Minimalist shoes -- for kids, too? (Read 806 times)

I'm a pretty big fan of relatively minimal shoes...not 0 drop, at this point, but 4-6mm works pretty well for me.  I've gradually been able to wean myself off the Superfeet, too, though I'm also not running enough miles at this stage for my knees to care one way or the other, most likely.

Anyhow, my 11 year old DS has pretty craptacular endurance.  He can ride for hours on the back of our tandem, but mostly because he's letting his dad do the lion's share of the work.  His idea of running is to sprint all out, then sputter.  He thought he wanted to do cyclocross races this Fall, but he can barely handle a mile or two of pedaling on his solo bike with some effort before he starts to fizzle, much less 3-4 miles in a race scenario on a hilly and semi-technical course.  I think I finally have him convinced that if he works up slowly that he can run and bike much further with some practice.  He really wants to do the "Zombies! Run" iPhone app, but no way could he handle that now.  I'm going to bargain with him and tell him if he can work up to 2 slow/steady miles that we'll start working on that fun app.

Anyhow, part of me wants to take him to a running store for shoes, but I'm suspecting they're going to put him in a bulky shoe and I wonder if that's the best approach.  It doesn't seem like there are a lot of more minimal shoes on the market for kids, though, aside from the Nike Free, which I fear could be too minimal to start.  He has a really narrow, but sort of flat foot.  I think some support would be good.

Thoughts?  He's only in about a youth 5-6 (he's got small feet like much of my family), which also makes it tricky, since he doesn't yet fit into men's sizes.  As narrow as his foot is a women's shoe might be an option.

That's kind of what I'm thinking, too...start him more minimal so he doesn't have to train his achilles to lengthen and all the other muscles in his feet to work properly.

From Running Times September Issue, Shoes for Small Fry

 

Saw this and thought it may be helpful to you.

Yes, very.  This is sort of what I suspected, but I haven't seen discussed at length.

My kid is in an interesting place compared to a lot of his peers.  He attends a Montessori school where shoes are off at the door and the kids wear slippers in the building.  The only times they wear shoes are for recess or gym.  At home we don't wear shoes in the house, either.

I haven't seen all those models widely available, unfortunately.  I don't think Running Warehouse or Roadrunner Sports carry most of those in kids sizes...I wonder why.  I don't think the $60 quoted for most of those is unreasonable for a legitimate running shoe for a kid, especially if a person can find them on sale or buy last season's model.

Why would the teacher not allow Vibrams? 

True.  But if they outlaw anything it should be those godawful Crocs!

I think you're probably right.  About the time I started running track as a kid (mid-80s) the built-up heels on running shoes with tons of cushioning had become the standard.  That was likely the wrong direction for most people to go.  Now we're back to less-is-more.

Since your DS is barefoot quite a bit, I wouldn't worry about putting him in a zero drop shoe.

 

But if you're looking for something that has a low drop,but still a good shoe, you may want to check out the Inov-8 F-lite 195 or something similar. They are quite narrow so might be just the ticket for your DS.

Thanks for the recommendation!  Yeah, I think his foot is going to be as hard to fit as mine is, but because the shape is so opposite of mine.  He has my flat arch, but narrowness like his dad and both grandmas.

Something tells me the little turd is gonna outsprint me at the finish. 

They're crafty - watch out!