :
a.) They were heavier than the shoes I generally run in
b.) I was scared of pushing because of my knee.

Gradually though, with the breaking-in of the shoes, I became increasingly comfortable in them and began to run longer and longer in them. The extra cushioning was a boon as I wasn't winding up my workouts as quickly as my previous workouts. However, these shoes prevented any harm that might have fallen on my knees for staying on longer than I usually do.

I carried them to Australia for the Ultraman and was fairly confident of the shoes.
I ran in them for all of the 84.3 kms, without any change of socks, any vaseline or baby powder.
                           

                      Taking the impact on Day 3                      

Now, this may be specific to my feet or maybe specific to the response of my feet to shoes but I didn't get one blister. *touchwood*
On the contrary, I had 3 pretty bad ones after running my 1st Sub 3 Marathon,last near in Nike 3.0 Freeflyknits.

The main drawback I faced was when I ran through the wet sand at the beach. It's too damn hard to clean them afterwards. But I think that's true for all shoes :P

Overall :  I've enjoyed running in these shoes. They have been great during the injury and have provided a fair bit of support while running. They just feel a little heavy for speedwork.

A great pair of shoes overall.

Rating : 4.5/5.0