Online Shoes New Balance 890 Review / Giveaway!

Ok, I know that in my previous post I said that I was reducing the number of reviews I do, but something tells me that everyone will love back to back reviews as long as one of them includes a sweet giveaway.....

A few days ago, I  was contacted by Online Shoes.com. (I’ve bought a number of pairs of shoes from them.)    For the record, when someone from an online shoe store contacts you, it is always good news. Kind of like a bank error in your favor. They said that New Balance was trying to get the word out on one of their newer neutral trainers: the New Balance 890. They’d like to send me a pair and would like me to host a giveaway.  Hopefully I didn’t sound TOO desperate when I emailed back within 45 seconds.

The New Balance 890 is a nice compromise between a minimalist shoe and a supportive trainer.  Coming in at just over 9oz (for the mens) it is one of the lightest trainers on the market that still provides loads of great features.  It’s sort of like a Porsche with like 12 cup holders and a rear DVD entertainment center for the kids.  New Balance running shoes, specifically the 890, are able to get the weight down while still providing good cushioning by putting lots of focus on creating new materials.  Sort of like NASA, but for your feet.

Anyway, when picking out my New Balance shoes to review, the thing that struck me most was how many great colors Online Shoes had in stock.  They had everything from bright red, to bright yellow, to the boring normal colors.  I run in a lot of shoes but these were some of the best colors that I’d seen yet.  So, since I like to wear my shoes like I write my blog.....colorful.... I decided to go with the bright red ones:

Test #1: New Shoe Smell – Passed!
Obviously, that is the first thing everyone does, right?  They get their shoes out of the box and smell them?  I usually like to think to myself “Wow, the smell only goes downhill from here”

Note the light treading to provide just enough grip

Test #2: Tactile Response – Passed!
Since I’m going to be spending more time with these shoes than my family, I need to make sure that they hold up to getting snuggled.

Test #3: Make my son look CUTER – Passed!
I feel like everything I own must in some way make him look better

Test #4: Actually running in them – Passed!
I’ve taken them out for a handful of runs and have really liked them.  I can tell that they are a lighter weight shoe, but not so light that they trash my feet.  In fact, they were surprisingly supportive for as light as they are.  To be clear, these aren’t shoes that I’d want to take out on the trail because of the light tread, but they work great out on the roads.

Another thing that is almost a requirement that the 890s had was a large toebox.  My little piggies don’t like to be mushed together like sausages.  Mix that together with the fact that they’re brighter than the top of the Chrysler building and I am sold on these as part of the normal rotation.  I’ll use them for recovery runs at first but will likely work them in as my tempo run shoe due to their lighter weight.

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Being the ever diligent blog reviewer that I am, I did some digging on OnlineShoes.com and found that they actually have LOADS of New Balance shoes.  New Balance Shoes for Men (yay! Goooo men!) New Balance Shoes for Women (yay! I also loooove the ladies!), hell if running isn’t your style they have New Balance walking shoes and New Balance sneakers.  (Is shoes vs sneakers a soda vs pop type of a thing?)

Ok, I know what you’re thinking: Stop to blabbin and start to giving away!  Ok, here goes.  Like most contests, there will be a million ways to enter. You can pick from any of the mens New Balance or the womens New Balance shoes.  Unfortunately, you DO have to be in the USA.  The contest starts now and goes until 4/23.  PLEASE leave a comment for each time you enter.  I promise that I’m not going to the work to separate them all out so it’ll only count for one.

• Follow my blog and leave a comment letting me know you do
• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow OnlineShoes.com on Twitter
• Send out a Tweet mentioning me and the contest:  "I’m not boring, but just entered @TheBoringRunner New Balance giveaway hosted by @OnlineShoes_com http://www.TheBoringRunner.com/ "
• Repost on your blog or Facebook, whatever.

FCC Stuff: I got a pair of shoes for free.  If you’d stop reading this disclaimer and enter you could too! I wasn’t asked for a positive review.  Seriously, are you still reading? You should be entering by leaving a comment!