Two months ago I bought a pair of those new Nike Free shoes that are marketed as a sort of anti-shoe for training how to run barefoot, or closer to barefoot, which supposedly helps strengthen your feet and legs in some manner. I wasn't interested in this benefit since I already run barefoot on the beach and am not a serious runner anyway.

I bought the shoes because they squish nearly flat and hence are easy to carry in my rollaboard.

Normally I just go to a fitness center when I travel and the Free are just fine for that, but recently I found the lightweight and minimal Free just as comfortable running on concrete as my regular big, structured running shoes.

The two Free squish down to about 3-1/2 thick, which is half the thickness of my conventional running shoes. They are also lighter. Nike doesn't mention these benefit on their website, which seems otherwise quite comprehensive. The price is $85 for a standard color combination, which I bought, or you can customize your colors for $95. Pretty slick.

-- Steve Leveen

Nike Free
$45
(men's, 5.0 version)
Available from Amazon

Or $70 for women's 7.0 version from Amazon
href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UI0A92/ref=nosim/kkorg-20">Amazon

Manufactured by Nike
Nike