- Sep 17, 2002
- 14,582
- 162
- 106
Just a short review...
I tried "minimalist" running last summer using some Vibram FiveFingers. I ended up with top-of-foot-pain after about 6 weeks or so. It is likely that I tried to do to much too soon as I was running 6+ miles on them pretty quickly (I "blogged" this on this forum). After a month off, I started running again in my old shoes (which already had a marathon and associated training on them). I continued to run on those shoes until a about 2 weeks ago putting on an additional 900+ miles on them (probably something like 1300 in total). Essentially they had been worn down to almost nothing and didn't have much longer before a crucial seam would burst. I would have thought myself crazy for having done this years ago, but the shoes themselves were very flexible and if I had learned anything from the "minimalist" running I did, it was that keeping a consistent form was very important. With all of that running, I had zero injuries even with a couple fast-for-me marathons (~3:10).
So with this backstory in mind, I decided that a relatively minimalist shoe would be best for me, but I wanted a little more protection than the Vibram FF's that I already owned. After trying on several pairs and running a bit in them, the Nike Free 3.0 seemed to work with my feet the best. I've been running on them for 2 weeks now and I didn't skip a beat with my normal running schedule (6-8 miles 3-4 days a week with a 10+ mile run on the weekends). I'm really enjoying them so far. Light and very flexible, but enough protection to make you feel confident. I am most interested in whether i will stay injury free as that is most important to me. If so, I may have found my perfect balance between shod and barefoot running.
I tried "minimalist" running last summer using some Vibram FiveFingers. I ended up with top-of-foot-pain after about 6 weeks or so. It is likely that I tried to do to much too soon as I was running 6+ miles on them pretty quickly (I "blogged" this on this forum). After a month off, I started running again in my old shoes (which already had a marathon and associated training on them). I continued to run on those shoes until a about 2 weeks ago putting on an additional 900+ miles on them (probably something like 1300 in total). Essentially they had been worn down to almost nothing and didn't have much longer before a crucial seam would burst. I would have thought myself crazy for having done this years ago, but the shoes themselves were very flexible and if I had learned anything from the "minimalist" running I did, it was that keeping a consistent form was very important. With all of that running, I had zero injuries even with a couple fast-for-me marathons (~3:10).
So with this backstory in mind, I decided that a relatively minimalist shoe would be best for me, but I wanted a little more protection than the Vibram FF's that I already owned. After trying on several pairs and running a bit in them, the Nike Free 3.0 seemed to work with my feet the best. I've been running on them for 2 weeks now and I didn't skip a beat with my normal running schedule (6-8 miles 3-4 days a week with a 10+ mile run on the weekends). I'm really enjoying them so far. Light and very flexible, but enough protection to make you feel confident. I am most interested in whether i will stay injury free as that is most important to me. If so, I may have found my perfect balance between shod and barefoot running.