Invincibles - Love at first flight?

Finally got to try out my new Nike ZoomX Invincible Runs that arrived on Valentine’s Day. I must say that it was like love at first flight - my initial impression was that I was surprised how quickly I took to them. 

Full disclosure, this is my first pair of Nike running shoes. I have been running consistently for the last 11 years and started with Brooks then switched to Asics back in 2013, having bought the last version of the Gel-Kayanos.

I took to the Nike Invincibles straight away 📸 hafi.run

I left the house just before 7am, started running a little gingerly, focusing on form and aware of my foot strike to gauge the level of pronation. As I explained in my previous article about injury prevention, I have hyper mobility and fairly severe over pronation. Having been injured before, I have grown to trust ASICS as a brand and have put my faith in the Kayanos, happily buying them online some years without trying them on a running shop treadmill. 

So yes, it is a big thing for me to try not only a different shoe, but an entirely different brand for running. Injury setbacks are huge and I didn’t want to go back there. I did my research and talked in depth to Arran & Jerry (whose thoughts on the Invincible are here). 

I understood the rationale about the rocker geometry helping running form, the premium ZoomX foam providing energy return and the stability that has been incorporated into the shoe. Despite all of this, I must admit I was a little sceptical, but I wanted to try something new. It seemed all the concerns I had were addressed in the design, so I thought I would order a pair. If they didn’t feel right and feel wobbly and loose around the heels they were going straight back.

Well they didn’t,  I ran in them this morning and they are not going back! As with any new pair of shoes I run easy, trying to get the measure of them. It had been raining early morning and it was wet underfoot. Not that you could tell in the Invincibles, the traction was very good, gripping the pavement well. Some people report that initially the shoe seems a bit wide, but having slightly flat feet, I have always gone for slightly wider sneakers, particularly avoiding anything with a narrow toe box.

The warm up of my run was downhill, which seemed secure. I focussed on my form and didn’t notice any pronation or buckling of my ankles at impact. When I was ready to up the pace, it felt pretty effortless. I had some residual tiredness in my legs from the 24km two days ago, so it would be good to report back when I am fully recovered.

The second half of the 10km, my legs felt a lot freer. The shoes responded well to increasing pace, no slipping. Compared to my Kayanos, it felt like I was running on compressed clouds. My Kayanos feel solid, the Invincibles feel lighter whilst still holding my feet well with the stability that I need.

I am really looking forward to running intervals and long runs in them.

The trainers felt secure & gripped well in the wet.

Twelve hours on, my legs feel fine, none of the niggles and little pains I usually experience when I am breaking in a new pair of trainers. My current Kayanos 27, took me about 5-6 weeks of running before I felt truly comfortable with the them. I actually feel like I could have run longer without extra exertion (my legs felt fresh the following morning). These Invincibles are unique, felt great pretty much straight away. They felt awesome!