Nike Free Run +

Ralph I just finished a trial of the Nike Free 3.0 and it is more minimal than the Run+. My question is do you run minimal/barefoot for mileage already? If so you may find the free to really mess with you. If you need something that is more conventional I recommend the Saucony A4. It's about 8mm in the forefoot which is very close to the Vibram Bikila and Trek so it's fairly minimal. The heel gets up to 12mm I believe but I never felt it get in the way of my form like the heel in the Frees did.

Yes I run for anyware from 3-8 miles on my run days I prefer barefoot but when I do morning runs in the army Ihave to have shoesthat look like your standard running shoe. This has been throwing me off on my runs and I'm trying to find the most mimimal shoe I can get for a reasonable price.

I think if I were you I would address the bigger issue of being allowed to wear what you want to run. When I ran my Marine Corps PFT a couple of months ago it wasn't an issue. I made sure I knew exactly what the PFT order said and that I wasn't in conflict with it. For the one person that did question me I offered that I could either run barefoot or with my VFFs since I haven't owned traditional running shoes for a while. Given the choice they had no problem with my VFFs. The Marine Corps order specifies that the runner wear "running shoes" but there is no description of what is meant by running shoes. The logical conclusion is running shoes are shoes in which one runs.

How about the Terra Plana EVO or Feelmax Osma? The Osma is even thinner than VFFs but it looks "traditional". See here: http://www.extremeoutfitters.us/feelmaxosmagreenwhitemens.aspx

Sure, neither option has the retarded heel of the Nike Free but with the recent study from the USMC I think they'd have a hard time arguing that you need it. Like the previous poster said, look up what the rules say and follow them to the letter.

Thanks

The feelmax Osma look like there going to be what I'm getting there a reasonable price and look like you average running shoe. Cause in the Army the reg states must have socks and running shoes and goes into a little bit of detail saying that you can't were basketball or any other type of court shoe for PT. Again thank your all for your help.

A friend of mine who has retired from the Army visited yesterday. He used to start out with shoes on his fitness tests, but would ditch them partway through. He did, at some point, have to refer someone who outranked him to the actual book of rules (which outranked that person!) to prove that while he was required to wear a specific type of shirt and a specific type of shorts, the choice of shoes is left to the runner.

I don't know if all the attention to barefoot running and the studies showing that the Army's shoe selection process is flawed will help or hurt anyone trying to pick that particular battle... It may be worth looking into, especially if you aren't the only one there who wants to run in VFFs or bare.