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Jul 26, 2011

Minimalist shoes....

4 miles today.  Felt great today.  It's much cooler this morning than it has been over the past week.  Even 5 degrees makes a big difference.

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Minimalist shoes.  I've been thinking about trying them for some time.  My biggest issue was buying a pair of shoes that I was only going to use 10% or less of the time I run.  My plan was to not use these shoes as a replacement for my regular running shoes but to supplement my shoes to help strengthen my legs and feet.

Fortunately, for me, I WON a pair of Somnio Nada barefoot shoes through Barefoot Angie Bee's blog.  I just received them yesterday in the mail.  Here's a few pictures of the real thing -
Nice looking pair of shoes
Look how flat these are!
Bottom
Heel
Front
They also came is a nice shoe box and a CD to help you learn how to stretch before you use them.  I love the "It's all about YOU" saying on the box:



Overall a really nice pair of shoes.  I'm going to take this really slow so I don't hurt myself.  Frankly, I probably should not be going straight to barefoot shoes.  I should probably go to something with less support than my Saucony's and then move to this but I will take it slow and ease up on the mileage.

So far, I've just tried them on to make sure they fit.  They run really large.  These are a 7.5 shoe and I normally wear an 8.5 - a full size difference!

One thing I noticed this morning as I was getting ready to go outside for my run is the huge difference in what I'm wearing now versus these.  The picture says it all:

Look how much bigger my Saucony Ride 2's are versus the Somnia Nada.  Wow - that's a really big difference!

Saucony's weight :  11.50 oz.

Nada's weight:  3.50 oz.


Question of the day:  What's the light pair of shoes you own?




Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!!

7 comments:

  1. I'm not sure of the weight differences in my shoes but my Nike Frees are a lot lighter than my Nike Structure Triax's. I can literally feel the difference when wearing them. I did a 3 miler for the first time in the Frees and now I'm up to 6 miles. Baby steps!

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  2. i totally didn't even know that they were making a minimalist shoe. can't wait to hear more about it. i have a pair of racing flats that i wear to do speed work in and plan to wear in a 5k, if i ever get around to running one of those again :)

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  3. Wow - those are light! I'm slowly making the transition to a minimalist shoe. I was running in Brooks Adrenaline when I got the chance to try the Saucony Mirage (7.9oz) - love how light they are while still offering some support. I'm now starting to rotate Saucony Kinvara (6.7oz) in for speedwork. Baby steps is definitely the way to go!

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  4. I run long runs / marathons in the Kinvaras (8oz)
    Decent cushioning for 26.2 but the sole is a bit too stiff..i.e. bad for foot strength to use them too often. (I would never run in honking "SUV" shoes..that's how I got Achillies Tendonitis)

    So I run in Nike Free's (like Mallory above ) for all runs less than 13 miles to keep my feet in shape. They aren't zero drop but are similar to the Kinvaras

    I would be very careful going all the way to the Nada in one go. I wear Saucony Hattoris (4 oz, zero drop) for knocking around to keep my legs stretched out and you might start by doing that.

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  5. those look awesome! I'd love to try a pair...well, work into them for my shorter runs. Enjoy them.

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  6. When I'm not totally barefoot I run in water shoes...and have NO idea what they weigh. Look like interesting shoes...can't wait to hear what you think of them!

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  7. I'll be really anxious to hear how you like these! I wear clunky cushioned trainers for my long runs, but I race my shorter tris (the runs are 10k and under) in Pearl Izumi Iso Transitions. They weigh nothing.

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