Minimalist running shoes

ASIC gt2180. All those minimalist shoes are for light people.

I ran 70 miles this month and I am 210. There is no way a minimalist shoe would last for me, and it would probably hurt my ankles.

I couldn't get around the corner of looking like a douche in the 5 fingers. I bought a set of trail gloves, which are bad enough, they are ok for running. They did change my heel strike tendencies. I prefer my salomon XA comps for running.

Most important is to throw away the watch and just go out for a run. When it starts to hurt, head back home. I used to hate running, but I was measuring everything. Stop... most of us on here have a pretty competitive nature, and will kill ourselves trying to go faster. Just enjoy the scenery. I actually enjoy listening to podcasts on the run more than music on the runs, and the miles sorta melt by.

You people are crazy

Seriously I had to go to the hospital (asthma) when I was forced to run a mile to pass PE in middle school. I was never fat I weighed 175# at 6' tall when I graduated highschool. I'm still 6' but have creeped up to a little over 200 in the last couple years.

I need to find a way to trim back down but I doubt I could run from my couch to the front door without grabbing my side. My knees are shot so biking is out. Oh well, I guess I'll just eat a couple more slices of pizza and drink six more beers.

You fit people keep enjoying your running

I just started running and it's killing my lungs! Any pointers in my breathing technique? I like running, but I can't make it far at all:(

Joey

I'm 6-foot, 165-170 lbs, so not exactly heavy. I've lost nearly 10 lbs since the first of the year as I've gotten into exercising more regularly, lost some fat and toned some muscle. Since I've been doing a little yoga, I can really feel that my feet are stronger and my balance is better. I just felt that the "barefoot running" type shoes would be interesting to try.

Osterkraut--Thanks for the offer, but I really don't know where your toes have been. Besides, I'm still waiting on the GRM shirt you said you were gonna send me.

And Joey, if your lungs are killing you, it means you just need to condition your cardiopulmonary system. If you keep at it, you will see improvement. And if you smoke--Don't!

Disclaimer: I am also more of a cyclist, and am trying to get into running, and minimal shoes have caught my eye. Running for me is a mix of a minute or two of running mixed with a minute or two of walking, mixed with sore legs for a few days. What I say on this topic represents almost no experience whatsoever.

I have a pair of last year's Reebok Realflex. Reebok was selling them as minimal, but they're not minimal, just flexible. Minimal means little or no padding AND flexibility, and the Realflex shoes are the most cushy shoes I own.

Not an answer to your question, but I really like the Teva Zilch sandals. You have to fidget with them to get the straps right and avoid blisters, but they're really comfortable, and I have done a very small amount of running in them.

My favorite shoe ever has to be the New Balance MR790. I can't find them now. It's on the thin, light, flexible end of normal shoes. Very little heel rise. I took down the model number and size before I tossed them, so if I ever found another pair, I'd know it.

1988RedT2 wrote: Osterkraut--Thanks for the offer, but I really don't know where your toes have been. Besides, I'm still waiting on the GRM shirt you said you were gonna send me.

You did not apprecaite my humor and I felt spurned!

1988RedT2 wrote: I'm 6-foot, 165-170 lbs, so not exactly heavy. I've lost nearly 10 lbs since the first of the year as I've gotten into exercising more regularly, lost some fat and toned some muscle. Since I've been doing a little yoga, I can really feel that my feet are stronger and my balance is better. I just felt that the "barefoot running" type shoes would be interesting to try. Osterkraut--Thanks for the offer, but I really don't know where your toes have been. Besides, I'm still waiting on the GRM shirt you said you were gonna send me. And Joey, if your lungs are killing you, it means you just need to condition your cardiopulmonary system. If you keep at it, you will see improvement. And if you smoke--Don't!

Nope! Don't smoke! At least not in the last 8 years.

Ill keep at it.

Joey

Osterkraut wrote:

1988RedT2 wrote: Osterkraut--Thanks for the offer, but I really don't know where your toes have been. Besides, I'm still waiting on the GRM shirt you said you were gonna send me.

You did not apprecaite my humor and I felt spurned!

You are incorrect, sir! I appreciate humor in all it's various forms.

Hmm. I wonder, since you can make beer with yeast from a man's beard, if you can also make beer with yeast from old toe cheese?

joey48442 wrote: I just started running and it's killing my lungs! Any pointers in my breathing technique? I like running, but I can't make it far at all:( Joey

Cycle or eliptical to get cardiovascular endurance up. Also get a HR monitor or borrow one to understand what ~60-65% effort feels like and run/cardio primarily @ that level of exertion until your fitness improves.

As to the minimalist shoes for fatties ill let you know hoe that goes as I'm starting with some merrell barefoots due to some heel strike issues and I sadly am 6' 245 right now.

I've only done a few short runs with them but I do not have the heel/foot and skeletal pain I have had its all muscle which is an improvement for me.

The point of the minimalist shoes is for your feet to work like evolution/design meant for them to work. There is no such thing as too heavy, kill your ankles, etc.

When you first start they will hurt. This is your feet regaining strength are remembering what they were actually meant to do.

Put them on, wear them for a nice long walk. Push through the wall and on the other side you will have better posture, less pain, and be happier.

A nice side effect is that the shoes will prevent the incorrect heel strike running method that the over padded shoes encourage. Because if you run heel strike it will hurt like a mofo.

I was a bigger doubter than anyone I have seen on this thread and the owner of the Sole Man out of Key West finally talked me into trying a pair at the Miami boat show. I am glad he took his time over 2 years to convince because now I won't go back.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

e_pie wrote: I've been running in Vibram Five Fingers for over 3 years now, they're great. I also have a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves for running and hiking rocky stuff, they are great shoes too if you're not in to the toe thing.

If you don't mind me asking... how much do you weigh? The people I see running in them fall into the 140lb man and 100lb woman category... (read: people I can trust because I can throw them pretty damn far). I wonder how many people in the 190lb - 200lb range can run 30 miles a week in those.

Usually around 180-185. I generally run 15-25 miles a week.

I've run sub 6 minute miles in them, sub 20 5Ks, and sub 2 hour half marathons, I'm decently quick for my size.

Flight Service wrote: The point of the minimalist shoes is for your feet to work like evolution/design meant for them to work. There is no such thing as too heavy, kill your ankles, etc. When you first start they will hurt. This is your feet regaining strength are remembering what they were actually meant to do. Put them on, wear them for a nice long walk. Push through the wall and on the other side you will have better posture, less pain, and be happier. A nice side effect is that the shoes will prevent the incorrect heel strike running method that the over padded shoes encourage. Because if you run heel strike it will hurt like a mofo. I was a bigger doubter than anyone I have seen on this thread and the owner of the Sole Man out of Key West finally talked me into trying a pair at the Miami boat show. I am glad he took his time over 2 years to convince because now I won't go back.

OK. I'm intrigued enough to give it a try. What are the least retarded looking minimalist shoes so that I can wear them around for a while before running in them. I am seriously not wearing 5 fingers anywhere without full running gear to signal my purpose for them. Does anyone make a running shoe in a normal shoe color anymore? My current set of Saucony's are neon/electric/berkeley yellow so when they are worn out for running they can only be worn to cut grass - you can't actually use them with any normal clothes.

I bought some Merrell Trail gloves a year or so ago. I now have three pair. You do have to ease into using them as your foot muscles have atrophied from being shoes. Wear the things everywhere and your foot will regain it's proper strength. Then go for a short run. Build up your distance over time and I'll bet you'll enjoy running more than before.

I have bad knees from soccer as a younger man. I never had surgery but had to be careful. Now, I can run again with these shoes. Also, the trail gloves don't look like frog feet.

Merrell's line of minimalist shoes would probably be your best bet for normal looking shoes.

http://www.merrell.com/US/en/Men-Footwear-Shoes-Barefoot

I wear mine everywhere.

Zombie thread, canoe removed

Update on Zombie Thread. I am currently wearing a pair of Teva Keagans daily, not much cushion at all.

Probably go to something like the Merrell Vapor Glove 3 for the summer

Wow!  Flashback city!  I forgot I even started this thread.

But now an update is required:  I bought a pair of the New Balance Minimus shoes and I have worn the heck out of them.  The Vibram soles have held up beyond all expectations.  I've even played some basketball in them out on our paved driveway court.  They are super comfortable, and I find myself wearing them almost every day.  Best.  Shoes.  Ever.

Knowing that I would eventually wear them out, I ordered another pair.  New Balance Minimus Model MT10SB (dunno what the model on the first ones was, any printing inside the shoe is faded into oblivion).  These were basically the same shoe, but some changes were made, and they were not good changes.  The shoes are made in China (naturally) and the first ones were not.  The soles are still Vibram and still awesome.  The laces are not easy to pull tight--too much friction in the eyelets and little fabric loops which secure the laces.  The tongue has an annoying tendency to curl, forcing you to flatten it over the top of your foot as you tie the laces.  That said, these are still awesome, super comfortable, and wearing very well.

Before I bought the second pair, I tried a pair of the Merrells (Vapor Glove, I think) and I did not like them.  Whereas the New Balance fit perfectly to my (admittedly fairly narrow) foot, the Merrells felt too wide and floppy, and I thought I'd be more impressed with them based upon their reputation.  I sent them back (thanks, Zappos!) and got the second pair of New Balance Minimus.

In closing, I can't say enough good about the New Balance Minimus.  I am generally a very cranky, hard-to-please customer, but wearing these has been an almost religious experience.  If they keep making these, I will buy them forever. 

I wear minimalist shoes pretty much all the time - Merrell Trail Gloves. They look like normal shoes so nobody notices. I have a big wide foot, so they fit me really well. They're also quite cool with good ventilation. If you're driving cars with small footwells (hello Lotus Seven) they work well.

I run the odd 10k and half marathon. I've tried a pavement half in a minimalist shoe, it was hard on my knees. I'm a heavy guy. So I wear lightly padded Salomons for that and the Merrells for the gym, for driving, for day to day, for walking all over Las Vegas, hiking trails in National Parks, whatever.

One thing about the minimalists - because they don't have padding, they don't wear out. Those Merrells have been indestructible - I'm coming up on five years on a couple of pairs, including the ones I wear probably 75% of the time.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

I have a broad fore foot and narrow heel.  I have Merrel hiking boots and they fit perfectly.  The New Balance don't fit me as well.  You are right, it is all about the fit.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Trail Gloves eh?  I will give them a look.  I bet those give great feedback on the brake pedal

Keith Tanner said:

One thing about the minimalists - because they don't have padding, they don't wear out. Those Merrells have been indestructible - I'm coming up on five years on a couple of pairs, including the ones I wear probably 75% of the time.

That's consistent with my experience, although I was going to credit the Vibram soles and New Balance awesomeness.  Based on the date of the original post, I am trying to figure when it was that I bought my first pair of NB's.  I still wear them, and other than some wear on the soles and a tiny area where the fabric is beginning to pull away from the sole in the toe area on one shoe, they're still in great shape.  Amazing considering how frequently I've worn them, over a span of several years.  They have held up extraordinarily well.  Apparently your observation about the padding has some merit.

http://gost-barefoots.com/en/the-paleos/

Even the most discerning knight relaxes.

In reply to FlightService :

Chain mail.  Nice!  Do you own those?  Hard for me to imagine what those might feel like.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

In reply to FlightService :

LOL.  Just checking.