Dear all,
I was the happy winner of the Xero Shoes Giveaway Contest! Expires Monday, November 30, 2020.
To start, just a few milestones about my recent (?) footwear experience.
I mostly run barefoot
. Just to give a sense of scale, I've recorded in Strava more than 2000 km barefoot and only 200 km with the above V-Run.
I have participated in some competitions (10 km on road, trail discovery, the only podium of my runner career...), but I remain a poor performer and usually I finish in the last quarter and frequently last in my category.
This said, I was very happy to receive the email from @Barefoot TJ . I went through Steven’s website for a long time to finally make my choice on the Z-TRAIL. I also took the time to choose Men's 10, taking advantage of the provided tool, after hesitating between sizes 9 and 10.
As said above, I rarely run on shoes. My idea is to replace my old sandals (Clarks Vextor Run) that made the soul last summer in the Alps, for leisure and small hikes in the hills and the middle mountains. And to have them as backup shoes for the trails.
During December, I was surprised to receive a text informing me of the imminent delivery of a package from an unknown company located in the the Czech Republic.
After some thought and research, I realized that Feel The World EU BV was the European subsidiary of Feel the World, Inc, Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix’s company, who own the Xero brand.
Today (March 14, 2021) is my very first run with my brand new Z-TRAIL.
Yoh! The sun is nearly to rise. They spoke about snow in the hills and in Jura Mountains. Here the temperature is about 3°C. It’s almost the end of curfew, so I can get out.
I put on my Z-TRAIL.
Some advice for adjusting are available here.
So we'll not see the sun in the next hours.
It is still relatively dark. I take a small path alternating thin gravel sidewalks, road and gravel road.
With the rain and the passage of the vehicles, the pebbles were laid and the gravel road would remain easy even barefoot (it would be much more hurting in summer in dry weather).
In muddy areas, I felt rather confident, keeping my balance and without slipping. I did not tempt the devil either: I did not set foot in the water, the ambient temperature did not induce me.
The soles provide good thermal insulation from the cold ground. I feel much less chilled feet compared to the barefoot situation on the ground. That said, the toes are less stressed and are exposed to the cold, so stay alert.
The crampons remain small and do not accumulate the soil excessively.
I played on flat ground today. It would be interesting to venture on the Batier this season to see what it looks like. This should change from the summer version.
To be updated / edited / continued... Feel free to have a look here.
I was the happy winner of the Xero Shoes Giveaway Contest! Expires Monday, November 30, 2020.
To start, just a few milestones about my recent (?) footwear experience.
I mostly run barefoot
. Just to give a sense of scale, I've recorded in Strava more than 2000 km barefoot and only 200 km with the above V-Run.I have participated in some competitions (10 km on road, trail discovery, the only podium of my runner career...), but I remain a poor performer and usually I finish in the last quarter and frequently last in my category.
This said, I was very happy to receive the email from @Barefoot TJ . I went through Steven’s website for a long time to finally make my choice on the Z-TRAIL. I also took the time to choose Men's 10, taking advantage of the provided tool, after hesitating between sizes 9 and 10.
As said above, I rarely run on shoes. My idea is to replace my old sandals (Clarks Vextor Run) that made the soul last summer in the Alps, for leisure and small hikes in the hills and the middle mountains. And to have them as backup shoes for the trails.
During December, I was surprised to receive a text informing me of the imminent delivery of a package from an unknown company located in the the Czech Republic.
After some thought and research, I realized that Feel The World EU BV was the European subsidiary of Feel the World, Inc, Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix’s company, who own the Xero brand.
Today (March 14, 2021) is my very first run with my brand new Z-TRAIL.
Yoh! The sun is nearly to rise. They spoke about snow in the hills and in Jura Mountains. Here the temperature is about 3°C. It’s almost the end of curfew, so I can get out.
I put on my Z-TRAIL.
Some advice for adjusting are available here.
So we'll not see the sun in the next hours.
It is still relatively dark. I take a small path alternating thin gravel sidewalks, road and gravel road.
With the rain and the passage of the vehicles, the pebbles were laid and the gravel road would remain easy even barefoot (it would be much more hurting in summer in dry weather).
In muddy areas, I felt rather confident, keeping my balance and without slipping. I did not tempt the devil either: I did not set foot in the water, the ambient temperature did not induce me.
The soles provide good thermal insulation from the cold ground. I feel much less chilled feet compared to the barefoot situation on the ground. That said, the toes are less stressed and are exposed to the cold, so stay alert.
The crampons remain small and do not accumulate the soil excessively.
I played on flat ground today. It would be interesting to venture on the Batier this season to see what it looks like. This should change from the summer version.
To be updated / edited / continued... Feel free to have a look here.
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