Merrell Road Glove Update

I wrote my Merrell Road Glove review on January 8th, and I meant every word I said.  The review is mostly positive, but I have to update some information that is fairly negative.  I still love the shoe, but the durability of its upper is questionable.  This is something I could not have predicted when I wrote the review in January.

Fact is, after only 226 miles, I have a split in the upper mesh material of the Road Glove.  If I had paid retail for the shoes, that is an expensive investment at about 50 cents per mile.  I think the middle plastic-like "stabilizer strip" on the outside of the upper is the problem, because the split occurred right along there.  (I will upload a photo later.)  The Trail Glove/Sonic Glove lacing and stability system does not have those strips, and is probably superior.  The Trail Glove design spreads out the load against that part of the shoe better.

Merrell Road Glove Review

The Positives!

Beginning on the personal side, I have to say a big thank you to Merrell for supplying me with a pre-retail version of their Road Glove, back in November.  I attribute the correction of a long-term running injury at least partially, to running in a slightly modified Road Glove (The modification: I threw in an old pair of insoles from Timberland shoes.)  I had been having pain in my right ankle for about 18 months.  I started using the Road Glove exclusively while seeking the correct diagnosis.  It was a long time coming, but an MRI and Dr. Marc Silberman got it right: Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome.  I began ART treatment with Dr. William Bonsall and have continued to run in the Merrell Road Glove.  Presently, the symptoms are close to 100% gone!

Out of the box, the Merrell Road Glove if s beautiful minimal shoe.  It does fit like a glove and can be worn without socks.  It has zero toe-drop and a sole that puts your foot about a half centimeter from the ground.  Your toes can spread out in the toebox for a natural barefoot feel.  As a road shoe, they are head and shoulders above other road trainers in maintaining those important aspects of barefoot technique.  Here is Merrell's official Web Page for the Road Glove.  You can checkout the specs, materials, sizes, prices.  I have many photos of the shoes I received here.

Road feel: There is no cushioning.  Yay!  In fact, the zero drop, and absence of cushioning make this shoe stable enough to wear as a court shoe!  This could become a shoe for many other fitness activities rather than just running.

Merrell Road Glove Sole showing heel wear

The Negatives

Merrell didn't get the Road Glove as right as they got their Trail Glove, I am sorry to say.  You will notice from the photo above, I have some significant wear on the outside of the heel.  This means I am heel-striking when I wear this shoe.  I did not have this issue when wearing the Trail Glove on the road.  I think there are a couple of reasons the Road Glove put me back on my heels a bit.  The first reason is the upwards curve in the toe area of the shoe.  Bare feet do not curve up, and this curve is forcing me to support more weight from the center to the back of my foot.  It would be a simple fix to flatten-out the sole so a user's toes are naturally on the ground in neutral standing position.  The second reason may be the width and flatness of the outsole at the heel.  I tried to take a picture that illustrates the wider sole (below).  The flatness does not mirror the roundness of the bare heel, as the sole of the Trail Glove and Sonic Glove do.  This puts more rubber where it should not be.  So if my foot was barefoot and swinging forward, there would be nothing there to strike the ground first; instead my forefoot would land.  Wearing these shoes with the extra sole puts rubber where the air should be, fostering heel strike.

Heel of Soinc Glove (top), compared to Road Glove (bottom)

 The Bottom Line

The Merrell Trail Glove is another high quality shoe by Merrell.  All their shoes have outstanding construction and materials.  They work right for more miles than most shoes on the market.  Despite the negatives I mentioned above, I am hard pressed to recommend on a better minimal shoe for exclusive road use.  I probably would not have even noticed those negatives, had Merrell not spoiled me previously with the perfection of the Trail Glove and Sonic Glove!

I DO NOT HAVE A STRESS FRACTURE (at least not now)

Today is the second day this school year that I drove to work.  Well, it is raining today, so it was a good day to drive, but I also drove in because I am in need of an easier week.  Yesterday was the first day without a bike ride or run for me since Hurricane Irene, August 29th.  I took it off from work and from working out.  I had been feeling exhausted on my commutes on Monday and Tuesday this week - and I was cutting them to the shortest route as it was.  Something was up with my body, because i went to the primary physician to finally have a look at my ankle, and my vitals were high for me.  My heart rate was about 70, and my BP was something over 80.  Two weeks ago I was under 50 resting pulse at 6 PM, and my BP was something over 70.  I don't know if it was over-training, having no complete days off for almost 2 months, or if my body was on a razor's edge of getting sick with a cold or other virus.  My son has something right now, and there is a lot going around here at school.  I am hoping to get a run in despite the rain today.

I had already researched and made an appointment with a sportsmedicine guy before I went in to the primary physician yesterday.  I wanted to get a referral from the primary physician, and was hoping to get it quick and easy.  That did not happen.  He wanted to look at an MRI himself first.  Aetna, my health insurer, let me down.  They put it "under review", so the doc ordered a regular x-ray instead.  Got that, and just heard the result is NO BROKEN BONES! So I have no stress fracture after all - at least not now.  Hopefully the MRI will be approved, and I can get to the sportsmedicine guy next week.

Why I love Injinji

I have complaints about socks:

1. They start nicely packaged and fit well.
2. They go through some washes, then don't fit so well.
3. They get lost in the wash, lost in the drawer, lost in the gym bag.
4. They get worn out where you need them most.
5. They get holes and they are done.

 Of the 4 items above, my Injinji socks have only been subject to #1.

Is it the toes that keep them fitting well? Is it the toes that keep them from wearing hard in only select spots?  Or is it simply their quality?

The answers to those rhetorical questions probably do not matter.  The overriding fact is that the Injinji sock works well for runners.  They allow your toes to splay out naturally, especially when wearing your minimal shoes, such as VFF's and Merrell Barefoot models.  I feel that the separation of the toes allows the foot to flex more naturally.  For long runs, the Injinji never folds or flattens or bunches, even when the going is wet or extra sweaty.

I have three pairs of Injinji socks.  I use the thinnest, Performance Lightweight No-Show toe socks when I want the best technical performance in Vibram FiveFingers or in Merrell Barefoot shoes.  It is better than being barefoot in these minimal runners.  I use them for races and shorter trail runs. I have a pair of Original Weight toe socks, mini-crew, that I use for longer trail runs because they keep the trail junk from going down the gaps around my ankles and Achilles tendons.  For everyday road runs, I use the midweight toe socks.

Alex Honnold

When he gets to the top, he can not wait to take his shoes off!

I could run today

I have been away from running.  I have taken the last 6 weeks off from running, except for on 10K run for the LIVESTRONG Challenge.  My last run was the River to Sea Relay on July 30, 2011.  I ran that 10K on August 20, and it hurt like hell.  I wonder if that one run, followed the next day by a century ride with over 4000 feet of climbing, hurt the recovery of my troublesome left ankle.  I was taking off because I was convinced that the pain in my left ankle was a Navicular bone stress fracture.  I knew I was continuing to do it damage by running XC races through July, as well as by running River to Sea.  I was entered in Escarpment Trail Run, but I bagged it in favor of stopping the damage.  That was a big sacrifice; it would have been my 7th straight, and I was already entered.  But that is not an event to do on a stress fractured ankle.  I limped and iced throughout the month of August.  I used an Aircast ankle stirrup as much as I could during that month.  In the first couple of weeks of September I was still feeling enough pain to limp a little, but I stopped using the stirrup and I stopped icing.  In the meantime, I have been riding massive cycling mileage to make up for the lack of running, and to make sure my injury was getting more circulation to enhance healing.  I set the goal of coming out of the running break in better cardiovascular condition than I went into it.  I feel I am succeeding at that goal.  Here are my mileage totals for the last 6 weeks on the bike: 149, 150, 107, 115, 204, 260.  Definitely a couple of lifetime personal records there.  That 260 of last week might be even longer than I ever went back in my 1985-1995 triathlon days.  Amazingly, last week was also a breakthrough in the ankle pain.  I am not limping, but I am still feeling a little pain.  It no longer feels like a stress fracture, but is back to feeling like a connective tissue issue.  Yesterday, I was confident and excited enough to enter the Philadelphia Half-Marathon, which is November 20, because I am sure that I will have enough time to come back and train for it.  So I am feeling that I could run today, but I am not sure if I should.  I am thinking I should wait another 2 weeks, just to be sure, and to start running again with absolutely no pain, instead of just a little.  Decisions, decisions.