WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE? This Vine literally summed up my life from 7th grade to senior year of HS. I remember the first year I was able to consistently convince my parents that spending more than $100 on a pair of shoes was definitely worth it. It was my first pair of Jordan's, and probably the most iconic ever, the Jordan 11's (every sneaker head loved the Space Jam ones, but the original's were my favorite. My brother ended up getting the David Robinson's, which were SOOOOOO DOPE!). The comfort and performance on the court still holds up well to this day, despite coming out in 1995 (yeah, HS in '95. I'm old). Back then, the ONLY shoe to rock was a Nike. Adidas made some headway late in the 90s with Kobe Bryant "feet you wear" series, but for the most part, it was Nike's world and we were just supporting cheap labor in parts of the world we'd never go to.
Reebok has been the only major player in the CrossFit world for a few years, with a gamut of olympic lifters and shoes specifically made for the myriad of obstacles we encounter at our respective boxes. The most famous of course in the Reebok Nano series. Until this year, your run of the mill athlete was buying a pair of these of just using whatever running shoes they'd happen to have sitting in their closet from that time they signed up for Planet Fitness (PIZZA DAYS AT THE GYM!!! WHY IS THIS NOT AT MY BOX???). While there are other companies who also have a reputation within the CrossFit community (Inov-8, Strike Mvmnt, see this thread for more), Nike is the first worldwide mega shoe corporation to jump in. And jump in they did. Introducing, the Nike Metcon 1.
Nike's first venture into the CrossFit world has had it's share of doubters, but for me it's the best all-around CrossFit shoe I've used. Mind you I've only had the aforementioned Planet Fitness pair, and a more than a few pairs of Nano 3.0's (which many people believe to be the worst of the Nano franchise), however that doesn't mean that Nike hasn't put out a quality product. Purchasing the MetCon can still be a bit more trouble than it should be (with popular sizes selling out quickly and lack of colorways due to limited pairs being released by Nike), if you can find a pair you like, I highly recommend them. Here are a few criteria where I think the MetCon gets it right:
More cushion for runs: While by no means an apt substitute for a real running shoe, the MetCon in my opinion provides a far more comfortable surface for short runs than any Nano variation. I've done up to a 5K in them and have felt them to be perfectly adequate to the task. By comparison, my dogs are barking into round 2 of a 400M sprint in a pair of Nano's. This is because the Nano has a flatter sole than the MetCon's. The MetCon's are more cushioned, which is just more confortable. I'd compare it to a pair of Rainbow sandals as compared to Reef's (that means nothing to most people, but basically one is more cushiony than the other. BTW, in California, there are Reef people and Rainbow people. It's like the Beatles/Stones debate for people who say "hella" all the time). I would stick with a true running shoe for runs longer than 5K or if you have especially sensitive feet, but because most of the workouts you will do revolve around the 400M-1 mile variations, this should not be a problem. Some people do not like the cushion, as it provides a little more "give" due to the extra padding. More power to them. But I'm a pretty pretty princess and my feet deserve to be pampered (FYI: I've experienced zero negative effects from the extra cushioning. My foot is just more comfortable, which is great).
Raised heel for olympic lifts: I have bone spurs in the front of my ankles, which really limit the amount of dorsiflexion in the front of the joint (think knee over toes flex rather than ballerina toes, which is plantarflexion). I usually do most olympic lifting in my Nike Romaleo 2's, but for lighter barbell workouts I can make do with the MetCon's. This is because the raised heel is in between that of a Nano, which is flat, and a classic olympic shoe, which typically gives the wearer anywhere from a half inch to an inch of incline in the heel. You'd never see a competitive olympic lifter wear anything but oly shoes to train, but the MetCon is a nice hybrid that provides a little extra for those who might need it. Now the coach in me will say that just because you use any type of raised heel, that shouldn't stop you from working on the things that hinder you actually being able to move the way you should. That is, it's a crutch that you should be working to get away from, not using it at all times to complete movements. But in the end, the goal is lifting more weight. The raised heel allows for extra leverage and positioning to achieve that goal. And in the end that's what it's all about, right? That and eating all of the donuts.
Flywire in the midfoot: The MetCon uses Nike's patented Flywire technology to create a very secure and stable feeling around the foot. The first time I wore the MetCon's, I love the feeling through the midfoot even when the shoes were not tied. Like I got the Marty McFly self tying Nikes. I felt like my foot was really "in" the shoe. Now, this isn't a recommendation to wear the shoes untied, as you might fall on your face and hurt yourself, and if you do that, you're gonna have a bad time. However, I liked that even sans being laced up, I don't feel like the shoe is going anywhere. With foot positioning and feel so important in many of our movements, this was an aspect of the shoe I really liked that lacked in the Nano.
Other general musings:
- The shoes did not run the same size as the Nano 3's. I wear a 9.5 in Nano's, however in the Nike's I felt my toes were really jammed up in the toe box, so I went .5 size up. This is in line with all my Nike basketball shoes and not specific to these shoes.
- The toe box itself is larger than what you may be used to in a Nano. At first I thought this would mean more of my forefoot wiggling around, but have yet to have it be an issue.
- I have felt no difference in the rope climbing technology utilized between Nike and Reebok.
- I had no issue breaking in my MetCon's, but a few friends of mine have bought them recently and have complained that they do take a little time to get used to. These are the people I don't listen to because they constantly complain about this and other First World problems.
- Nike has since remedied their huge mistake of only having men's sizes in the shoe and now has multiple colorways for all the single ladies. The Lauren Fisher colorway is very posh and not too girly, while the black and white kicks look like what I would make a Nike iD version out of. There is also a version with pink, but don't let society decide what colors are meant for boys and girls. You like death metal red, rock that (see all the single ladies, above).
Currently, I have but one pair of MetCon's. My only issue is that they haven't made them available in the aforementioned Nike iD so I can personalize a pair to better fit my many outfits (I recently was rocking a red getup, matching from headband to socks, which clashed ferociously with my grey, black, and volt MetCon's. People looked at me like a had murdered their puppy for committing such a fashion faux pas, and I had a perfectly good pair of Spider-Man Nano's that totally would have tied the outfit together. But such is my love for the MetCon that I was willing to walk around my box like Cerci through King's Landing. Function over fashion kids.
My general advice is that if you're looking for a quality pair of shoes to get you through almost all of what CrossFit has to offer, you can't do any better than the Nike MetCon 1. If you have a pair of perfectly good shoes and don't have a lot of expendable income, this shoe will not make you Mat Fraser, so stick with what you have (unless you use running shoes. At that point, I mean, come on) and wait till later to purchase a pair. If you're a shopaholic (like me), I won't even try and tell you what to do because lord knows you already have 5 pairs and my advice doesn't mean a damn to you anyway. Either way, I'm a believer in the MetCon and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
PROS:
- More cushion than the Nano for more comfortable short runs.
- Slightly raised heel for increased leverage in olympic lifts.
- Spacious mesh toe box keeps feet well ventilated.
CONS:
- Not all that much different than a Nano to justify buying a pair of shoes if you don't need them.
- "War" with Reebok got pretty tiring.
- Not the magic pill for those with mobility problems. But then again, no shoe is.
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