I understand that one man’s perfect running shoe isn’t everyone else’s. But in all my fifteen years of running I have been wearing your Air and Air Max running shoes and have had no problems until now, training in the Nike Shox TL3.
I was enamored by the Shox TL3 not because of its sleek, futuristic look but its light-weight and nice fit. I wore them around the house, at work, and around the gym to break them in. And then I went running in them. Eight short miles. (And since it was the early part of the season, I wasn’t pushing for speed.) Bam! I felt the blisters coming on just four miles in. By the time the run was over, I had two blisters, one of which was the size of a dime. These were my first blisters in my running career.
Ok. What went wrong? Surely it couldn’t be the shoes. It had to be the old tube socks I accidentally packed for my work trip. So over the next two weeks, I tried running without socks, wearing thin socks, no-blister socks, thick socks, and two pairs of socks. But no matter what I tried, I always ended up with blisters that broke out along the insides of my feet from the heel to the upper-side and bottom of my toe.
I was perplexed. I wondered if it was me, my feet. Had the rest from running over the winter caused my feet to get soft? Absurd. I had been in this predicament before and hadn’t experienced this with new shoes. Then I analyzed the Shox TL3s more carefully. Possibly, the blisters were being caused by the abnormal sole. The sole of the shoe consists of these hard rubber columns that hold up the foot from the middle of arch back to the heel. In between these columns and my feet sits this hard plastic. My thinking is that this combination of hard plastic and rubber columns isn’t allowing my feet to bend naturally as I run.
 My feet finally had enough. They were ready to call the Child Protection Agency. So I decided to give in to the idea of getting new shoes. And, my feet have found new friends–the Saucony Triumph 3, which is a pity. Why, you might ask? I have run in Nike’s for 15 years, finished 9 marathons & too many other races to count, and in the interim amassed thousands of training miles. Your Nike’s have run successfully on me in Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New York, Florida, and Cancun, Mexico. They have been more than trustworthy. They have endured rain, hail, snow, and held their stamina on the hot pavement of desert roads. They have run through the night on pavement as dark as space. And have welcomed the fast march of dawn on early summer morning runs.
I once heard that you truly don’t know a place until you have run it. And I am one to believe that a long distance runner isn’t anything without quality shoes. With this in mind, I want you to know that your Nike shoes have been the vehicle that has helped me "know" so many places, leave an imprint of my presence along countless paths and roads. It’s sad to see this long relationship end.
Sincerely,
Michael Parker
P.S. 40-plus miles later and the Saucony Triumph feels great. No blisters. My feet are very happy.
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