I kind of jumped on the minimalist bandwagon with my most recent pair of running shoes. I didn’t go with the Vibrams, just couldn’t bring myself to either wear no socks or buy “toe” socks. I bought the Brooks Pure Cadence 2 which have a considerably different look and feel to my usual Brooks Adrenaline. They feature a split toe and minimal support as well as the bold blue color. Another major difference is the the way the tongue, or lack of it, is designed. The tongue is really just a continuation of 1 of the side panels up and over the top of the foot going under the othe side panel. It is a bit hard to explain and I can’t find a good image of it. I tried the Pure Connect 2 but they were far too tight. The Pure Cadence is tighter than I usually wear my shoes as there is an elastic band going across the top of the foot. I was intending to write that I didn’t notice much difference but then I went out on Sunday in the Adrenaline since I intended to run the half marathon in these shoes in 2 weeks. I still like the Adrenaline but they definitely felt different. I think the most noticeable difference is the width of the heel, not bad mind you but still felt different. After running 9 miles in the Adrenaline, I don’t have a preference for either style of shoe. I didn’t have some miraculous improvement in feeling or speed or soreness in the more minimalist shoes. I’ll have to see how I feel after running a few hundred miles in them to decide if I’ll buy them again.
No making fun of the pasty white legs