Saucony's "Step Into Minimalism" Night at the Roost

Last night Runner's Roost hosted Saucony's Step Into Minimalism presentation... Very very cool! I've been to presentations and read books about barefoot running and minimal shoes and whatnot but this was especially good because there was a full panel offering different viewpoints on what can be a fairly controversal issue. Of course you can read up on all the different opinions yourself, but it was great to have those people talking it out right there and discussing whatever issues came up. I thought it was really beneficial to have someone from the shoe industry (Spencer White from Saucony) there with their views on mimimalism and different ways of looking at heal-striking versus midfoot-striking and so on. It was interesting to hear that it's not necessarily how your foot strikes the ground but rather where it strikes in relation to your body - is it way out in front or right underneath you?

The discussion on how to tranisition into minimal shoes and/or barefoot running was also interesting. I know when I first got the Kinvaras I kind of didn't like them. My legs felt really tired and sluggish but I think that's probably normal considering I had just run a marathon and was going from a pretty beefy shoe to something that had so... little. But it turns out that was a great time to go from beefy to not beefy. I was recovering from the race and not doing too much running then anyway so I wasn't expecting tons from my body and didn't have any intention of over-doing it in brand new shoes. I'd wear them to do a warm up mile before elipticalling and then on the eliptical and for short 4 or 5 mile runs. And then I was addicted. Except for a few shorter races where I've worn the Fastwitch, I've run in nothing but Kinvaras for a year now. That being said, THE HATTORI IS HERE!!!

Hello sexypants! I love them already! And I think this is absolutely THE perfect time for me to give these a try. Since I'm just walking and elipticalling (and apparently it's a must that I start aqua jogging... ugh) I can't go too nuts and wreck my feet or calves or whatever. I'm wearing them around work today and I'll give them a whirl on the eliptical later. Will they replace my beloved Kinvaras? Well, I shudder to think! But they are pretty hot, huh?