Runners - help needed with lightweight shoes

[lph]

I bought a pair of VFFs! Sat for half an hour in the store persuading my poor squinched toes to wiggle in and out of them, and finally took the plunge. Black KSO. I feel like I'm wearing somebody else's feet, but quite comfy nonetheless. I'm not completely convinced that they won't blister, as my big toe does jam up against the end of its pocket, but the size up was too big. The ground feel under the heel is surprisingly strong compared to my Nikes.

I'm sorta kinda working towards running barefoot, but since I run as part of my commute I needed something that would work right now. I have chubby feet with short toes and usually stay very warm when running, so I think I should be able to switch between the Nike Free 3's and the VFFs for some weeks yet, especially since all my runs are short so far.

(I can't wait to see the expression on peoples faces when I finally transition to barefoot, and either get on the metro or run all the way to my office job, with muddy, stained bare feet...)

Thanks for good advice!

[Wahine]

Hi lph,

I went through a similar transition 2 years ago. I tried the VFFs but my toes were to short relative to my foot width and it didn't work, so I ended up with the New Balance Minimus. They have a very generous toe box with good fit for a narrow heel and excellent gorund feel. The model I have is not quite like the one in the link and I'm sure they didn't cost me that much.

Brooks also makes a nice shoe line called the Pure that have a thicker sole that might be good in winter. They are light and flexible but won't have the same ground feel. There are lots of different models with different heel drops, if you want a barefoot experience you're looking for a zero drop shoe.

It's nice to have a few different shoes to choose from. I run with Newtons sometimes, my Minimus sometimes and when my calves feel pretty tired or if I have some achilles irritation I'll where a more tradition drop shoe.

[lph]

Thanks for the tips. I've tried out the VFFs twice now, with rather surprising results. I was expecting the feeling of wearing something between my toes to get on my nerves, because I tend to be sensitive about stuff like that. Instead I just felt very aware of where all my toes were, and when I put on regular (wide, comfy) shoes, my little toe felt uncomfortably squashed... Walking and running short distances with them I felt no strain on my calves at all, but I hadn't thought about how "wet" they are compared to regular shoes, just stepping on a patch of slightly damp forest soil I had water seeping everywhere. And my toes did get cold faster because of it. I'm wearing chopped off socks over my ankles to compensate a bit. While the mismatch between my own toes and the shoe toes I felt in the store just disappeared outside, no trouble at all.

Next step will be to try a real run with them, not just a hike+jog. Fun :-)

[lph]

"Real run", hah. I'm such a smart-aleck. I ran 4,5 miles 2 days ago and I'm still going down stairs backwards ;-)

[TrekDianna]

Sport Woot has some on sale right now. 78% off http://sport.woot.com/plus/fila-bags-shoes-4-cheap