I know Auckland is all Magenta cycle route crazy for cyclists at the moment. Are there Woodchip running paths in NZ? These have a 5-10cm deep base of woodchip and bark, a fleece barrier and grave base for drainage of 5-10cm and designed to make it softer to run on.

Fraser wrote:I know Auckland is all Magenta cycle route crazy for cyclists at the moment. Are there Woodchip running paths in NZ? These have a 5-10cm deep base of woodchip and bark, a fleece barrier and grave base for drainage of 5-10cm and designed to make it softer to run on.

no need for all that when you've got beech forests doing it for you naturally

Used Asics Trabuco for few years & immediately got much quicker, particularly downhill when changed to Salomon XA Pro2 (the ones with square block treads, the L shapes thread rubbish on any rocks or wet grass). Think improvement was combo of less drop & more grip effects. Used XA Pro2 for couple of years but I've now changed over a year or so to Inov8 Roclite 295. Less drop was very noticable at first as was the less protection in forefoot. Much more terrain feel underfoot. Didn't take long to get used to less protection & enjoying the extra grip. I run ligher & more forefoot now due to the invo8's and more careful where I place my feet as a wrong placement can still really be felt. Really enjoying them but they don't last any way near as long as the Salomons. Uppers wear really quickly.

UK_Exile wrote:I run ligher & more forefoot now due to the invo8's and more careful where I place my feet as a wrong placement can still really be felt. Really enjoying them but they don't last any way near as long as the Salomons. Uppers wear really quickly.

if you want to go full crazy have a look at the x-talon 190 - not quite as extreme as the discontinued baregrip (a 'massive' 3mm drop vs 0mm in the baregrip) but as close as you'll get for a full barefoot shoe with a decently agressive sole

danose wrote:

UK_Exile wrote:I run ligher & more forefoot now due to the invo8's and more careful where I place my feet as a wrong placement can still really be felt. Really enjoying them but they don't last any way near as long as the Salomons. Uppers wear really quickly.

if you want to go full crazy have a look at the x-talon 190 - not quite as extreme as the discontinued baregrip (a 'massive' 3mm drop vs 0mm in the baregrip) but as close as you'll get for a full barefoot shoe with a decently agressive sole

Yeah, nah. Maybe if I was in my 20s but now in late 40s some protection & comfort required. Can't be bothered going anyway near the extremes when I'm now doing sports for fun & not for podiums.

mfw... how has your search gone for shoes?

I recently purchased a pair of Inov-8 TerraClaw 250's which are practically like barefoot compared to what I've been used to running in. Plenty of protection from objects underfoot still but incredibly light. Have been suffering a bit from unidentifiable knee pain and hip pain from my weak hip flexes, but the pain is always significantly less after a run in the new shoes compared to the old ones.... could it be due to a lower drop and less structure? Not sure, but I'm liking them so far.

Yeah I was going to chime back in here when I had some results, but I overdid things in a 10km race and got achilles issue (in regular running shoes btw, before I did any barefoot/minimalist!) and it's taking a long time to ease back into it.

I scored some NB Minimus for $100 from Rebel sport but only managed a couple of short road runs on them so far. They're nothing like I've ever had before - super wide toe box, light, 4mm drop, feel great. They feel cushioned though so I personally wouldn't describe them as minimalist. Found sizing was really small - had to go up 2 shoe sizes!

The Xero's though definitely feel minimalist, super thin soles, can really feel the contours of the ground underneath, sandals create a few challenges for running though, especially going down hill, but I'm enjoying trying them as something a bit different on the side.

Also done a couple of barefoot runs, second one was 25 mins though and too long elapsed after the first, so I overdid it and in-between my forefoot pads blistered up pretty quickly.

I think I'll try and got hold of something like equivalent of NB Minimus but for road, and continue to mix up footwear until I can get a stable injury free running foundation. Overall, not put off by anything yet, enyoying the experiment and there's a certain romantic feeling about barefoot running

mfw wrote:I scored some NB Minimus for $100 from Rebel sport but only managed a couple of short road runs on them so far. They're nothing like I've ever had before - super wide toe box, light, 4mm drop, feel great. They feel cushioned though so I personally wouldn't describe them as minimalist. Found sizing was really small - had to go up 2 shoe sizes!

you wearing socks in the mimimus' by any chance? that would account for both the size diff (they're sized for NO SOCKS) and the 'cushioned' feel (espec if you've got big fluffy thorlos).

As for a road minimal shoe - new balance used to do a road version of the minimus, but have dropped it, the 'trail' is the only model now (and even that is likely to disappear as minimal is no longer the 'next big thing')

Similarly inov-8 has backed away from their forray into road shoes. Best option would probably be a 'spikeless spike' : http://www.newbalance.com/men/shoes/run ... ompetition

mfw wrote: Also done a couple of barefoot runs... there's a certain romantic feeling about barefoot running

I hope you're appropriately groomed and dressed when you're out barefoot; long greasy hair, beard, strong B.O, torn old clothes

Good luck with the achilles. Hope it comes right before the summer disappears.

Got a pair of Inov8 Flite 240 kicks at the Bivouac clearance shop for a hundy.
I know nothing (John Snow) about minimal shoes, I just tried on heaps of pairs and went for the comfy ones.

Is there anything obvious a n00b will do wrong with such space age footwear? I'm unlikely to run, I got them for wandering the green belt with Velocipetit in the front pack.

Liking the weight and flexibility on steep rooty tracks, wearing socks so far, but very thin ones.