About a year ago (11 months to be exact), I posted a review of the Merrell Tough Glove Barefoot shoe. It's been one of my most popular posts in recent memory, so I thought I would post an update/long-term review.
In summary, I read the book "Born to Run" and decided I wanted to try "barefoot running." Before jumping into it, I thought I should get some daily work shoes with the zero heel drop so I could test them out and strengthen my feet in preparation for running in barefoot shoes.
I bought the Merrell Tough Glove, one of the few decent looking barefoot shoes that I could wear to work and still look respectable. It's been a year now and I'm still wearing the Tough Glove. I even started wearing the Merrell Flux Glove for running and casual wear.
First for the Tough Glove - awesome shoe. It's a shame that Merrell stopped making them. I have worn them every day to work for the past year. They have held up incredibly well. Occasionally the leather will start to show some wear and look less brown, but I hit them with some Kiwi Outdoor Wet Pruf (water repellent leather protection) and it makes the leather look almost new again.
In terms of comfort, these shoes are tops. It took some getting used to, but after my feet strengthened up a bit, walking all day in these shoes is a breeze.
I liked them so much, I bought my second pair of Merrell Barefoot shoes earlier this year. I got the Merrell Flux Glove for running and general casual wear. So basically, I'm wearing Merrell Barefoot shoes all the time.
I put a good number of miles on the Flux Gloves, running 3-6 miles a day, a few times per week. At first, running in them really worked my calves. The first couple times I ran in them, my calves were sore for days. Now I can run long distances with no problems, sort of...
After running in the Flux Gloves for a while, I started getting some pain in my left heel. It was only light pain while running, but after resting for a while, it was somewhat painful to get moving again. The back of my heel was also sensitive to touch. I think maybe it's Achilles tendinitis. I don't think it's entirely from the shoes, probably more from just running too much, because my running partner started to get them same pain and he wears regular running shoes.
I've scaled back on running and started doing stretches and exercises to focus on my calves and Achilles tendon. The pain has gotten better but I'm still not at 100 percent.
The only other thing that was uncomfortable when running in the Flux Gloves was running on or near gravel. I do most of my running in grass but sometimes next to gravel roads or on blacktop roads. When you land on a piece of gravel in the Flux Glove, you feel it. The sole provides some protection, but you still feel the road under your feet. To compensate, I just be careful where I'm running and look out for lone chunks of gravel sticking up in the way.
Other than the heel thing, the Merrell shoes are awesome and I still wear them every day. I've been looking at buying new pairs to replace the ones I have, but Merrell's current lineup is a little weak. For casual shoes, they have nothing that looks as "formal" as the Tough Glove. They have the Jungle Glove, Tour Glove, Reach Glove and Radius Glove, but I don't think any of these look as good as the Tough Glove.
I think the best option for work wear might be the Jungle Glove, but the suede looks a little too casual. I used to have a pair of Jungle Mocs though, and these were my most favorite shoe ever back then. For that reason alone I'd like to try the Jungle Glove.
For running, they no longer make the Flux Glove, but the Trail Glove looks like the same shoe.
So I'd like to get two new pairs sometime in the future. My current pairs still have lots of life left in them though, so I may have to wait a while. Most of the Merrell Barefoot shoes cost around $100 a pair, so that makes buying new ones a little hard to swallow.
In summary, I read the book "Born to Run" and decided I wanted to try "barefoot running." Before jumping into it, I thought I should get some daily work shoes with the zero heel drop so I could test them out and strengthen my feet in preparation for running in barefoot shoes.
I bought the Merrell Tough Glove, one of the few decent looking barefoot shoes that I could wear to work and still look respectable. It's been a year now and I'm still wearing the Tough Glove. I even started wearing the Merrell Flux Glove for running and casual wear.
First for the Tough Glove - awesome shoe. It's a shame that Merrell stopped making them. I have worn them every day to work for the past year. They have held up incredibly well. Occasionally the leather will start to show some wear and look less brown, but I hit them with some Kiwi Outdoor Wet Pruf (water repellent leather protection) and it makes the leather look almost new again.
In terms of comfort, these shoes are tops. It took some getting used to, but after my feet strengthened up a bit, walking all day in these shoes is a breeze.
I liked them so much, I bought my second pair of Merrell Barefoot shoes earlier this year. I got the Merrell Flux Glove for running and general casual wear. So basically, I'm wearing Merrell Barefoot shoes all the time.
I put a good number of miles on the Flux Gloves, running 3-6 miles a day, a few times per week. At first, running in them really worked my calves. The first couple times I ran in them, my calves were sore for days. Now I can run long distances with no problems, sort of...
After running in the Flux Gloves for a while, I started getting some pain in my left heel. It was only light pain while running, but after resting for a while, it was somewhat painful to get moving again. The back of my heel was also sensitive to touch. I think maybe it's Achilles tendinitis. I don't think it's entirely from the shoes, probably more from just running too much, because my running partner started to get them same pain and he wears regular running shoes.
I've scaled back on running and started doing stretches and exercises to focus on my calves and Achilles tendon. The pain has gotten better but I'm still not at 100 percent.
The only other thing that was uncomfortable when running in the Flux Gloves was running on or near gravel. I do most of my running in grass but sometimes next to gravel roads or on blacktop roads. When you land on a piece of gravel in the Flux Glove, you feel it. The sole provides some protection, but you still feel the road under your feet. To compensate, I just be careful where I'm running and look out for lone chunks of gravel sticking up in the way.
Other than the heel thing, the Merrell shoes are awesome and I still wear them every day. I've been looking at buying new pairs to replace the ones I have, but Merrell's current lineup is a little weak. For casual shoes, they have nothing that looks as "formal" as the Tough Glove. They have the Jungle Glove, Tour Glove, Reach Glove and Radius Glove, but I don't think any of these look as good as the Tough Glove.
I think the best option for work wear might be the Jungle Glove, but the suede looks a little too casual. I used to have a pair of Jungle Mocs though, and these were my most favorite shoe ever back then. For that reason alone I'd like to try the Jungle Glove.
For running, they no longer make the Flux Glove, but the Trail Glove looks like the same shoe.
So I'd like to get two new pairs sometime in the future. My current pairs still have lots of life left in them though, so I may have to wait a while. Most of the Merrell Barefoot shoes cost around $100 a pair, so that makes buying new ones a little hard to swallow.
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