THE SHOES (New Balance Minimus WR10)

When I started running, I understood the importance of getting a good pair of shoes. Not only with respect to quality, but that they also needed to be appropriate to how I run and the surfaces I was going to run on. I had friends who were runners, and I had heard them talk at great length about their shoes. "Ok," I thought to myself, "you're being high maintenance. Just get a decent pair and you'll be fine. They cannot POSSIBLY be worth what you're spending. You're just picky."

This is more or less how I look when I walk past a running store. Or talk about my shoes. Or when I read shoe reviews online.

The object of my affection right now is my pair of New Balance Minimus WR10 shoes (see heart).

I've run in shoes before with varying levels of support and structure, but these are my favorite so far. These shoes are very very minimal. Compared to the larger shoes I've worn in the past, these really do feel like a part of my foot.

It took a little while for me to get used to how hard my foot hits the ground when I run, but it honestly doesn't bother me at all on most of my runs. The one occasion that  it did start to bother me was towards the end of my marathon a few weeks ago. I was looking around at everyone in their huuuge Hoka's, and thinking "I'm going to buy that the second I get home - oh my goodness why did I buy such tiny shoes!?". Looking back though, I was making that assessment around mile 23. I was feeling pretty melodramatic and probably would have said that about everything on my body at that point.

Although these shoes aren't ideal for trails or gravel (think "Princess and the Pea" about every pebble you come across), it looks like New Balance does make a trail version! I plan on talking to my local running shop about it very soon....

If you'd like any more information about this shoe I'd absolutely suggest looking at this site. Gearist knows what he's talking about, and tries out EVERYTHING. Including beer (#beerist).