Day 130 - First run in NB Minimus MR00, and amazing maize!

Today I tried out by new shoes for the first time. Part of my run took in this track through a field of maize that towered above me on either side, an ominous corridor beneath the gloomy skies.

At this point my post ought to be titled 'Review of New Balance Minimus MR00'- that's how you get lots of hits for your blog (so I'm told). But I have missed the boat on that one if we're honest. This model is a good couple of years old now and I'm not sure if shoe reviews are going to be my strength. Nonetheless, here is what I made of them.

They feel more shoe-y.


Okay, we were trying to be clever at this point, and I am holding this pose. But it looks cool doesn't it?





Unlike almost every other barefoot running blog you'll read (I'm guessing this, but it might be true) I've come at this in reverse. What do I mean by that? The majority of BFRs (just coined a new acronym, again I don't know if I'm really the first) have been working their way through the shoes with which the manufacturers have presented them. Be it New Balance, Merrell, VivoBarefoot etc. As the brands have become more daring, with ever more minimal offerings, the BFRs have progressed to an ever more minimal state. And the majority seem to agree that the Merrell Vapor Glove is the most barefoot feeling shoe they've ever used. Nothing comes close for pure barefoot sensation.

But the NB MR00 came a little way ahead of it, so those reviewers didn't yet know what they were missing. I, on the other hand, started with the most minimal shoe going (see here if you want an explanation). And I have run in nothing else for the last 130 days. As such, the MR00 feels very shoe-y. I only covered a couple of miles but I immediately missed the sensation of my foot spreading and springing as it meets the terrain. As if I'd gone mildly numb. The same action was there, and they didn't compromise my style - which I'm very pleased about - but I was no longer one with the earth.

My second observation is that they are warmer. They're a bit thicker all round, a bit more padded. Just more substantial. And they feel toasty. I've become used to my feet breathing freely through the wafer thin fabric of the Merrells. In these MR00s they were heating up. It can't be any more than they used to in my old running trainers, but it's about comparisons with where I've been. And they're warmer. This bodes well for the winter.

I wasn't feeling all that strong today, and I still felt a bit achey from that tempo run, so I'm not sure I've given them a proper workout.. But my general reflection is that I must have burrowed deeper into the barefoot world than I realised. They didn't compromise my style, they'll be an excellent addition to my locker, but they just didn't feel barefoot.
 
    (Mrs Payne, the excellent photographer, demonstrating the scale of the maize)