First outing in my minimalist shoes for the year

Yesterday it was the first really nice day of the year here, so I took the afternoon off and went to the park with my New Balance Minimus's. I didn't run, but walked 4 miles at a pretty quick pace. Today the balls of my feet and the back of my right heal are wondering why I hate them so much. I don't remember my feet being so sore after wearing them out for the first time last year.

I guess this is the downside of wearing my Iron Rangers everyday for the last 5 months.

Wed was your first nice day? Wow, we've had a few here in Columbus. This whole winter has seemed like March, actually.

We have had a couple nice days usually with 20-30 mph sustained winds, and directly preceded by 36 hours of snow or rain.

I have Vibrams & I wear them for the like them a lot. I use them right now mostly for my CrossFit/HIIT style training. But I have ran shorter distances in them also. I am hoping to get the Brooks Pure Flow pretty soon for my half marathon coming up.

I ran half marathon in the Saucony Kinvara 2's last month, and I love them. Getting ready for a new pair pretty soon, too. But I'll be the first to admit: I'm still adjusting to the whole "mid-foot strike" stride.

Make sure you start slow and build up foot strength before doing to much or you will really hurt yourself. I wear a pair of Vibram Komodosports all day, and find when the summer hits and I want to start running barefoot again I still have to work up from about half a mile to my usual five. How are the Minumus'? I love my Vibrams, but my wife is less enthusiastic.

Sadly, the Brooks and NB minimal shoes do not fit my feet. I go to a local running store for my shoes, and the guy said minimal shoes do not come in wide enough sizes yet. Interestingly, he stopped carrying Vibrams because too many of his customers were getting hurt in them.

I went with the Minimus because I could not get my gorilla feet into the Vibrams. I tried 3 different sizes and after 45 minutes I had broke into a sweat in the store trying to get them on. I bought mine last year, so they have the 4mm drop, but I really don't think it makes that much of a difference.

2013 Update

Exactly one year later after starting this thread we had out first nice weekend of the year. I hit the trail in the Minimus and after having not run since November things went well. 2 miles and no foot issues. Last year I started wearing a pair of Swiftwick socks under the shoes, and it's made a huge difference. For some reason my my one heal is very susceptible to rubbing in different shoes without socks, so the socks are a necessity. I'm doing a 7 mile mud run the first weekend in May so hopefully the weather says nice enough to get some mileage in.

Commander Quan said:

I went with the Minimus because I could not get my gorilla feet into the Vibrams.

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Opposable thumbs on your feet are always a problem with Vibrams, you'd think they'd have an option.

I just got a pair of Vivobarefoot Neo running shoes. They are pretty nice. Almost no sole at all.