Nike Lunar Glide Review – Part1 first impressions
As I’ve posted in my blog just a few days ago, I bought a pair of Lunar Trainers in Black color and I thought it was a great shoe. Then a few days later Jinoe Gavan of takbo.ph asked me if I wanted to take his slot to review an upcoming running shoe from Nike in Bonifacio High Street. Talk about bad timing. He said he and his wife Queenie wouldn’t be available since they have other appointments that day. I can’t believe he picked me, but who am I to say no to this great offer. Boss Jinoe, if you’re reading this, thank you guid!!!
I remember last year after reading “thebullrunner.com” where she and other “runner-bloggers” have reviewed the Lunar Trainers. I admit I was one of those suckers who believed the hype and actually bought 3pairs of LT’s over a period of less than 1year. Now I feel it’s an honor to take part in reviewing the latest model of the Nike Lunar series.
We were supposed to run 1 to 2hours casually with other runner bloggers. Then I met Sam the Running Ninja, Bards, Mukhang Guilty, and Roselle the Running Diva. Just as we received our shoes for review, it rained real hard. We runners stayed in a small tent near the Nike Store. With all these serious runners cramped in a single tent, it’s funny none of us wants to go out and run in the rain. None of us wants to get our new Nike Lunar Glide to get wet. We’re serious runners but we’re also bloggers who have the responsibility to take lots of pictures of the shoes before putting them on and running on them. Because it was raining, the Nike staff just handed the shoes to us and wants us to try them out. They didn’t explain any technical innovations to us other than “Actually, it is Rocket Science”. I remember the Lunar Trainer foams to be inspired by lightweight materials inside a rocket ship, so I thought maybe this is also what they meant for the Lunar Glide+’s catchy slogan.
So without further ado, here are the first pictures of the Nike Lunar Glide+
The Lunar Glide+ now have these “flywire” that kinda like suspension bridge.
Look at the soles, don’t they look a bit like the Nike Pegasus 25?
Looks like they improved the stability of the Glide+
Check out the heel notch, it’s softer. Good thing Nike listened to the feedback of some users of the Trainers complaining of blisters in their Achilles Tendon.
Now look at the bottom. This looks like the future of running technology. Lots of BRS1000 (Nike’s blown rubber) coverage means this shoe will last longer. Now I think I’ll make mine last for 1,000Miles (or 1,600kms). The problem I find with the Trainers is that it’s slippery on wet roads. Now I believe the Glide will have better wet traction especially when racing.
I expected the Glide to be a little heavier, but it seems just as light as the Trainer. Well if it is really heavier, I really can’t feel it.
First impressions
When I put the Glide on, they feel a little roomier than the Trainer. Then I took it for some test run around my running road for just about 400meters. Then, BAM!!! WOW!!! Talk about rocket science, the Lunar Glide is better than the Lunar Trainers! Believe me when I say this, because I am a fan of the Trainer and have 3pairs of them already. The Glide has a bouncy cushiony feeling similar to the Nike Shox, but is way lighter. The Trainer have great pillow-like cushion, but it doesn’t have any bounce… well it does but not like the Glide.
With every step, the Glide seems to absorb and store the shock, and then returns the energy during liftoff. It’s kinda like a hybrid car that uses dynamo brakes to store kinetic energy into electrical energy in its high capacity battery, and then uses it back to accelerate the car through an electric motor. So in theory, if a hybrid car could have a lot of Miles Per Gallon, I believe the Glide would make runners run more efficiently, therefore run longer and faster.
Another thing I like about the Glide is that its heel is not as high as the Trainer, where you would be force to heel-strike and have a hard time doing the Pose or Chi techniques. The Glide is more Pose or Chi-Running friendly.
My only fear is the unnatural bending of the shoe when compressed, is near the middle of the shoe. In my experience with other old Nike shoes, this has caused Plantar Fasciitis for me. But when I tried it for the 400meter run, I didn’t experience any pain.
Tomorrow in Part2, I’ll be testing these shoes for a 20mile (32km) run and see if I could run a little faster than I did last week.
Comments (21)
“Because it was raining, the Nike staff just handed the shoes to us and wants us to try them out. They didn’t explain any technical innovations to us other than “Actually, it is Rocket Science”.”
- oh, but the Nike Sports Marketing Manager, Tony Atayde did mention some tidbits about the shoe, maybe you were not able to hear it bec. you were on the other side of the secong tent. No lenghty explanation were made just yet earlier because the part where they do this was made impossible by the rain. Reason why the test run is rescheduled for next week. fyi.
Hi Vimz, thanks for correcting me. I thought you looked familiar, it was nice to see you in person, too bad we weren’t able to chat. This is embarrassing, but I have problems with my hearing and if the environment is too noisy, I cannot hear most conversations. Anyway, hope to see you next week
ei natz, no problem. just thought of letting you know. yep, see you!
Hisa ko ba.
Thanks for covering the review for Takbo.ph. I luv et…
Mayo lang gali 9.5 ng size. Kung ka-igo na sa akon itip ka guid. Hahaha…
when will you donate your old shoes to my “project donate a shoe”..hehehe! nice shoes. i have one Nike Lunaracer and got a PR time of 3:48 hrs in last year’s MILO Finals. pls remind me about your “1,000-km Club” finisher’s t-shirt. keep on posting & running!
Ano size tiil mo? Imo ni dapat pro. hehehe…
Sir Jovie, I have 1 mizuno size9 shoes I could donate to your project that is still decent and have low mileage in it. It’s a little small for me so I couldn’t run very far with it. My other lunars are just not runnable anymore.
I love the lunar racers because of its extreme lightness. But when I tried it in the stores, I found out it hurts my plantar fascii because it bends in the middle of the shoe.
With your recent fast races, I believe you’ll have another PR this coming Milo Marathons. Considering your age and still improving PR’s, it’s unbelievable you still haven’t reached your genetic peak.
OK sir, looking forward to meet you again in the races (for the tshirt
)when you come back to Manila. Enjoy your vacation.
Sang aga sang Sabado, ga lain tyan ko, gina pinsar ko gani kun pwede iban nalang ma-try. Galing too-late na…
Mayo nalang nag ulan wala kami nag dalagan, kundi tapos guid ako. Hahaha!
[...] Nike Lunar Glide Review – Part1 first impressions [...]
Like you I bought the Lunar trainer, but unlike you I felt that its only benefit was in terms of weight. In fact I thought that it had very poor traction/adherence and practically no energy return.
Naturally then I was reluctant to try the Lunarglide+ thinking that it would simply be a gimmick. Happily I can admit that I was just plain wrong. Time and exhaustion don’t permit me to make a full review here, but let’s just say that I’ve swapped training shoes after going through over 15 pairs of the last brand/model.
Where I feel that they really come in to their own is on steep descents where the absorption has enabled me to take the downhills on at far greater speed.
Sir, thanks for your comments. Yes the Lunar Trainer is very light but you are probably too light to get the traction. The trainer is very poor in wet roads.
Hey, I agree with you. The more exhausted I am with running, the more I find it hard to blog. By the way, may I add your blog to my blogroll?
Great review – how are the the lunar glides fairing up now?
Nice “Made in Vietnam” label. I’m sure the workers are treated so wonderfully.
Where’s part 2 of your testing?
Sorry, I forgot to place the link. Here it is: http://i2runner.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/nike-lunar-glide-review-%E2%80%93-part2-road-run/
Help…I just started running half marathons and fell in love with the Nike Vomero b/c of the awesome cushioning. I’m 40 and get shin splints easily. With all of the Lunar Glide glide hype, I am torn between the Lunar Glide and the Vomero…BTW, I AM VEY NIKE LOYAL. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!
Sir, thanks for visiting my site. They say “don’t fix what ain’t broken”. If you already have the Vomero and really love it, the only adantage of the Glide would probably be lighter weight, if you don’t need much stability. I haven’t tried the Vomero yet, so I can’t give you much comparison on this. You can always switch to lunars once you’ve worn out your Vomero.
I have run in Nike Zoom Elite shoes periodically for about 6-8 years. Within 3-4 weeks of starting to run in a pair of Lunars, I developed paint at the distal aspect of my 3rd and 4th metatarsals and severe 3rd and 4th toe neurological pain similar to a Morton’s Neuroma. The word from the specialty running store is that Nike is taking shoutcuts in production and there are multiple similar complaints out there. This is an FYI entry…
@Geoff S. if you don’t mind me writing a short message Natz. I love Vomero 4 so much because of it’s brilliant cushioning, in fact I have 2 of em. I have run the Cebu marathon 2010 and half marathon with them and has served me well I must say. The Mrs got me a Lunarglide on Fathers day and I must admit it was love at 2nd run. I am a neutral runner but suffered a mild case of Plantar fasciatis on my left foot but was surprise that I haven’t had any issues of same using them lunarglide. I have only 20 miles with them including my 1st day 3 mile break in and probably is just too early to say more positive comments, but so far so good. I will still probably use a Vomero on my long runs/ marathons but having said that I have not tried them lunarglide for a long run. hmmm! we’ll see, we’ll see. Thanks again Natz. Cheers!
I bought some lunarglides on ebay withoit a box…recieved them and they look real and all but saw a “Made in Vietnam” label… Are they all or some made in vietnam? Should I be converned it is a knockoff?