How Much Shoe Do You Really Need?

I guess it's pretty obvious to those who read this blog that I'm a big fan of minimalistic shoes - from barely there Vibram Five Fingers to the more substantial New Balance 101's and even the heavier La Sportiva CrossLites.

This isn't just a preference on my part - I chose less shoe to get over a few issues I had developed due to "more shoe". To be fare I am a minimalist by nature it seems. And since reading (and re-reading) Christopher McDougall's Bor To Run - I grew even more so. McDougall's Trainer Eric Ortan mention to me on-line once that he never intended to help kick-start a barefoot revolution. He felt that the Crosslites were about as minimalistic a shoe should go - for a trail shoe at least. The Five Fingers and other types of barefoot running were at best "training aids" to help develope a more effecient stride and foor landing. I tended to agree with Eric until relatively recently when I couldn't shake a nagging foot issue. It was just enough to make long miles uncmfortable - which is a real issues for a want to be ultra runner. I went with more shoe (Brooks Cascadia)in hopes of a cushioning fix.

(I once ran a 50k on an icey path in Cascadias - one day out of the box. For those wishing for more shoe - it's hard to top)

But more shoe did not help - and worse - it brought more attention to the issue and created some new problems as well.
In a slight fit of frusation I went full bore naked - the original KSO Vibram Five Finger.

I figured I could run the issue out ron under me - it worked (Ok - it worked for me - maybe not you - so be careful. With the first run my foot felt better and with eac run after it continued to improve, When I would return to heavier shoes the issue returned to only dissapear again in Vibrams. So I upgraded - more Vibram Models - Treks for the trails and the Bikila's for theroad (I wore these for the Baltimore City Marathon.
Of course some new issues arose with less shoes - my enthusiasm got the better of me and my calves were quite sore for a few weeks. These aren't 50k out of the box shoes. They take time - but patience pays a big reward.
Recently I have been wearing the Merrell Trail Glove (50k one week out of the box!)

and the New Balance Trail Minimus

with great results. These shoes seem to fill a space between the barefoot feel of the Five Fingers and a more substantial minimalistic shoe such as the New Balance 101's (another great shoe).

Ok - a lot od shoe talk but what's the point?
Well, if I have a point (and I may have got off track and lost it a bit here) it's that we should be striving for less shoe to get the most out of our feet. I'm not urging everyone (or anyone) to ditch there shoes and jump into Five Fingers (although maybe you should....)but I am asking you to pose the question (ot yourself and your shoe dealer) "ow much shoe do I need?"
Chances are - not as much as you're current;y buying.
And this may be hurting you.


Peace,
Eric