The beginning.

I've been running without shoes since I was a child. I hated shoes. There was something about them that were constricting and that took away my freedom. When I had to wear shoes I've always preferred something without a "drop" or a raised heel. I always wore Converse Chucks, vans, addidas sambas and other shoes with a "flat foot" design. Mind you the Chucks and vans aren't the most anatomically friendly shoes but at least they weren't throwing your body out of alignment. I also was a wrestler growing up which meant wearing wrestling shoes with minimal cushioning under your foot and zero drop. I actually loved wearing these casually too. Move on to today and in the past few years the barefoot movement has begun. About 3 or 4 years ago I picked up my first pair of barefoot or minimalist shoes the Merrell Trail Glove which is where I will start my reviews. 

The Merrell Trail Glove is a zero drop shoe designed for trail and road running. It has a vibram sole with a rock plate in the ball area of the foot. The purpose of this is to protect the foot from rocks and debris from bruising the foot. Being the first version of the shoe the rock plate is a little stiff and takes some of the flexibility away. For me it wasn't a huge deal being this was the first true barefoot shoe I tried. The Vibram rubber is amazing! It is very grippy and insanely durable. These shoes are over 3 years old maybe even 4 and they still have hardly any wear. It also has a very tough upper. There is some venting but it does not breath that well. I tried the no socks thing but it was very sweaty and I wasn't comfortable that way but wearing socks the are comfy with now weird irritation areas. There is a new version of the Trail Glove that addresses the rock plate and the venting. I will be testing the new version later to give a comparison between the two. Merrell did put a antimicrobial material inside the shoe to try and keep odor and fungus away. 

Lets talk about the good stuff. How do these shoes perform. I have done everything in these shoes. They have run hundreds of miles, hiked through Hawaii's rivers and waterfalls, Thailand's jungles and beaches, Mountains and pretty much everything else. They are extremely durable and perform well in every environment I've put them in. Now one of the points of this blog is to test the shoes in the Ninja Warrior obstacles. Grip is a big factor on the course and many of it's obstacles. One obstacle that test the grip is the warped wall. Running up basically a 14 foot quarter pipe. The Trail Glove performs very well on this. The Vibram rubber and the design of the sole grabs the wall and sticks. It doesn't slip or give at all. Another obstacle to test would be the hanging doors. The teqnique to the doors is to grip the door with your feet clamping the flat part of the door while using hand and finger grip to transfer to the next board. I have found that having rubber from toe to heel without a split sole or exposed foam tends to help grip the best. The Trail Glove has this and does well on the doors and grips it very well as long as your technique is correct. I would say overall this is a great shoe for Ninja Warrior and for everything else you can throw at it. 

Tarzan Approved!