Xero Shoes First Look

My first impression after receiving my Xero Shoes huaraches are very good. I ordered the 6mm sole for two reasons, I wanted longer wear, and I am still interested in a little more sole between my sole and the road.

I've done a three mile easy run, some even easier jogs with my daughter and dog, some walking on trails, and some casual wear in these sandals. Right now, I have a VFF Bikila on one foot and a Xero on the other.

I can't help but compare "barefoot shoes" of all types with my VFFs simply because they are the first that I used so they are my frame of reference.

The upper on the Xero Shoes is definitely more breathable. Of course, the upper is a string, so that is kind of obvious. The only thing to really compare then is the sole. The VFF Bikila has a pretty flexible sole, the segmented rubber area helps a lot with that, the 6mm Xero Shoe is a single piece of rubber and has a little less flexibility than the Bikila. I'd like to see sometime how the 4mm compares. The VFF also flexes much better at the toes due of course to the individual toes.

Despite being slightly less flexible than my Bikilas the Xero Shoe actually has better ground feel. I feel more texture under my feet, and I better feel what my foot is doing when it contacts the ground. This leads me to what I feel is the single biggest reason to run in huaraches at least every once in a while.

I have recently discovered a problem with my running form. I suspected it from examining the soles of my VFF's and SoftStar Runamoc Dash shoes, but I confirmed it for sure while running in my Xero Shoes.

I have duck feet.

Not webbed toes, obviously, or I couldn't run in VFFs. What I mean is that my feet land with my toes pointed outward. I first realized I walked that way when I took a snow picture of footprints from my daughter and me walking through the snow. Her toes pointed in the direction she was going, mine pointed way out to the sides.

Looking at videos of me running before going minimal, not only did I heel strike, but my duckfootedness resulted in a zigzag pattern to my running stride. When I went minimal, a lot of this was corrected because I switched to a forefoot strike, but I have a degree of twist when I land. I start off with toes out, heels in, then my foot twists slightly to line up with my direction of travel. I saw evidence of this on the wear pattern in my shoes, but the huaraches give me immediate feedback of this with every step. I can feel the twist happening, and when it is extreme, my heel actually presses against the strings of the huarache and nearly steps off the edge of the sole. This twist is something I didn't even figure out on barefoot runs. I knew there was friction on my foot, but I couldn't pin it down.

Number one reason to run in huaraches? They are the biggest tattle tail on my running form. If I skid forward on landing, the string between my toes tells me so. If I push off too much with my toes, the string around my heel tells me so. If I twist the strings around the side tell me so.

Instant feedback with every step, and the most barefoot feeling shoe I've ever tried. Just those two factors give me all the reason I need to run in Xero shoes.

There is one more thing though. VFF Bikilas run $100 a pair and last me about 1000 miles before the inside starts to give me toe blisters. Xero Shoes run less than $30 a pair and have a 5,000 mile warranty. As I am on a budget, this matters to me. Bikilas cost me ten cents per mile. Xero Shoes,
six tenths of a penny per mile.

Nathan Sprint Water Bottle

I am the camel of my family. My wife, stepdaughter, daughter, and I all run. For whatever reason, I am the one who can go with the least water on a run. On our recent trail run, of one hour and forty minutes I carried the Nathan Sprint hand held water bottle, and my wife wore the Nathan Speed 4R Energy Belt. We each had enough fluid for the run even though she used three times as much as I did. (Those links go to our local specialty running store, Trax Running for two reasons, they are our local specialty running store and I like to support the locals and they are really awesome there. They have not provided me any compensation whatsoever, I just like them.)

I thought I would review these two products on my blog I'll start with what they share in common, the bottle itself, I'll go into the specifics of the sprint here, then review the Speed 4R in another post.

Nathan Sprint

The bottle is a thick, durable, yet easily squeezable plastic and the shape comfortably fits in my hand. The cap is a "race cap" that has a valve rather than a lid you have to open and close. I really like the way the cap works. There is a built in valve so that water doesn't drip out (even upside down) and when squeezed, I get a shot of water that cuts off immediately when I stop squeezing. This makes it very easy to get a drink while running without breaking stride. There have only been two situations in which I have experienced any leakage from the cap. If I squeeze too long, the bottle shape eventually deforms enough that water can leak around the cap. Once, when using the belt on a trail run, I bent over to adjust my shoe, when I bent all the way over the bottle in front was upside down, and as I reached down to remove debris from my shoe, my body squeezed the bottle. So really it worked the way it was supposed to, I turned it upside down and squeezed it, all over my foot.

The handheld Sprint bottle (let me start by saying that I hate carrying a handheld bottle) is actually very comfortable to carry. And includes an ID card you can fill out with emergency contact information. On one of my family trail runs at Mammoth Cave I carried the Sprint for over an hour on this run. Ordinarily, if I am forced to carry something in my hand, I swap it back and forth between hands pretty regularly, but on this run I was holding the dog's leash in one hand and the water bottle in the other so it stayed in my hand until I emptied it, then I stowed it in the dog's pack.

The plastic of the bottle, the shape of the bottle, and the material in the handstrap were obviously well planned and designed. I had this in my hand for over an hour and for the most part I was able to forget I was carrying it. There was no rubbing, chafing, no hotspots on my hand. I never experienced any sliding or slipping of my grip. The strap is quickly and easily adjusted for fit via a hook and loop fastener. My biggest requirement for carrying a water bottle (other than it has to hold water) is that I need to not be troubled with it. This bottle's design was perfect in that regard. The only adjustment I made on the run was I took it off when I was finished with it. If I had not had Jack along I would have just left it in my hand and forgotten about it.\

So, the nitty gritty.

Pros

Lightweight bottle (it gets lighter as you drink!)

Comfortable in the hand.

No rubbing or chafing.

ID included.

 

Cons

Well, I guess the only con is you do have to carry it.