I am well into week three and moving onto week four of training. Everything is goin great except the weather. Heat and Humidity SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF ME!! When I was training for the spring marathon and training all winter it was great because I could take off or put on whatever I needed to. In the heat, you can only take off so much. Training in the VFF's is going good also. I have been switching off and on between the Bikilas and the KSO's mostly because the odor that builds up if I use the same pair every day, good thing I bought two pair! I have also added in one complete barefoot run a week. I have mostly been going to the track and have worked up to a mile without shoes. It is great on a controlled surface like the track, smooth field or fresh tar, but other than that I am not ready to run barefoot. The mile or so has been good.
On another note I was on vacation and did some hiking in the minimal shoes. I had bought the NB Minimus trail shoes for trail running, but ended up just wearing my KSOtrek. So I decided to try some hiking in the minimal shoes. I use to wear the big hiking boots, but have been finding it hard to wear regular shoes. So I wore the KSOtrek on a hike up Bald Mt in Maine which is about a 2400 feet! The walk itself was about 1.75 miles. Pretty good in the shoes, I wore the injinji socks and between my toes hurt a tad, but nothing crazy.
The next day I hiked Saddleback Mt in Rangeley, ME in the NB minimus and I felt great! This hike was 4100 ft up! The trail we took was about 5.3 miles one way. I had run 20 miles in the minimus the first week I got them, no problem! The shoes worked out great and I didn't slip or trip, got a little mud in the bottom but we were hiking on the AT!
