World's Lightest Racing Flat - Trying it out

Due to the winter weather, I've been searching for adequate footwear for the winter since my VFFs are not built for these conditions as my toes freeze in the VFFs. However, that's the beauty of the VFFs in being so minimal and providing incredible ground feel but this allows also snow, sleet, and cold air to easily penetrate the VFF and especially cold air which freezes the toes quickly.

As such, in my quest for footwear for the winter that still provides somewhat of a barefoot feel, I was lucky to come across the Mizuno Universe 3's which are the lightest racing flat in the world coming in at 3.8 ounces with very minimal forefoot, mid foot and heel cushioning. The heel is only 9mm higher than the 4mm of cushioning in the forefoot area. I completed a good 10 mile tempo run that I completed in 1 hr. 14 min. and they felt great. I could feel the ground and they provided great response off the ground. I would caution that this shoe requires good running technique and form with a high cadence (minimum of 180 strides per minute). Additionally, this shoe requires, at a minimum, a mid foot strike and optimally a forefoot strike. I'm a forefoot runner which is why my favorites runs are high marathons and 10k although I do complete marathons. If I decided to run more marathons, I would probably have to adjust to a mid foot strike since a forefoot strike puts a lot of pressure on the calfs, butt and Achilles.

In closing, there are potential alternatives for the winter. Give it a try but start very slow unless you are a more experienced runner with excellent form and technique.

HHH