need some new running shoes during the transition to BFR

get a move on

Barefooters
Jun 4, 2011
5
0
0
Hi, I'm new around here! Some background-I have been running in Nike Eclipse shoes for several years and recently started adding in some BFR-i'm up to 10 min 2x a week. I absolutely love the feel of BFR, as soon as I start my body clicks into place and I feel a natural . I am going slowly with the BFR, but I am running the Army 10 miler in Oct. I have been wearing my NIkes for my longer runs but they are uncomfortable now that my feet and toes are spreading out, I get blisters when I run longer than 5 miles in them, I don't wear socks. The cushioning destabalizes me but I like the flexibility of the sole.

I need to find a transition shoe so I don't overdue the stress on my feet, which shoes to get? I have tried Merrel Trail glove and they were too narrow and the arch felt restrictive and stiff. VFFs change my gait in an unnatural way, I don't mind walking in them but running is definitely out. Is there a shoe that will protect my still delicate muscles and bones without too much cushion, zero drop and a flexible sole?

My plan is to do the ARmy 10 miler in whatever transition shoes I get and keep adding BFR each time I run with the end goal of doing all my running BF or barely covered (I run on paved trails in the woods with a lot of debris, I will need some kind of covering to prevent cuts.)



Thank you!
 
I'm just beginning, as well,

I'm just beginning, as well, but the usual advice with 'barefoot' shoes (like VFFs or the Merrell line -- I know 'barefoot' shoes is an absurd term, but I'm just using the usual phrase) is that you shouldn't do something in those that you couldn't do barefoot, at least on adequate surface. In other words, you should expect the same stresses on your feet as when you go barefoot -- or maybe worse, since the protection (to your skin) might cause you to push your feet further than they're ready to go.



Going from 20 min/week to a 10 miler in a month and change just seems to be too much. Personally, if I had to run it, I would only do a race like that in shoes that I'm already comfortable in, right now.
 
I'm actually in the same

I'm actually in the same predicament as you. I have only ran bf for a short time and have made it to running 2 miles. I too am training for the Army 10 miler and would like to have a good shoe for this run but don't want to go too minimal, as I don't feel I will be ready for 10 miles in minimalist shoes. At this time I run my run in nike frees. Let me know if you find something that works for you and good luck. Maybe we will see each other at the 10 miler.
 
Is there a shoe that will

Is there a shoe that will protect my still delicate muscles and bones without too much cushion, zero drop and a flexible sole?

I don't know of any shoe that will do that. I do know that with "transitional" footwear comes transitional injuries. With that said, I know of two new shoes hitting the market soon (ZEM 360 and STEM Footwear) that have little to no cushion, are zero drop, and have a flexible sole, but they won't be available to you in time to work out the kinks, so to speak. I'm wondering if a 10 mile race in October is too soon for you.

Welcome, Get. Glad to have you aboard!
 
I have been running for 5

I have been running for 5 years in Nike Eclipse, here it is: http://www.zappos.com/nike-eclipse-ii

They are not marketed as a running shoe, but they are called a 'natural motion' shoe and there is not a lot of cushioning and it has a lot of flexibility. They do not offer me a wide enough toe box to do longer distances-which is my main problem with them. If I got the Nike Free, I would be adding cushioning and heal height. The Altra Instincts also look to have more cushioning. So I am looking for a similar shoe to the Nike Eclipse that has a wider toe box.
 
And if you can't find any

And if you can't find any decent water shoes at Walmart, try www.SwimOutlet.com. They have lots of styles, great prices, and they don't only carry them seasonally; they carry them all year long.
 
I'm not certain how Nike

I'm not certain how Nike womens' shoes fit, but Nike is notorious for having particularly narrow mens' shoes, so it may be enough to simply switch to the lighter retro-style sneakers from another brand, like Saucony (Bullet?) or Asics (Sprees, Tigers, Corridos?). If that's not enough, some of the New Balance retro sneakers come in widths, one of those might work for you.
 
There is not such thing as a

There is not such thing as a "transition shoe" to barefoot running. The best transition to barefoot running, is not wearing shoes at all. Incorporating shoes in your transition will only hinder, and delay your progress with barefoot running.

Good luck!
 
The women's Nikes are very

The women's Nikes are very narrow as well; in fact, they are one of the shoes that gave me Morton's Neuroma (along with ASICS Kayanos and Saucony Grid Ignitions, although the latter two have wider toe boxes). I would advise people to stay away from Nike for this reason mostly, the narrow toe-box.
 
Barefoot Gentile wrote:There

Barefoot Gentile said:
There is not such thing as a "transition shoe" to barefoot running. The best transition to barefoot running, is not wearing shoes at all. Incorporating shoes in your transition will only hinder, and delay your progress with barefoot running.

Good luck!



In a perfect world this would be my choice, but there are 2 main obstacles. 1)I live in the forrest and all my running is on paved trails with debris, I have already gotten cut by sharp pebbles. 2)running keeps my body loose and in allignment, running does it like no other exercise. Cutting back to what I can do barefoot just isn't a great option for me.

Your comment makes me feel unwelcome here, is this a place for only BF purists?
 
No.  This is a club for

No. This is a club for barefoot and minimalist runners, and you are VERY welcome here. Please check out the About Us link at the bottom to get a feel for our stance on footwear. I think Gent was just wanting to save you the time, pain, and trouble that comes with so-called transitional footwear. We have found through our combined years of experience that it's best to shed the shoes cold-turkey and relearn how to run naturally without interference from perceived protection, then only incorporate footwear when it's truly needed. We have learned that a true transition process can take years to acheive if you do it by stepping down from one minshoe to the next. We also know that most people can't and aren't going to make the necessary sacrifices to run without footwear, so we believe it's very important that we support those who do choose to run in footwear without forgoing shoes first to help them through their transition and help limit their frustration and possible injuries. Again, all contributions to this club are welcome. We all stand to learn a lot from each other, whether or not we have something on our feet.
 
Here's an excerpt from Steven

Here's an excerpt from Steven Sashen's blog on his site about "transitional" footwear at: http://www.invisibleshoe.com/blog/ I think it's very fitting here.



I was recently on a panel discussion about barefoot running. At one point, someone in the audience asked “So how do I transition to barefoot running?”

Before I could respond, a well-respected physical therapist suggested the following:

“First, switch to a slightly lower heeled shoe than what you have. Run in that for a few months. Then add a racing flat, maybe one day a week for a while… then add an extra day every month, until you can run in those. Then maybe try something like Vibrams on a soft surface, like grass in a park. Work up to being able to run on the grass… then try a soft dirt path. Eventually you may be able to run on hard surfaces, but don’t do that too often. And I don’t recommend being totally barefoot because you could step on something.”

The only reason I didn’t interrupt him was that I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. But then he tossed out this next line:

“Expect to spend about 2 to 3 years making the transition. That’s how long I’ve been doing it and I’m still not there.”
 
get a move on wrote:In a

get a move on said:
In a perfect world this would be my choice, but there are 2 main obstacles. 1)I live in the forrest and all my running is on paved trails with debris, I have already gotten cut by sharp pebbles. 2)running keeps my body loose and in allignment, running does it like no other exercise. Cutting back to what I can do barefoot just isn't a great option for me.

Your comment makes me feel unwelcome here, is this a place for only BF purists?



You're not unwelcome. Personally, I'd love to see more shoe moderates around.



(Though even I would say that you should try to extend -- slowly!, not to 10 miles in October -- the distance you do truly barefoot. But that's jmho.)
 
To the OP.I does not really

To the OP.

I does not really matter to me if you run in shoes, or bare. I'm not here to comment on that.

What I can tell you from experience. It does not matter if you run in min shoe, or bare. If your new to it, and you want to run 10 miles in Oct. One of two things will happen. You will be upset cause you will not acheive your goal, or you will injure yourself. One of those things will happen as your goal really is not realistic. I would encourage you to re evaluate that goal.

Transitional footwear is certainly a option because of all the foot wear variety on the market. The thing is that process of transition would be super, super slow. Like years, and would require you to buy diffrent shoes before they expire. So it could become expensive.

Wear min shoe if you desire, but transition very slowly. Don't say you were not warned.......
 
get a move on wrote:Barefoot

get a move on said:
Barefoot Gentile said:
There is not such thing as a "transition shoe" to barefoot running. The best transition to barefoot running, is not wearing shoes at all. Incorporating shoes in your transition will only hinder, and delay your progress with barefoot running.

Good luck!



Your comment makes me feel unwelcome here, is this a place for only BF purists?



Sorry you feel that way, and no it's not.
 
let me preface this by saying

let me preface this by saying that i love not only running barefoot but genuinely enjoy running in a good minimal shoe. and i am pretty new to this myself - im no super athlete, high mileage person. im still learning and adding mileage. i couldnt run your 10 miler in any shoe or barefoot, hahaha. all that being said...



as much as everyone can tell you to transition totally barefoot i really do get that you cant because the running trails you have access to just arnt ok to run bare on. I have worn all kinds of shoes for minimal running - i call "transitional shoes" minimal sneakers because i think it gets the two main points accross, they are sneakers, not minimal shoes, but they are better than running in Nikes.

This is a review of a bunch of minimal sneakers.

https://thesortofbarefootrunner.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/almostminimal/



if i were to suggest a pair for you i would go with either the Inov8 155s(well now that i went to the website and saw the bare-x lite 150s, i would definitely say those would be awesome too) or NB Minimus Trail in a EE wide size. both have padding, both are very fleixble, the 155 being the single most flexible shoe i tested in that lot.



But all that being said i agree with whoever said there are two outcomes to running the 10miler in anything but a regular sneaker. injury or disapointment, most likely both. i would buy a sneaker from Inov8 or someone like that to run your 10 miler in, and i would run it with that lovely heel-strike stride because otherwise you will hurt yourself.



Inov8 makes all kind of sneakers with a good amount of padding, like the road-x 255s. on a side note they have added the bare-x lite 150 which i will replace my 155s with as soon as i get my hands on a pair :)



but the more i think about it, Inov8 is pretty pro natural gait, you might need even more of a "sneaker", maybe go with something like the Nike Free for your race. very sneaker, very fleixble. awful for your feet, but you can worry about that after your race.



GOOD LUCK!

Aaron
 
everyone is giving you some

everyone is giving you some decent advice. what no one has told you is to go out and try some on and see what you like. that's the most important part since you will be paying for them and wearing them. hopefully you live near somewhere to go try some and don't have to ship and return. look up some of the shoe reviews here and over at zerodrop.



Mike
 
migangelo wrote:everyone is

migangelo said:
everyone is giving you some decent advice. what no one has told you is to go out and try some on and see what you like. that's the most important part since you will be paying for them and wearing them. hopefully you live near somewhere to go try some and don't have to ship and return. look up some of the shoe reviews here and over at zerodrop.



Mike



Lol-so simple: go try it on. I will most likely be ordering online and shipping though...

I will take a look at more reviews.
 
I'm a noobie as well so take

I'm a noobie as well so take my comments for what they are worth (I started barefooting in April this year - before that I had been side-lined for 3 years due to a knee injury)



I've tried several "barefoot shoes" over the past 5 months - actually one of the best is something you can't buy, but is cheap to make - socks covered with Plasti-Dip on the bottom. This solution offers no padding or structure but does protect the bottoms of your feet from twigs, sharp pebbles and the heat of the road or trail (it's been over 90 degrees here lately and my plasti-socks have been a "sole-saver"). The other option I like are water shoes - I got mine at Walmart for under 10 bucks. These have very little padding, zero heel drop, and allow your toes to splay. And they "almost" look like running shoes so you don't get the "hey weirdo" stares. (not that that's good or bad - you just don't get them...)

I also like my VFF and home-made huaraches, but it sounds like those wouldn't be good options for you right now.

Good luck with your transition.