Cheap Merrell Women's Barefoot Pace Glove Running Shoe

Customer Ratings:

Step 1: Read "Born to Run"

Step 2: Begin the journey to reclaim your genetic rights to a barefoot existence.

I spotted these shoes on one of the many barefoot running blogs and websites and couldn't wait to get a hold of them. I have slowly transitioned to barefoot running like so many thousands of others who were inspired by "Born to Run," and while I'm very far from becoming an shoeless Ultra Marathoner, I am a dedicated convert. Since retraining my feet and lower legs in my Vibram Five Fingers, the rest of the expensive outdoorsy cushioned shoes in my closet just feel terrible. My hope for these Merrell Pace Gloves is to have a shoe to wear when I'm not running that complements all of the benefit I have received from running in Vibram Five Fingers. Out of the box, these shoes are extremely light weight with the look and feel of a high quality Merrell product and I'm very happy with the look of the Chili Pepper color. I can definitely wear these as a casual shoe with a nicer outfit and feel great about the style. In slipping them on, the soles are very flexible and followed the point and flex of my foot and there are minimal seams on the inside. At first, they seemed long in the toes, which didn't make sense because I always wear a 7 1/2 in Merrells, but this is obviously on purpose. The width of the ball of my foot perfectly fit into the contours of the sole and the extra length allowed for spread of my toes within my stide -this is very important and I am actually quite impressed with how well this was accomplished. I walked around the house and hopped on the treadmill for a few minutes and the shoes successfully encourange me to support my weight through the ball of my foot with a forefoot/midfoot strike. They were very comfortable while running and my toes still had room to spread without constriction. So far, these seem like an outstanding shoe!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I am trying to work on my posture and balance and continue my yoga practice advancement, so I was very interested in the barefoot shoe. I just got them and I have to say they are awesome. They fit like a glove. I think maybe I got really lucky with sizing. I got them in chili pepper and they are the cutest little low profile shoes.

I will update as I start running/wogging in them.

Word of caution. I have very narrow feet and these hug like crazy. I would think if you have wide feet, these shoes would literally rub you the wrong way.

So far out of the box.... love them!

Update 6/28/2011: I still love these shoes. I would rather wear them instead on my slippers. A couple things I noticed. The color bleeds (chili pepper) the first sign of sweat i had pink socks. Second, if my feet swell even a little, they get uncomfortable. Otherwise, I love these shoes and get many compliments on them.

Best Deals on Merrell Women's Barefoot Pace Glove Running Shoe

I loved the look of these shoes until I took my first run. They seemed to fit my foot just fine but in about a minute my heels began to "burn" and when I returned home 15 minutes later because both heels were hurting, I found I had rubbed raw sores on the back of my heels. The back of this shoe has a "gathered" elastic section across the top of the heel section and that just ate the skin off my heels. Now both shoes have blood on the elastic portion so I certainly don't feel like I can return them, but I obviously won't be wearing them again. It seems to me that it is a design flaw to place a rough piece of gathered fabric at the heel where skin is tender. I usually love Merrell but this design seems poor. I can't recommend them.

Honest reviews on Merrell Women's Barefoot Pace Glove Running Shoe

I am always on the prowl for colorful lightweight sneakers and these are just the ticket--very comfortable to walk in (they really do mold to your feet) and plenty of room in the toebox for my wide foot. I couldn't be happier with them!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Merrell Women's Barefoot Pace Glove Running Shoe

I bought these shoes back in March, when I was beginning running. I had wanted to try running (jogging) for a long time, but put it off due to two major reasons: fear of needing bionic knees at some point in my future if I kept it up long enough, and the sheer ugliness of almost every running shoe I have ever seen. I think most athletic shoes are seriously ugly. So imagine my delight when I started reading about minimalist/barefoot running, and found some absolutely lovely shoes that would let me run the way I was born to, or at least close to it.

I started out very slowly, with a variation of Couch to 5K, even doing week one twice. Initially I noticed a lot of muscle soreness in my feet, which was tolerable and expected. I should add that I spend as much time as possible barefoot anyway, and have for years. I never wear shoes in the house, and for the most part have worn shoes with minimal or no support all my life (chuck taylors, classic Vans, flip flops, etc.) and have healthy feet and good arches. By week three or four I was having some serious ankle pain/soreness, which I chalked up to being a newbie and figured I either needed to be landing lighter or just needed to continue slowly building strength. After taking two full weeks off, the pain finally went away, and I eventually felt springier in my step. After a few more weeks I met my goal of running 5K without stopping.

I loved the shoes and would recommend them to whoever would listen to me. They are light, breathable, don't feel soggy or sloppy if I run through a puddle or some really wet grass, grip the ground well, protect me from sharp rocks and debris, and on and on. I spend as much time as I can running in the gravelly right-of-ways that most neighborhood streets in Tucson have instead of paved sidewalks, and the shoes feel great "off road." I would love to take them trail running.

Now that I am running about four miles three days a week, I have started finding a couple of things about the shoe that I don't like so much. I have even started shopping around for something else, despite the fact that they still look brand new and look like they will last forever.

The arch feels too tight. At first I loved the straps that go across the top of the foot-even if my laces came untied the shoe would feel very secure while I ran until I was at a good place to stop and re-tie. Now when I put them on in the morning I feel myself trying to stretch the straps beyond their stretchiness, because the shoe feels like it is crushing my arch. After wearing them all day I even have some pain in the top of my foot and take them off immediately when I get home. I don't know if my arch has actually changed and gotten higher since I started running (perhaps the muscles in my foot are stronger and my arch got higher?), or my walking style has changed, or what. This has become an actual problem only in the past couple weeks, although I noticed the tightness earlier than that.

The toe box feels too restrictive. I never thought I would say that about this shoe. But after running in these shoes that felt so slight and free at first, I feel like I want MORE freedom and flexibility for my toes than these can give me. I can wiggle my toes up and down just fine, but I don't feel like the width is good enough to let my toes really splay.

The sole at the forefoot feels too thick. This is part of the toe box criticism, I guess. I want to feel the ground a little more, or at least my toes want to move a little more. There is no bend in the forefoot area at all. Lots of flex in the midfoot, but the forefoot is starting to feel too thick and clunky to me. I want something thinner and flexier.

So overall, still a great shoe, made to last. I feel like the term "barefoot" is a bit of serious overkill with these shoes, though. Minimal, yes. But after running in these puppies three times a week for three months, I feel like I am wanting more. And by more, I mean way less.