Questions & Answers

Hi all!

In April this year I became fed up with ITB issues. Through a contact on twitter and a following bout of Video analysis and research on better running form I slowly improved my technique. The only trouble was the Asics 2140's I owned. All of a sudden, they felt like unnatural clumsy blocks on my feet. Being on a budget, I had to investigate less expensive ways to go minimal rather than VFFs. So, from June 2010 till now I built up minimal shoe miles wearing aqua shoes bought from my local supermarket, a pair of Huaraches from invisibleshoe.com (which are my favourite!!) and a thin pair of Gola Retrive (kind of minimal but they do have a heel drop and a narrower to box).

Patience paid off and I can now comfortably run 10miles in any of the three items of footwear above. my 2011 goal is to run a Marathon wearing the Huaraches. Completely doable i think.

Say hello or have a look at most of my running thoughts at snikt-running.com

Happy running!!

I try to get out on Sundays for trail runs in the morning. Year round. If you are in the area, drop me a line.

Knee issues (patellar-femoral syndrome initially diagnosed in summer of 2007) sent me down a path of re-evaluating the active side of my life... I have fully converted to minimalist footwear and when warm enough (and light out), barefoot running. Running in a minimalist shoe has gotten me into running and I enjoy it for the first time in my life. Running in a minimalist shoe retrained me how to run with the correct form and now I know how terrible my form used to be. I was a heavy heel striker, so it's now wonder I've always had some sort of knee, ankle or hip issue.

My minimalist shoe line-up started off with VFF KSO's (Oct 2009) and then I added Feelmax Kuuva Boots (Dec 2009), Feelmax Osmas (Feb 2010), Terra Plana Oaks (Dec 2010) and recently won a pair of Vivobarefoot Neos (or Evos depending on availability) through Donald's Running and Rambling blog. I love testing out new shoes and have pretty completely only wear a minimalist shoe whenever possible.

I do have a pair of Inov-8 295s (Almost 3 years old and ready to retire) and recently purchased a pair of New Balance MT 101's. These don't fall under my definition of minimalist, but have worked well for me for trail running, running in snow and hiking/backpacking. The elevated heal of these trail runners doesn't seem to affect my gait too much on an uneven surface.

However, my enthusiasm with running caused me to overtrain for a 25k trail race last spring and since then have been wrestling with IT Band issues. After much research and testing to keep it from flairing up, my plan for my training will now consist of 1 long run per week and cross-training (core exercises, hiking, biking, weight-training, etc.) I've also found that the slow-to-medium pace running seems to irritate my knee the most, so I've adopted a modified Fartlek method of running. It seems that my knee doesn't seem to bother me when I run fast and it doesn't bother me when I walk. So after I warm up, I run hard and then power walk (to catch my breath), run hard and then power walk, repeat, repeat.... This seems to be the ticket for now and maybe at some point I can reintroduce longer runs with consistent slower running. This and icing my knee after every run seems to be the key to keeping the knee from flaring up from the IT Band irritating it.

My name is Jesse, and I have been making the transition to the minimalist running/footwear world over the last 6 months.

I am very excited about this site, because shoes are becoming an issue since I have been increasing my BF distance and dialing my form.

Thanks for putting this together. A site similar to this has been on my wish list... -Jesse

Hello!

I've been interested in minimalist footwear for a long while, even before Born To Run. I had a pretty early review of FiveFingers here:

http://runningsoules.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/vibram-fivefinger-review/

It appeared on the FiveFingers website for a while.

I started running barefoot completely this summer, and transitioned to running in minimalist shoes for this winter, but have had a ankle injury. Trying to figure out what'll work best for me.

Looking forward to seeing what this site will become.

Started running as a minimalist about a year and a half ago with great gains in endurance and speed... I'm in the military, where the minimalist community is growing... More and more people are starting to realize the benefits..

Hi everyone. Scott here, just dropping in for a quick introduction. Been running barefoot and minimalist for over 1 year now. So far, so good...

cheers, Scott

Link from the Army Times. Minimalism is being embraced in some areas/units, but there's still some die-hard resistance to anything not "traditional".

http://www.armytimes.com/offduty/health/mil-offduty_toeshoes_101110/

(Link posted here because I can't seem to post it in the directory)

Hi all, I live and run in the mountains of NC. I love running the hills and have been minimal for just about a year and run in many different shoes. My favorite are invisible shoes huaraches but I also run in Brooks Mach 11 xc flats and Saucony Kinvara. I don't race yet but plan to start in 2011 and hopefully work up to a 50k ultra by 2012.

Hey guys!

I'm a new runner, because I started just at 1st May 2010, but through circa 6 months I made more than 1200 km :) Since some time I became interested in minimalist footwear and barefooting, because before I was running in pair of Nike Lunar Glides. I have now Terra Plana Evo II and there are great. Also, I was running a little totaly BF, just before snow came here. Unfortunetly now I'm off running since circa 2 weeks, because I have a problem with my knee. Now I have to make MRI and then we will see...

Run healthy!

-- Greets, Samur

Hey all, looking forward to this. I'm a Feldenkrais movement educator in NYC. I'm thrilled that there are finally more viable shoes hitting the market!

Chris

Hey folks, my name is Ryan, and I found the link for the site over at Barefoot Ted's Google group.

I've been running off and on since about 1994, when I enlisted in the Army. I only got into a more natural running style when I picked up a pair of Newton Gravitas shoes a couple years ago. This of course led to exploring more minimal options; now if I'm not running in VFF's/huaraches/barefoot I feel like I have ankle weights dragging me down.

I'm so glad that more companies are producing more options for minimalist runners this year. VFF's are great, but still disallowed in several military environments. Right now I'm waiting for Merrell's barefoot line to drop, as these look the most promising for military wear. For personal use, I'm really eyeballing the Adams from Altra.

Glad to be here, and I hope to learn a lot!

Ryan

I normally were VFF's but it's a little difficult in the cold and snow. Does anybody have any good boots that would qualify as minimalist? They need to be waterproof to handle some snow, but I'd prefer no heel and some room to move around the toe box. Thoughts?

Hi,

My name is Josh Leeger. I'm passionate about getting people in touch with their inner exuberant animal...usually through movement. I'm a personal trainer (and exuberant animal trainer), ex massage therapist, and finishing my master's degree in Kinesiology this year! I went through Vibrams and the like a year or so ago, and now rely mainly on moccasins, BFT's Luna's, or my Adidas Sambas (I know, not minimalist...I'm checking out the Adams for a possible next "sport shoe" purchase).

Happy to see the site, Damien. Looking forward to some good exchanges here!

Josh

Hello Everyone!

I'm a new cyclist and triathlete. The running leg of the triathlon is the hardest part for me. I've tried to "be a runner" several times throughout my life, but I've always ended up injured with shin splints and knee problems. I was put in motion control shoes to correct my problems, but was never told anything about proper running form. Being injured over and over again was highly frustrating.

I fell in love with triathlon, but in order to do something longer than a super sprint I needed to figure out how to run without getting injured. This led me down the path to minimalist footwear. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on and have ditched the motion control shoes for some Asics Hyper Rocketgirl cross country flats. I'm working hard to improve my form and so far I'm running without pain and with more ease.

I have a long road ahead of me, but I'm excited to see where it leads me.

What a great website! Just wanted to say hi from snow covered Missouri (St. Louis area) I dislike running on the treadmill so I guess I get to brave the cold, snow and wind and continue my training.

Take care all and happy running.

From snow-packed Saint Cloud MN, Greg here. Looking forward to finding much good information here and hope to add to it as well. Just the type of site I need.<br> I am new to minimalist shoes. I have a pair of VFF Bikilas and have a pair of Brooks Mach 12 Spikeless running flats on order. My main concern (currently) is training tips and avoiding injury. I had a lousy second half of 2010 with shin splints then problems with IT.

Hi! I've been a full-time barefooter for almost a year. I had no problems in our vicious summer heat, but this winter chill is killing me. I've made a few pair of mocs and huarache-style sandals, but when I need something on my feet I usually default to flip flops (which I hate!) because they're easiest to slip off ASAP. :)

My kids are barefooters too, especially my 5yo. Though he usually opts for bare feet, he still fits into Robeez, lucky kid!

Hi everyone!

I am both new to running and new to minimalist running. I have slowly been adding barefoot running to my schedule, mostly to help me with my form and avoid heel striking.

I am very new to running! At the age of 30 (10 months ago), I decided to take up running on a whim. I ran about a dozen 5k's last year and 2 beginner triathlons. I am hooked on this running thing and am excited to increase my distance and speed as I learn to better my form this year.

I have a pair of Kinvara's that I really love. I am so intrigued by the minimalist running movement and have seen big improvements in my form and less shin pain because of it in my training. I can't wait to learn more!

Hi all

I'm Mark, 37-year-old newish runner from Yorkshire in UK. I'm a convert to minimalist shoes having seen my persistent shin splints disappear since I ditched my asics nimbus for nike frees (don't hate me) and saucony kinvara, now my default shoe. Hoping that the chronic calf soreness that replaced the shin splints will pass too in time ;)

I've flirted with barefoot and will be doing this more when the weather improves here. I gave in and got some VFF KSO for christmas but I find my toes don't seem to be the length vibram think is "normal" - I wear 10 UK (11 US, 44 EUR) and tried 42/43 in the VFF sizes. 42 too short on big toe and tight across instep (I have fairly high arches), 43 had a little room on big toe and little toe, but the ones inbetween were well short of the toe caps - not short enough to fall out, but probably only around halfway down the toe pockets. I wonder if anyone has experience of other VFF models having longer/shorter sizes - I think I read that the women's models may have shorter toes, but are probably too small for me... In the meantime, I'm looking forward to trying the Altra Adam when it comes out.