Merrell Naked Foot 5k Nashville Race Report

My running partner, Sebastian the Boxador, after a brief warm up jaunt back to the vehicle to deposit swag. Check out that tongue!

What a beautiful day for a run! Cliff's Notes: Had a great deal of fun, PR'd (22:08), and got to hang out and chat with Shelly and Jason Robillard. Awesome morning! I will let the pics and captions tell the rest. Pictures are more interesting than my ramblings any day of the week.

Milling about pre-race. Lots of family types on the course. Several military guys from C-ville (they stick out like a sore thumb). Really laid back, friendly folks.

Aw, the "wares" tent. Got a close look at a few upcoming models that spark my interest. Stay tuned for a preview.

What have we here! (Back row - two pairs on the right: gray/orange, and blue/gray = Road Gloves!)

Several minimalists in the crowd. I love how Vibram has really decided to go low-key with their latest designs. /sarcasm

There are the barefoot Yoda and Yodette at the pre-race briefing. Actually, Jason is more like a Qui-Gon Jin... or maybe Obi Wan due to several factors, particularly youth. Not sure what that makes Shelly. Ken Bob is definitely Yoda being the eldest and wisest of the barefoot advocates. Excuse me while I adjust the tape on my glasses. ...laugh *snort* laugh...

Quite a few first-time barefooters in the crowd, which was rad. Also, Sebastian was one of about 1/2 dozen doggahs that ran the course.

Anxious to get this party started. This guy lives for cool weather runs!

And we're off! Dude in yellow had awesome form.

The trail was about 1/2 asphalt paths, 1/2 grass and dirt. Only one gravel patch at a crossing. Very smooth, very fast course.

Purty.

Through the grass and freshly fallen leaves.

Flags mark the way to the finish. The Parthenon on the horizon make you feel like an OG Greek Marathoner.

Closer.

Closer still.

And we're done!

Rest time! I think his tongue grew significantly in the last 22:08.

This band was rad. They're called....erm, I can't remember. It was something like "Studio 10" or other. They were fantastic, though, and represented a progressive Nashville flavor.

Chillin' after cool-down.

A barefoot clinic with Jason.

"Qui-Gon" at work. Learned an awesome new drill from him for use with my middle school running club.

I ran around to snap some pics before participating in the dill.

The master at work.

Jason and I love us some Brooks Infinity racing split shorts. Seriously, try them and you will never go back to "basketball shorts" ever, ever again.

I learned a few things today. 1) I kind of already knew this, but I can absolutely fly on grass barefoot. As soon as I got back on pavement my pace slowed considerably. 2) Running with a rambunctious dog and an SLR camera in hand is incredibly challenging (but worth it for my blog). 3) People love dogs at races. 4) Jason and Shelly rock! I hope I get a chance to hang out with them again soon. Next priority: finding a justification to travel to Minnesota to hang out with my fellow lanky internet barefoot blogger, Christian - AKA the Maple Grove Barefoot Guy.

Up Next: Merrel Barefoot Road Glove - First Look!

Minimalist Shoe Review: InvisibleShoe FeelTrue Contact

Here they are after several road and a few trail miles. No visible signs of sole wear yet.

I have a long-standing love affair with sandals. It all started shortly before I entered college way back in *cough-cough*. Excuse me. I enjoy the freedom they offer and the built-in air conditioning, not to mention they always go well with shorts or blue jeans. Running sandals, however, were nowhere on my radar before I started doing the barefoot thing back in 2006. It wasn't until I read what would eventually become the minimalist runner's Bible, Christopher McDougall's Born to Run, that I knew running in sandals was even humanly possible. Well, now I can personally attest to the fact that it is not only possible, but on both hard surfaces and trails, they are a delight!

The FeelTrue Contact foot bed by Invisible Shoes (Invisibleshoe.com) is the latest and greatest in homemade huarache sandal kits developed to allow runners a bit more protection from the elements underfoot while still providing nearly as much flexibility and freedom as their 4mm Connect model. See my review of the FeelTrue Connect here. The Contact is getting a bit of attention as the "trail version" of the FeelTrue foot bed due to the increased thickness. But does ground feel, weight, and flexibility suffer with a shift in focus to the off-road? What about sufficient protection for truly rough trails? If you still have questions at the end of the review, please post in the comments.

Notice the trimmed portions at the front and sides. The flash makes it look a bit more pronounced and hackneyed than it really is.

The little loop on the front is an invention of Steven Sashen's wife, Lena, called the "Phoenix Flower." Manly!

Comparing Invisible Shoes' FeelTrue models to other huarache-style sandals and kits available on the market will quickly highlight some of the outstanding qualities of the Invisible Shoe products. Price is one area where Steven Sashen and co. have a leg up, or shall we say a foot up, on the competition. At $24.95 and $29.95 for the Connect and Contact kits respectively ($19.95 for kids' kits), Invisible Shoes is at the top of the heap in regards to aggressively pricing their product. I love a company that puts its heart and soul into a product and then charges a very reasonable price; it's quite the contrast from some "running shoe" companies that spend 99% of their dollars on marketing and charge exorbitant amounts just for their insignia on the side of a shoe that has no research to back its performance claims and falls apart after a couple hundred miles. After several miles in the Contact and Connect huaraches, I can attest to the fact that the Invisible Shoes team has done their homework and rocked the market with a fantastic product.

On to the review: Putting together a Contact sandal is the exact same as the process for any of the Invisible Shoe kits, and you can see me walk through the process at my Connect review here.

In essence, the only real difference between the two sandals is 2mm more rubber underfoot. Rest assured, the extra thickness has very little negative impact on ground feel. Flexibility is also very reasonable - in fact, it's on par with the most flexible, ground-feely minimalist "shoe" soles on the market. Whereas the Connect is comparable to the Vibram Fivefingers Sprint/KSO/Classic sole, I'd put the Contact squarely in the range between those and the VIVOBAREFOOT Neo. Underfoot, the Contact just feels great for what it's intended purpose is.

Flexibility on par with the most flexible "shoes" on the market.

On the Road
Since originally receiving the Connect and Contact kits weeks ago, I have gained a great deal of experience with huaraches that I think might be worthwhile to pass on in this post:

First, while putting your huaraches together, be sure to use the online guides at Invisibleshoe.com. There is a clear guide where to put the "toe hole" and how to initiate any lacing pattern.

Second, There are literally dozens of different ways to lace your huaraches. Getting maximum enjoyment and utility out of your sandals require quite a bit of experimentation on the front end. Don't be afraid to re-lace several different times looking for a combination that works for you. Also, I would recommend getting a few sets of laces so you can trim to fit with confidence knowing you have spares. Don't expect to get the lacing right the first time because you won't; just don't trim until you are 100% certain (although you don't really have to trim). Tool around with fit until it works for you.

Lacing can be tricky. Prepare for experimentation. This pic details the foot bed thickness.

Lastly, you will probably tie them too loose the first time. Huaraches make great form coaches and will let you know if they are too loose; just listen to the sound of your footfalls. If you get a *slap, slap, slap*, you are either heel striking (poor form), or your sandals are too loose. It took a few tries to get the tightness right because what was uncomfortable when trying the sandals on turned out to be perfect when running. You don't want your foot moving around on the foot bed unless you want blisters or discomfort.

On the Trail
I am still a fairly inexperienced trail runner, so take what I say with a grain of salt. The Contact is obviously more well-suited for trail running than the Connect, but it is far from the requisite level of protection for the gnarly trail that lies closest to my home (my primary testing ground for trail shoes). Tennessee rocks and roots own soft foot beds, but on gravel paths or dirt the Contact is fantastic. I would love to test them on a wider range of surfaces in the future. As I gain more experience, I will update this post.

Good tread depth detail. Not too aggressive so as to be unbalanced, not too shallow to negate traction. I'd say it's just right!

Criteria Rankings
1. Width/Toe Box: Wide as you want it
2. Flatness: "As a board"
3. Ground Feel: Excellent with just slightly more than minimal protection for surfaces inappropriate for full-on barefoot running (dirt or gravel paths, gravel-laden roadsides)
4. Weight: Right around five ounces trimmed. Fantastic.
5. Durability: Rock solid. The FeelTrue rubber is super resilient.
6. Flexibility: It doesn't really get any more flexible without giving up significant functionality.
7. Attractiveness: Huaraches are a decidedly personal taste. There is a hippie flair to the truly minimalist look. If you're secure in your masculinity, you won't have a problem with the attention.
8. Price: As reasonable as any shoe on the market. Minimalist sandal - minimal price.

Verdict
Another winner from Steven Sashen and his crew at Invisible Shoes. Look at the Contact kit if you're a do-it-yourself-er in the market for a minimalist shoe that gives you a bit of gravel/heat protection for mild-to-moderate trails. The Contact is extremely versatile, but you need to look elsewhere for serious trail protection. Click the link to check out a pair of huaraches for yourself:

Coming Attractions

Before I get started: Yes, I am painfully aware that Photobucket has made me look like a fool. All my crapped out pics will be fixed in short order. Please bear with me.

I took a bit of an involuntary hiatus from my blog since school went back into session. Being a teacher has its disadvantages to balance out the glorious eight-week Summer vacation.

I got this wicked pair of VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trails and was stoked to hit the dirt with those grippy lugs underfoot. Alas, VIVO sent me the wrong size. Still waiting on the replacement pair. *wringing hands*

To start off my next season of blog posts geared toward the interests of all you barefoot and minimalist folks out there I will be attacking the following topics (not necessarily in order, but pretty close):

- Minimalist Shoe Review: Invisibleshoe FeelTrue Contact
- Personalities of the Barefoot Running Movement
- Minimalist Shoe Review: VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail
- Social Stigma and Barefooting: Should I Care?
- Crosstraining: The Addiction that is Bicycling
- Minimalist Shoe Review: NewBalance Minimus Trail (might be combined with Merrell MBTG review)
- Minimalist Shoe Review: Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove
- Crosstraining: Crossfitting for Complete Amateurs
- Minimalist Running Attire - Shorts Review
- Minimalist Cold Weather Gear Essentials
- Minimalist Shoe Review: Bedrock Sandals

I can't wait to get back into the swing of writing about my favorite past-time activity in the whole world: running, and doing it in the most natural and minimally shod manner possible.

Just How Much Can Bare Feet Handle?

Probably the most frequent question I get when people see me running barefoot is, "Doesn't that hurt?" I also am asked frequently about how far can I run barefoot before it's unbearable. I completely understand the curiosity and had the same questions before I discovered these things for myself.

To answer these questions: it doesn't hurt me at all. If it actually was painful, I would not do it. I am not a sadist. I have, however, experienced discomfort running barefoot on certain surfaces in varying conditions (intense heat, direct sunlight, freezing cold, etc.). And I had to build up my "tolerance" and adjust my form to allow my to run comfortably for more than a few miles on hard, man-made - usually concrete or pavement - surfaces. I ran my first barefoot 10k this Summer, which you can read about here, on a course with fairly rough, old pavement and experienced no more discomfort than I have running the same distances in shoes.

My personal distance limits continue to grow. The longest completely barefoot distance I have ever run is around 10 miles. My limits show themselves in the form of blisters on my toe pads and certain locations on the balls of my feet. These blisters are not a sign of sole skin that "isn't tough enough," though. Rather, I get blisters as a result of breakdown in my form resulting in improper landing on the ground surface. Hot surfaces are not as forgiving, meaning earlier blisters. Super cold surfaces cause blisters as well because numbness means not being able to perceive how my foot is contacting the ground.

Check this guy out:


If running barefoot has taught me anything, it's that our bodies are remarkable works of design - a creator who built in mechanisms that allow us to adapt to unbelievable extremes. If you don't believe me, give the following video a chance to change your mind:


Free your feet, and happy running!

Minimalist Shoe Review: Invisible Shoes FeelTrue Connect Huaraches

My feet. Yeah, they're hairy. Leave me alone.

Long before the currently-booming shoe industry was formed, well-in advance of the creation of the modern running shoe, people ran.... a lot. The fact that many millions of human beings throughout history have run significant distances on daily bases for basic survival without assistance from the likes of Nike and Asics may be appalling and fascinating to some, but it is an historical fact we Earthlings can be quite ingenuitive when the conditions call for it. If we are to believe Plato when he said, "Necessity is the mother of invention," then the people who invented huaraches needed protection from harsh terrain that their God-given, fleshy foot pads simply couldn't provide. Likewise, Steven Sashen, entrepreneurial jack-of-all-trades and creator of Invisible Shoes, DIY heaven for minimalist sandal nuts, saw a need to re-create the huarache sandal to meet modern necessity.

Disclosure about huarache sandals for those who may be new to them: I am new to huaraches, too. This, my first pair, has been quite a learning experience for me. After having essentially created my own pair of shoes, though, I feel like the A-Team's cobbler! Steven Sashen calls that feeling, "The world can blow apart, but if it does, I can make shoes!"

In the interest of openness, let me officially inform you that Steven provided these sandals to me free of charge so I could write a review. I assure you that my assessment is as objective as an person's can be. Feel free to contact me regarding any point of the review that you feel needs clarification.

Initial Impressions

Until recently, huaraches have been primarily made through taking Vibram cherry (or similar) shoe re-soling material and running some leather or nylon straps through them in various and sundry ways to the heart's content of the end user. Well, the essence of that formula has changed in a few small ways, but the subtle changes that have been made are significant. The new FeelTrue huarache sole material from Invisible Shoes is leaps and bounds ahead of the old Vibram Cherry - which, Sashen explains on their website, was intended for an entirely different purpose altogether. The new 4mm FeelTrue footbed holds its shape better, feels nicer underfoot due to the cross hatching on top, is more durable, and is just better suited for this particular application. I agree.

The shoe is ordered in either DIY form (just an outsole within 1.5 sizes of your foot length with pre-drilled ankle lace holes and a set of laces for each), or in a pre-laced, pre-trimmed fashion. Get the DIY setup. You'll feel better about it when all is said and done.

The shoes arrive in an envelope because there really is not much to them. I'll let the pics tell the story:

What's this I see?! I love getting stuff in the mail, btw!

Fresh outta the box. I received two pairs of footbeds and two pairs of laces from Invisible Shoes. The second pair was the 6mm version of the FeelTrue footbed: the Contact model. I will review these in a later post.

The FeelTrue Connect foot bed. You can see the semi-anatomical shape and the (brilliantly thoughtful) pre-drilled side holes.

Flexible? Uh, yeah.

Thread detail.

Very nice, professional touches like this one, in addition to better durability, comfort, and user-friendliness, set this outsole apart from the former top choice: Vibram Cherry.

Safety pins? Yessir! These came in quite handy when it was time to thread the straps or laces or whatever you want to call them. I actually found them 100% necessary and would have struggled without them.

Checking out the size. Perfect!

Instructions that come with these huaraches say to make a mark between your first and second toe and use a punch to make the third and final whole necessary for your laces. I didn't have a punch, but and 8mm bit is the second best thing! Warning: Do not use scissors! They make a slit, not a hole, which can continue to grow and ruin your outsole. :(

Yeah, I'm handy like that.

Clean.

One of many hilarious failed attempts to correctly lace my huaraches. You start with knotting below the front hole. Watch the abundance of videos on InvisibleShoes.com for detailed instruction.

First Fit

Huaraches can be fun, but they can also be aggravating. You may get lucky with your huaraches and wind up with a 100% perfect fit the very first time you tie them up, but that has not been my experience. You may really have to experiment and tweak the fit of this sandal several times over the course of a few days before it fits right for you. There are literally dozens of tying methods for huaraches as you can see from clicking the "Tying" tab at the top of the Invisible Shoes home page, so there are nearly endless possibilities for how you want your huaraches to look and feel.

Before trimming and obviously after tying.

Definitely an interesting look that may not be for everyone, but for lightweight comfort they can't be beat!

Marked for trimming.

My weapon of choice. Washable just in case I get some marker on my feet.

Untrimmed on the right, trimmed on the left.

An illustration of about how much material I trimmed from the FeelTrue footbed. You can see that I didn't follow the contour of my toes very tightly to allow for a bit of shifting and splay without ground contact.

The main focus of my huarache wear is running, particularly running in the unbearable heat of the Summer months when each foot's contact with the pavement threatens to take my first few layers of skin with it.

On The Road:

I have spent a whole lot of time in my Invisible Shoes in the last few weeks. They are hard not to like due to their simplicity. That may be a taste thing, but to me function beats form every day and twice on Sunday. I laced them in the uber-user-friendly "slip on" style. I recommend this to everyone as your first try at lacing; you can't really go wrong if you're looking for ease of use.

Wearing the shoe casually is fantastic. I totally expected the laces to be a bit uncomfortable or awkward due to their thinness, but you get used to them after about 15 seconds of walking around. They don't attract nearly the level of attention that Fivefingers do, either, which is a good thing.

While running, the FeelTrue Connect  is just enough protection to keep one's feet from abrasions and burns on rough, hot concrete but still thin and supple enough to provide the kind of proprioception that is unparalleled in any shoe I have worn before. Obviously, ventilation is spectacular, and I barely feel like there is any shoe on my feet at all once I get going. The only real drawback I have encountered is the noise these puppies make on the ground. No matter how hard I tried and how many ways I adjusted, tightened, and loosened the laces, I couldn't get rid of that "slap" whenever my foot would contact the ground. I did ultimately find the perfect adjustment that made the sound quiet and unobtrusive enough to be bearable, but I was never able to completely eliminate it. This may be a problem for some runners. It may be an important note that I am a midfoot striker who can run %100 silently and comfortably on concrete and pavement when barefoot, so I don't necessarily buy that the noise is the result of a form problem. However, when I deliberately shift to a forefoot strike while running, the sound certainly seems to lessen. Take that for what it's worth. It's definitely nowhere near a deal breaker for me.

Criteria Rankings - 10 is highest, of course. This takes into consideration the intended purpose of the shoe.

#1: Width/Toe box – 10/10 - Wide as you want it to be!

#2: Flatness – 10/10 - Zero drop, baby!

#3: Ground Feel – 9/10 - Excellent ground feel. Basically the closest I have every felt short of being completely barefoot. Socks would be a 9.5/10.

#4: Weight – 9/10 - Mine weigh in at a dainty four ounces on our kitchen scale.

#5: Durability – 10/10 - No visible wear so far.

#6: Flexibility – 10/10 - It just doesn't get any more flexible.

#7: Attractiveness – 7/10 - They are not for everyone, but the are leaps and bounds more socially acceptable and low-key than toe shoes. Different lacing options can help alleviate the "feminine" look, but they are still thin-laced sandals.

#8: Price – 10/10 - At $24.95 for the adult FeelTrue 4mm Connect DIY outsole and laces (and pins! lol), this is a minimalist shoe with a minimalist price. You can opt to have them pre-trimmed and lace for you for a $39.95, but honestly! What fun is that?

Other Considerations – Lacing/ease of adjustment can be a challenge, especially early on, but if you endure you are rewarded nicely.

Verdict - If you want the least possible shoe on your foot to be socially acceptable or to provide just a tad of protection from rough or hot pavement, you should look no further than Invisible Shoes. These are my go-to casual and running footwear for the Summer.

Update: Invisible Shoe is now Xero Shoes!