A new delivery

While the world was eagerly waiting for a VIP delivery in West London last week, 200 miles north in Sheffield I was waiting for a special delivery of my own. My new Merrell Run Trail Gloves.

My issues with the Goretex version of the trail glove are well documented on this blog. However with the demise of my second pair I was in need of a new pair of barefoots and I decided to give Merrell's barefoots one final opportunity to prove to me they can last the distance.

My criteria for a pair of barefoots is challenging. I do some trail running in them so they need to stand up to running in the Peak District in all weather conditions. However I'm by no means a daily runner and my barefoot shoes will need to adapt to spending a large proportion of their time doing long hill and beach hikes, plenty of dog walking and all-round general wear (including plenty of shopping, pubs and coffee stops).

So I chose the Merrell Trail Glove in Apollo / Ice (blue and silver). There's no getting away from it, Merrells shoes look the part. The construction of the trail gloves is quality, they feel like they'll last the distance and I personally think these are the best colour option in the range.

The Vibram soles look identical to my previous Merrell Train Embark and that's no bad thing, they've always been comfortable with good levels of grip. Lets just hope they remain attached to the upper half of the shoes this time.

First impressions after two hours of wearing are positive and they seem comfortable shoe. Which is a relief since these are the third size I've tried and its fair to say the trail glove comes up small. My usual size is a euro 46 and these are a 48. Even now they feel short and my toes slightly touch the end of the toe box. Time will tell whether they prove comfy enough or not. 

The full spec list is available here at www.merrell.com which is also where I ordered them from. It's worth noting they are available at a better price from other websites if you don't need Sasquatch size feet. I couldn't get a size 48 in the blue anywhere else.

Stay tuned for regular updates on Barefoot in Sheffield and of course if you've got any question feel free to ask away in the comments box below and I'll answer them as best I can.

Barefoot Tennis

Today was only the second time in 15 years I've played tennis and obviously with any trainer addict the first issue was what foot wear to roll out.

As regular readers will know minimalist shoes are my first choice for any sporting endeavour. Actually they're my only choice and with no tennis shoes of any sort my Vibram KSO Trek Sport were rolled out. 

When I reviewed the Trek Sports before I said that I was yet to find something they couldn't do. That still stands true. The stop-start nature of tennis combined with playing on a hard surface did prove tough on the feet and joints but the Five Fingers came through with flying colours.

By the end of an hour on court my feet where feeling a bit sore although I think some of that soreness would have been avoided had I worn my Injinji socks.

Ten minutes of the Wimbledon-esque performance was also done in monsoon conditions and the 'fingers' still gripped perfectly on the wet surfaces and never felt uncomfortable despite being soaked through.

There were some quizzical looks from other tennis players but they'll soon get used to the idea you don't need mattresses on the bottom of your feet to play tennis. 

So who knew, Vibram's Trek Sport are great for tennis. Pretty sure we won't see them at Wimbledon next year though. 

The view from the top of Mam Tor

Making the most of both the sun and the Peak District with a walk up to Mam Tor yesterday. As usual the Spryridons performed faultlessly.

They were never anything less than sure footed and super comfortable. 

Looking at some of the heavy duty footwear on show you wonder where people think they're walking.