Puma’s Velocity Nitro 3 is exactly what most people would want from a daily trainer. It’s a bit of a do-it-all shoe which falls comfortably between pacy race day shoes on the one hand, and chunky midsole recovery shoes on the other.

Straight to the midsole

For the midsole, Puma layers their nitrogen infused Nitrofoam on top of its EVA Profoam; in fact, there’s 2 mm more Nitrofoam this time around than on the Nitro 2. This combined with the heel-spoiler, which looks a bit like the bough of a ship at the back of the shoe, adds a fair amount of weight to the shoe. Indeed, the Velocity Nitro 3 now pulls the scale just past the 300 g mark for the men’s size UK10, up from 288 g on the previous version.

In my opinion, what you sacrifice in weight you get back as a more well-rounded shoe. The mesh uppers look more mature on the Velocity Nitro 3 and the 2 mm of extra Nitrofoam definitely makes a difference on runs. Puma completes the offering with the excellent Pumagrip on this outsole.

On the run

How does the Velocity Nitro 3 feel while running? Very neutral, with decent cushioning. I’m not sure how big of an impact the protruding heel-spoiler has, but while on the road it felt like I moved away from a full heel strike, more towards a flatter footfall that encompasses the width of the foot.

The Velocity Nitro 3 is not as bouncy (or rapid) as the Deviate Nitro 2, but the midsole is far more responsive than the stoic UA HOVR Machina Breeze.

After the shoes arrived and with only about 12 km logged on the outsole, I took the Velocity Nitro 3 to race Pirate’s Over the Mountain 21km. Obviously I was concerned about doing so, with the warning of not being enchanted by new shoes for race day firmly niggling at the back of the mind. Come the run, I barely noticed the shoes, which over a very hilly terrain is exactly what you want.

During the review period I focussed on getting more fartlek sessions under the belt, which at my weight of 93 kg means pounding the pavement quite hard. The Velocity Nitro 3 handled these sessions with aplomb, with the thicker midsole managing to protect the heel, which kept me in turn, injury free.

And finally

In all, it’s very difficult to critique the Velocity Nitro 3 since in my opinion it’s a genuinely great training shoe. Yes, its 301 g (UK10) weight will make those used to sub-250 g grumble and I also felt the fit was a bit tight, but that’s about it. On offer is a decent midsole that’s not too bouncy nor too flat, good looking uppers, with Puma’s renowned Pumagrip as outsole rounding off the package.

It won’t be my first choice for race day (I’m sticking with the Deviate Nitro 2), but for regular training sessions when you need decent cushioning, the Velocity Nitro 3 ticks all the boxes. 

There is one final but important part of the Velocity Nitro 3 – its price. The shoe comes in at R2 600, which is actually R200 cheaper than the price of the previous version when it first appeared.