I truly wanted to love these shoes but they are not for me!
A little background for my current shoes. I have been running in New Balance Beacon v3 for a quite a while. Before that I ran in the v2 and v1. To say I love the Beacon’s is an understatement. I’ve always loved New Balance and how they fit my feet. I have a wider toe box and mid foot so NB seem to fit my feet the best. I have way to many miles on my Beacon v3 and it was time for a new pair. I searched and searched and watched way to many videos on shoe reviews. I’ll work on my favorite youtube shoe reviews channel. I visited the local Fleet Feet in the area and tried on at least 7 different pairs. After some internal questions I decided to try the New Balance 880 v12.
My initial thoughts of these shoes were great. They were soft yet comfortable and they look fantastic. I wanted to love the shoes. My first run in the shoes was a slow slow hot 5 miles. On that run I didn’t think it was the shoes but the heat that made the run I didn’t want. My feet were fine but I knew something was off on these shoes.
A should have done a little more research before trying on the shoes but sometimes it’s best to go by feeling instead of reading about it. My 2nd run in the shoes I tried to pick the pace for my normal 3 mile out and back but still the shoes just didn’t work. After that run I was able to figure out why. The New Balance Beacon v3 has a 6mm offset. That is how far the shoe drops from heel to toe. The 880 shoes has a 10mm drop. After the two runs in the 880 it felt like I was running on my tippie toes and I didn’t like that feeling at all.
I took these shoes out one more time just to see if I can get over the running on my toes feeling and they just didn’t work for me. I’m thankful for the great return policy at Fleet Feet because I’ll be returning these very soon. Wish me luck on trying to find a new pair of running shoes!