Last week I was excited to be asked by Blacks to try out and review some of their Merrell barefoot running lite shoes.
I love my running trainers and I have tried all kinds of sports shoes over the years, but never any close to barefoot style before. I have read lots of articles over the last few months on barefoot running, how some experts say its good for you and others not so sure, so I was really looking forward to getting the chance to try them out.
I picked out the Merrell mix master road glides as I thought this style looked very nice and bright for night time training.
About the MERRELL Women's Mix Master Road Glide:
Hard surfaces and longer runs increase the impact on your feet. As pioneers in the barefoot running style, Merrell have designed the Women's Mix Master Road Glide shoe to get you closer to the barefoot running style but provide a little extra comfort on that hard terrain.
While full-on barefoot running shoes feature a pancake-flat sole for natural ground contact, this more versatile shoe incorporates additional cushioning and a modest 4mm drop to ease you into the barefoot style.
What I though of the trainers:
The first thing I noticed was wow how light?
198g feels very light compared to my normal trainers. So I was looking forward to trying them out.
After getting over how light they were and how nice the colour looked, I tried them around the house for a few hours. Running up stairs fast, then a mad half hour dancing around in them to bed them in before it was time to road test them AT the running club!!!
With the thought of a 2 miles warm up, 3 miles fast hill reps and 1 mile cool down. How would they feel? I soon found out....
Questions that entered my head:
Features:
About this post ~ I got sent these close to barefoot trainers for the purpose of this review. I did not get paid for this post and all thoughts are my own honest opinion...
Hard surfaces and longer runs increase the impact on your feet. As pioneers in the barefoot running style, Merrell have designed the Women's Mix Master Road Glide shoe to get you closer to the barefoot running style but provide a little extra comfort on that hard terrain.
While full-on barefoot running shoes feature a pancake-flat sole for natural ground contact, this more versatile shoe incorporates additional cushioning and a modest 4mm drop to ease you into the barefoot style.
What I though of the trainers:
The first thing I noticed was wow how light?
198g feels very light compared to my normal trainers. So I was looking forward to trying them out.
After getting over how light they were and how nice the colour looked, I tried them around the house for a few hours. Running up stairs fast, then a mad half hour dancing around in them to bed them in before it was time to road test them AT the running club!!!
With the thought of a 2 miles warm up, 3 miles fast hill reps and 1 mile cool down. How would they feel? I soon found out....
Questions that entered my head:
- How would they feel on my run being lightweight?
- How would they feel when running fast reps?
- Would I run faster?
- How would my feet feel after fast training in light trainers?
- How would my feet feel the next day after training, would they hurt?
- They felt great warming up and being lightweight I decided to overtake the man that passed me on the hill on my warm up. Yes I left him behind on a warm up!!
- I felt loads lighter, running fast in my new trainers.
- They helped my technique as I was adapting to a more natural rhythm. I do tend to normally plod a little. These promote are more springy step.
- My feet felt no different after reps in them.
- After a fast rep session my feet usually hurt a little when I get up the next day and I would say they felt the same.
Overall then a great first session, they are a good introduction into a minimalist style, without going the whole hog of a full on barefoot shoe. Because of how your foot sits in the shoe and how the heel to toe is designed you get a more natural foot plant. Which encourages a fluent heel toe transition. Will be interesting how they go with a few more sessions under my belt. I will post an update in a few weeks!!
I love these trainers, they are my new favourite running shoes and they feel great.
Features:
- Strobel construction - Flexibility for ultimate comfort.
- Breathable, EZClean™ synthetic air mesh upper - Protective, reflective and fits like a glove.
- Merrell Float midsole (EVA) - 10% thinner and 25% lighter to provide more feel and ground control.
- 4mm toe to heel rise - Buffers impact on road or long runs.
- Merrell Air Cushion to heel - To absorb shock and enhance stability.
- Merrell Mix Sole - Sticky rubber for excellent grip.
- Lightweight - 198g.
About this post ~ I got sent these close to barefoot trainers for the purpose of this review. I did not get paid for this post and all thoughts are my own honest opinion...
