New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo V3 Running Shoes Testing

The Shoe Vault

  I had a chance to try out the New Balance Free Foam Vongo V3 running shoes while attending the weekly Fleet Feet running event.  Normally on Tuesdays, Fleet Feet hosts a “Pack the Park” event in one of the local parks.  On this particular Pack the Park, a New Balance representative would be there along with several different types of New Balance shoes for us to try on during our run, however, the park was closed and we tested out the shoes on a pre-determined route by Fleet Feet. 

  The New Balance representative had four different models of shoes for us to choice from: the 860, 880, the 1080, and the Vongo Fresh Foam.  While I am usually an On Cloud person when it comes to running shoes, I have been wearing On’s Cloudflyer for the past several months because of the stability it offers. 

The Shoes To Try

  While perusing the various shoes on the rack under the New Balance tent, I asked the New Balance rep what the various numbers meant.  She quickly replied that I was looking at the shoe sizes marked on the bottom of the shoes.  I chuckled and said that I knew about the shoe sizes but didn’t comprehend the model numbers. That’s when she explained what 860 (support and stability), 880 (neutral support), and 1080 (neutral) were.  Talking about my current running shoes, the Cloudflyer, she suggested I go with either the 860 or the Vongo.

  After selecting the Fresh Foam Vongo V3 because they offered a more tradition form of support for stability running, I walked around to get a feel for the shoes.  They were kind of dusty on the outside, but I attributed that to me wearing a size 10, which is a fairly common shoe size.  Walking around the outside of Fleet Feet on the asphalt felt okay.  It was nice walking without adjusting my stance like I do for the Altra Lone Peak 3.5 with their Zero Drop foot feature.  I wandered around in the Vongos and tried to put them to the test with walking: I moved while widening my stride, I would pivot in them and listen for any squeaking or other weird noises. 

 Other people were still checking out I continued walking and then started stretching my legs and rotating my ankles since I ran in the Labor Day 5 Miler the previous day and my ankle was hurting at two different times during that event.  When the last person picked out a pair of shoe for the demo run, we unofficially officially began our warm-up exercises.  I kept toiling with ways to make the Vongo V3 flex and move about, and yet they still felt fine before the run. 

Stretching Out

  We went for our three mile run, though others who were faster opted for the four mile try-out on their New Balance shoes.  Everything felt okay and normal with the Vongo V3 at first.  I start behind most of the other runners and slowly work my way past each person, similar to what I do during a race.  I had no intention of passing anyone, but the cushioning felt pretty good and the shoes were comfortable. 

However, near the one mile mark of the run, both of my heels started to hurt each time I hit the asphalt.  That pain endured for almost a quarter of a mile.  It was a rather annoying pain that I couldn’t stop thinking about, but wasn’t enough to prevent me from continuing running.  The cushioning wasn’t helping and it almost felt like the support was not there anymore. When I hit the halfway point and turnaround, I let one of the Fleet Feet people know that my feet were hurting but I would finish the run. 

  It took about another five minutes before the pain in my heels went away during the run.  I have no idea what happened, and I couldn’t tell if the pain was residual from the race the previous day or if it was from the Vongo V3 themselves. The treads on the soles looked fairly new, but the dust atop the shoes told a slightly different story.  The pain subsided to almost nothingness by the time I finished the run, but I couldn’t help but think about what caused it. 

  I will say that while the Vongo V3 felt good before the run and okay after the run, if I hadn’t ran in the On Cloudace two weeks prior, I wouldn’t have a good gauge to on when it came to testing shoes.  With the Cloudace, I can easily compare them to my Cloudflyer and feel the difference.  Both models of On shoes offer cushioning, but the Cloudace was so comfortable, provided a lot of support, and didn’t have issues.  As for the Vongo running shoes, the other direct comparison I can do is with my New Balance Vazee shoes which I don’t usually wear for races, though I did wear them for a 6.5 trail race and a couple of 5k and a 10k run in the past. The Vongo feels better than the Vazee, seems to provide more support, but the traction on both felt about the same. 

  Proper footgear is essential when running and I was very fortunate throughout my Army career that, to my knowledge, I didn’t have any foot issues.  I know too many people who got out of the service and either had difficulty running afterwards or couldn’t run at all.  If you get a chance, test shoes before you buy, and definitely if you are given an opportunity to do a demo run with a shoe company, go for it.

Volunteering and "Volunteering": Civilian Running Events versus Military Running Formations

  The other week, I volunteered for the South Carolina Governor’s Cup race.  This is the second time this year I’ve volunteered to help out for a racing event, but it got me thinking about the differences between a military organized run and a civilian racing event.  

  With both, there’s a lot of coordination across multiple entities.  You have to get with the local law enforcement and road officials to ensure the proper routes are closed off to traffic.  If there is a major intersection anywhere along the course, both events need to have someone with authority out there to direct traffic during the lengthy gaps of runners.  Both events also require a lot of work at the start/finish areas and that includes having people telling the participants where to go, where they can’t stand, and to help corral people to the correct designated areas.  

  Of course, the biggest difference between the two is I have never seen a water station on a military route, but I covered that in an earlier post.  

  For the Governor Cup Race, I helped out at the awards table.  It was our responsibility to get the plaques and top three finisher’s prizes prepped and ready for presentation.  We took care of the 5k awards, the half marathon prizes, and two different sets of medals for “triple crown” participants and the state’s prestigious runners’ club. 

  It was quite a task to set up the medals, plaques, and finisher coasters in a particular order and just like the military, not everything goes according to plan. No matter how much planning, prepping, and rehearsing you do, sometimes you just have to adapt, improvise, and overcome.  I say this because while we had all the awards separated by race and in age order, the award announcements alternated between the youngest and oldest categories and worked towards the middle.  And then there was the weird static electric issue with the plaques.  While we had no issues pulling the plaques from the 5k awards, the half marathon plaques wanted to stick to the bubble wrap that encased them in their respective boxes.  That made for a slow down in presenting the awards and there was at least one woman who insisted on telling a few of my fellow volunteers on how to get the awards ready for the next set of runners.

  But the overall experience was a positive one, and unlike the military, I wasn’t told that I had to volunteer to help out with the event.  I also received more of an appreciation for those who volunteer to help organize, run, and help out with the running races. 

No Water For Formation Runs But You Need It For A Race

  I recently ran in a 5k race in Greenville, South Carolina, and I noticed something out of the ordinary out there.  They had no water stations along the route and those who participated did not have water readily available at the finish line. We had to walk a little bit to the refreshment tables to get our water.  This got me thinking about how I never needed water while running with my Soldiers, but when in a race, I almost always seek out the water stations.

  One of my more memorable moments in the military are the formation runs.  For those who don’t know, a formation run is when a unit runs together, usually in a rectangular shape with three to four people in the front and everyone falling in behind them.  A unit formation run can be as small as a squad run with only four to twelve people, all behind one person and as big as division with hundreds of rectangles comprising thousands of people if the commander wishes.  But usually, a formation run will range from a platoon (about 30 people) to a battalion (between 300 to 800 people).  Each rectangle gets a cadence caller, a singer if you will, who is charge of keeping everyone in step so no one trips over another person’s feet.  I could go on about some of the songs used for cadences, but that can be for another day.

  These formation runs are intentionally slow, too, at least by military standards.  Most people like to keep them at basically a ten minute per mile pace, though I have run in some that went at a nine minute per mile pace, and then there were the rare seven minute a mile pace runs.  These formation runs can usually go for at least 45 minutes, though I remember a brigade run taking over an hour to do. 

  There’s no water along the route for a formation run, either.  Instead, you’re expected to be already fully hydrated, drink some water before the run, and have water readily available once you’re dismissed from the formation run.  I always kept a container of water in my car on days like those.  Because the pace was so slow compared to how fast we were supposed to run as individuals, you can say I was accustomed to not having water during a run.  Even with the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT), while we ran as fast as we could for two miles, there was no water on the course; only after you were done. 

  Now, when I participate in a 5k race, I’m not running at six miles per hour (the ten minute a mile pace), so I’m going to need some sort of liquid out along the course.  And while I could go without water the entire race, I know there is always someone out there who is participating in the race for the first time, underprepared for the race, or have the weather (heat, humidity, glaring sunlight) severely affect them.  This past weekend in Greenville, I was actually thirsty along the course while running the Zoom Through the Zoo 5k.  I did drink plenty of water the night before and I had several cups up to two hours prior to the race, but for some reason, I still craved liquid refreshment while running.  Before I hit some discouraging hills about two miles in, I was working an eight-minute mile pace, which is a little faster than I have been doing, so on the positive side, I’m slowly getting back to my old self.  Then I started to run out of steam, figuratively, because I needed to cool off with some water, yet none was nearby.  If I was feeling this way, how did the people I passed at the beginning of the race feel?  And I wasn’t the only one seeking out water after the race, either; another runner asked me where I got my water bottle from when I walked back to the finish line.  This particular race was the first time I’ve ever run a 5k race and there were no water stations set up on the course.  

 This is one of those perplexing mysteries to me.  Why do I not need water while in formation, but if I’m running more than two miles in a race, I crave it?  Maybe it’s all the cadence calling and responses of a formation run. Maybe it’s the slower pace.  But whatever the case, I need to keep an eye on it.

Double time and Dance: Why a Song About an Airplane is More Important Than Audiobooks and Podcasts

  For 25 years of my running life, whenever I ran, there was a song being heard aloud.  Sometimes, that song involved a cargo plane. Other times, a song about where everyone was at during the run could be heard.  These songs were cadences and very familiar to anyone who has been in the military for more than a couple of weeks.  Cadences are rhythmic and set to a beat that is roughly 180 beats per minute. That sounds fast, but it is really just a beat that strikes every time the left foot hit the ground. 

  Cadences keep the military in step because whenever you have a large mass of people moving in the same direction, the most efficient way to do so is to have them in step so as to not have random people trip over each other and create some Looney Tunes falling scenario.  With the double-time march, each person starts by leading with their left foot as they move forward.  When I ran in formation, we usually had three or four columns of troops, depending on how many people were available and how big the overall operation encompassed.

  The cadences themselves would sometimes entertain the runners, but more often than not, everyone would end up with a “C-130 rolling down the strip,” and be one of “Sixty-four paratoopers taking a one-way trip.”  A few times, an adventurous person would sing this cadence with gusto or change up the routine a bit.  

  Cadence calling and cadence singing are a part of life in the military.  If you are running by yourself one day, you might mentally hear a running cadence in the back of your head and your feet adjust to the cadence rhythm.  I know my feet have… on multiple occasions.  I eventually hit a certain rank in the military where I could just do physical training on my own and my preferred choice of exercise is always running.  Weight training by myself? Uh, nooo. Plyometrics? I’ll pass. Run? Heck yeah!  If I wasn’t running with a select group of people, I would venture off and knock out six miles on my own, which probably scared some of my company commanders because in Texas, the temperatures creep up and we’ve heard reports of single runners getting hurt or even having a heart attack and no one was around.  But I would run and sometimes that mental C-130 would visit me.

  Which brings me up to my current running situation.  I usually run to music now. I slap my Zune into my right armband (because it still works and I love that thing), and I set out on workouts or 5k and 10k races with a preset playlist.  My running playlists have a tendency to be dance songs while I’m out there.  As much as I love genres like classic rock, old Motown, and current top 40, dance songs have a range of beats between 110 and 180 a minute.  Those beats help push me to go further and the slower dance songs help with a guy who has slowed down over the years. 

  I’ve had quite a few people tell me that I should listen to podcasts while running, but I just can’t.  For me, podcasts are reserved for non-exercise activities, to include driving.  But the biggest thing that stops me from doing podcasts and even audiobooks during a run is the lack of a beat.  I can’t run to someone conducting prose or explaining how the latest Intel processor will benefit a third world country’s school system.  But having Avicii and Carly Rae Jepsen going? Yea, that helps a lot more.

  Though, I have been known to start a race or two with the theme to Halo 3, or even the opening song to Chariots of Fire. 

  But that C-130 is always going to be with people like me.