Synopsis: the Merrell Trail Glove is as close to a sneaker as you can get while still being minimalist. aka "dangerously comfortable"
I always like to try new shoes, thats how I got addicted to VFFs. So when I saw Merrell had put out a "barefoot" shoe I figured I owed it to them to try it out.
Upon first lacing up these shoes I thought I had my verdict. I hated them. Since "going barefoot" I havn't put on a pair of sneakers, so being laced into a shoe felt awful. In order to make it through the trial I loosened the laces as much as I could, but it only lessened the discomfort, it did not get rid of it. To compound the lacing discomfort the edges of the tongue have a tendency to roll over, which does not hurt immediately but WOW, after a couple hours, OUCH! So once I took care to not let them roll over that was also much better. I did like the mesh topside above the toes - it was nice to feel the wind on my toes.
OK, so I tried to ignore the laces and give an honest unbiased opinion on the rest of the shoe. I started by walking around my neighborhood. Once again, I thought I had decided their fate right then. the very tips of my toes were catching on the inside of the shoe, which was not painful, but it was annoying. It really wasn't looking good for these poor shoes!
And then I ran in them.
Up till now I did not have a lot of nice things to say about the shoes, but, once I started running, everything got better. All my toe discomfort/annoyance went away once they were broken in. They were very comfortable to run in, by far the most padding I've run on since starting to run barefoot, which isn't necessarily a good thing. I did tend to go back to bad habits of curling my toes inside the shoe. simply because they could. But overall, running in them was fine. not amazing. not bad. just fine.
My verdict: Here is what worries me. We all know that when people run "barefoot" but are in fact shod in minimal shoes, they have a tendency to hurt themselves because there is not enough feedback making it to the soles of their feet. Well the Merrell Trail Gloves are the king of this problem. Since they have way more padding than any VFF I worry that inexperienced runners could really hurt themselves due to over use. Although it is counter-intuitive, the shoes with the most padding should be left to only the most experienced barefoot runners. These would be a great shoe for very nasty ground conditions - very rocky trails, etc... but other than that application, I would NOT recommend these shoes for every day running in normal conditions.
one side note: I suppose someone wanting to run a very long distance could use these to protect their feet - but I fear that the same thing might happen there. i still think the closer you are to being barefoot the safer it is for you, making these shoes dangerously comfortable.
ORIGINAL BLOG POST
I always like to try new shoes, thats how I got addicted to VFFs. So when I saw Merrell had put out a "barefoot" shoe I figured I owed it to them to try it out.
Upon first lacing up these shoes I thought I had my verdict. I hated them. Since "going barefoot" I havn't put on a pair of sneakers, so being laced into a shoe felt awful. In order to make it through the trial I loosened the laces as much as I could, but it only lessened the discomfort, it did not get rid of it. To compound the lacing discomfort the edges of the tongue have a tendency to roll over, which does not hurt immediately but WOW, after a couple hours, OUCH! So once I took care to not let them roll over that was also much better. I did like the mesh topside above the toes - it was nice to feel the wind on my toes.
OK, so I tried to ignore the laces and give an honest unbiased opinion on the rest of the shoe. I started by walking around my neighborhood. Once again, I thought I had decided their fate right then. the very tips of my toes were catching on the inside of the shoe, which was not painful, but it was annoying. It really wasn't looking good for these poor shoes!
And then I ran in them.
Up till now I did not have a lot of nice things to say about the shoes, but, once I started running, everything got better. All my toe discomfort/annoyance went away once they were broken in. They were very comfortable to run in, by far the most padding I've run on since starting to run barefoot, which isn't necessarily a good thing. I did tend to go back to bad habits of curling my toes inside the shoe. simply because they could. But overall, running in them was fine. not amazing. not bad. just fine.
My verdict: Here is what worries me. We all know that when people run "barefoot" but are in fact shod in minimal shoes, they have a tendency to hurt themselves because there is not enough feedback making it to the soles of their feet. Well the Merrell Trail Gloves are the king of this problem. Since they have way more padding than any VFF I worry that inexperienced runners could really hurt themselves due to over use. Although it is counter-intuitive, the shoes with the most padding should be left to only the most experienced barefoot runners. These would be a great shoe for very nasty ground conditions - very rocky trails, etc... but other than that application, I would NOT recommend these shoes for every day running in normal conditions.
one side note: I suppose someone wanting to run a very long distance could use these to protect their feet - but I fear that the same thing might happen there. i still think the closer you are to being barefoot the safer it is for you, making these shoes dangerously comfortable.
ORIGINAL BLOG POST
