Minimalist shoes

What do you write about when your experiencing a painful left ankle - hopefully a simple case of overuse tendon inflammation - & decide to take the next week off running in hopes of healing before the March 26 marathon?  Why, running, of course.  

(The ankle's been bothering me for awhile, but flared up pretty bad this morning.  We've peaked for our training mileage & are now moving into a taper, so I decided it was better to rest now & [hopefully] heal entirely before the marathon.  I probably could have used a rest a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to put off the long runs we needed to get through.  Warped thinking, yes.  But in my defense, it wasn't sore enough before the long runs to warrant staying off it & those long runs are essential to Marathon Survival 101.  You weigh your pros & cons.  We busted through those 15-20-milers, me & my ankle survived, & now it's time to give it rest.  Elliptical & cycling class, here I come.)

Always on the quest for minimalist shoes, I stumbled upon this pair & couldn't resist.  I own a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, but now have an even better option - the VFF sole with a full-foot cover.  Now I don't look like I have Hobbit feet!  They claim they're trail shoes, but with minimalist, it's difficult to define "trail" vs. "road" shoe.  These probably have a bit more grip & protection than a racing flat.

I've taken them out for a few spins & LOVE them.  They're certainly not a treadmill shoe (which I've found to be true of many of my minimalist shoes), but I haven't had any problems with them outdoors.  Slightly sore Achilles tendon during my run yesterday, but I'll keep easing into them & switching them out with my other running shoes.

Side-by-side comparison of my most recent minimalist shoes.  But why in the world are minimalist shoes so damn expensive?  There's supposed to be nothing to them.  Ridiculous...I'm willing to drop $100 for running shoes but wouldn't dream about dropping $100 for fashionable shoes??