Take a look at these beauties! To me, they look completely faultless. Nice, wide webbing to keep the foot in place, whilst remaining completely minimalist and trendy-looking. The heel strap looks well-designed too. What I most like about the look of these ‘barefoot’ running sandals is the way the sole lifts on the sides. This looks sure to dramatically reduce the debris that can potentially enter the sandals when running.
Our only gripe is that the RRP is $69.99 (£43.30), which is a lot of money for a pair of sandals (but nowhere near as expensive as the Lunas!)… But who knows – They may well be worth it.
The Xero Shoes Z-Trek Running Sandals are due for release in Spring 2015.
What do you think?
Let us know your thoughts on the Xero Shoes Z-Trek.
A whopping saving of £54+ on the Seeya LS Night. This shoe is perfect for the darker nights as they light up in the dark! Honestly! Best for road and tarmac running, and for beasting the gym. Buy the Seeya LS Night Now.
You wanna get dirty? Do it with the Spyridon MR. Our luscious green hills of Great Britain are spoilt when it comes to rain and mud. MR actually stands for ‘Mud Runner’. Beat the mud for just £87.49.
Less than £55! THE CHEAPEST: The EL-X (Red/Black, mens)
The EL-X stands for ‘Entry Level Cross Trainer’. This is a great introductory shoe if you’re looking to get in to Vibrams. Perfect for casual use, hitting the gym, and yours for just £54.97!
The KSO Evo is the best-selling Vibram FiveFingers style and its easy to see why. Beautiful design, no over-the-top colours and style, and it is so versatile. Now just £67.49.
The Trek Sport is for the outdoor enthusiast who is out on the hills; running, trekking, camping. BUY NOW.
Google‘s co-founder Sergey Brin was and is one of the biggest fans of Vibram FiveFingers and he is one of the early adopters too. While he gets involved in a lot of high adrenaline activities and takes care of his body like a temple, his choice seems evident. He has been seen flaunting his Vibrams since the early days when the shoes just came out a few years ago by Italian footwear company Vibram. These are meant specially for barefoot running and the world of outdoors running is seeing more adapters to these style of ‘shoes’
In all his meetings, conferences and other social engagements Sergey loves to wear his Vibram FiveFingers barefoot running shoes. This is in line with Google philosophy of “You can be serious without a suit” where it does not ask its employees to wear formal clothing and rather encourages them to workout and exercise as part of their lifestyles. So, wearing a Five finger shoe might seem the cool thing to do in Google, especially if the top boss is wearing them around constantly.
Vibram FiveFingers, not just stand out in the crowd but the shoes have been well accepted in the tech and fitness community across countries. What really helps is that it definitely aids in correcting Sergey’s posture after those long hours at office at a desk on his computer which is typical of any of us corporate busy individuals isnt it? While spine problems are rampant in the tech industry, it’s also most other professionals who seem to be more and more afflicted with back issues.
And not just spine, Sergey and many others like him who swear by Vibrams are experiencing great blood circulation in their legs as the Five Fingers stimulate the same; since the feet are closer to the ground.
Surely it’s motivating to see the Google Man- ‘Sergey Brin’ keeping an active and healthy lifestyle and also contributing in making the world a better place. If he does this while wearing those beauties, then why don’t we give them a shot?
“I want a pair of Vibram FiveFingers that can handle gravel and asphalt. What do you recommend?”
Every week we get plenty of questions from customers. So many in fact, that we have decided to dedicate a blog post every-so-often to our favourite customer questions, which we have abbreviated to ‘CQOTW’.
Vibrams for Road/Gravel
The Spyridon MR is the stand-out shoe for this kind of terrain. Although designed to tackle mud (the MR stands for Mud Runner), I find the Spyridon MR are at their best when put through their paces on asphalt, gravel, and dry trails. They’re still minimal (outsole 4mm / insole 3mm), but the tread is aggressive enough to provide traction and stability. The Spyridon sole (known as the MEGAGRIP compound) is probably the best in terms of providing grip in all directions.
We often hear of crazy challenges, ultra-distance runs, and epic challenges. Most of us have had to DNF during a race. But this one is perhaps the most spectacular!
Reza Baluchi, a marathon runner decided to attempt a challenge way beyond anything attempted before: 1,033 miles in a ‘bubble’, running from Florida to Bermuda, with only protein bars and water for fuel.
Not surprisingly, it went balls-up (pun intended) and had to be rescued by a US Coast Guard.
Comical. You can read the full story here: Daily Mail
Minimalist and barefoot running has seen a surge of interest recently, but barefoot running has been a strategy for champions for decades and beyond!
Natural running dates much further back and there have been ancient tribes throughout our long drawn history who have lived close to nature, in every terrain with only the soles of their bare feet doing the talking. In fact this concept of a natural running style has been recently popularised by Christopher McDougall’s book- ‘Born To Run’ based on the Native American tribe The Tarahumara Indians – known for their amazing ability to run barefoot for miles and miles is not some deep ancient hidden secret.
Daniel Lieberman, professor of human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University says:
“Our Feet were made for running. Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1960s. For most of human history, runners have been barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning.”
Barefoot Champions
Even in competitive sports history, the first to race an Olympic marathon barefoot was a Tswana tribesman Len Tau representing South Africa in 1904 and then came Abebe Bikila an Ethiopian whose bare feet scorched the streets of Rome to give him the Olympic gold medal in a world record time and making it the most famous barefoot victory in modern history. More recent still, Zola Budd set several World Records in the 1980’s and make a big impact on the running world by training and racing in bare feet.
Benefits of Barefoot/Minimalist Running
Running barefoot forces you to land on your forefoot and midfoot instead of your heel, as you do in the longer strides you take in constructed footwear. The result is more efficient transfer of energy; reduced impact on the joints in your feet, ankles, and knees; and strengthening of the muscles in your feet.
And the one major benefit is the experience of it that stays with you and develops a ‘feel good’ factor, which is incomparable. Running barefoot or minimalist style is hugely liberating as having next to nothing on one’s feet brings you closer to mother earth in every possible way. You are also able to feel the real difference in running between grass, pavement, dirt tracks and every possible terrain. Also the idea that less weight on your feet helps you go faster is not rocket science, nor an ancient secret preserved over thousands of years by lost tribes.
Get Started with Barefoot Running
Whilst minimalist running is the strategy for champions, for most of us the transition from regular shoes to minimalist/barefoot running shoes must be gradual, else it comes with its own set of health warnings. If you have spent most of your adult life in highly constructed trainers then switching suddenly to barefoot shoes requires a certain amount of ‘breaking in’. Your body needs to adjust.
Take your time to first wear them indoors for a few hours each day; go for walks with them and, as you grow more comfortable with the fit and the feel, that’s when you start to begin your ‘minimalist training’ journey. Take it slowly and easily, speed and endurance will gradually follow.
Don’t forget, in nature, even evolution and adaption is a gradual thing. Only fools rush in, as they say
So get started folks and in the next blog – we shall talk about the different types of barefoot shoes.
In the meantime feel free to mail us and ask questions on any thing running related or about the shoes we have on offer. Contact Us.
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