Merrell Glove 4 trail runners for El camino?

[Nofeer]

Hi All,

So I did el Camino 2 years ago from Leon to Santiago and messed up with shoes. So now I'm planning to do the same route in July and looking for good breathable light shoes. Bought Moab 2 ventilator and walked with them a few times now, but find them too heavy and chunky. Then somebody mentioned Merrell Glove 4 Running shoes, tried them on today and they feel really light and good. Has anyone done Camino in this kind of shoes?

 

[spursfan]

I walk in Trail Glove 2 and 3 both on Caminos and every day - dry quickly and any mud drops off them

 

[Nofeer]

I walk in Trail Glove 2 and 3 both on Caminos and every day - dry quickly and any mud drops off them

Thanks spursfan, bought trail glove 4 today. Wish me luck!

 

[Mal.C]

Ive not started yet, I start June 11th from Leon, but I live in southern Spain and ive been training every day in a pair of Merrells, their water shoes, basically because of the weight, they weigh nothing and have enough on the bottom to protect me. not for everyone but boots and even the salamon hiking shoes I bought killed my feet.

very personal preference, but I walk 15k a day at the moment over road and local terrain, and these are doing the job nicely...

good luck

Malc

 

[Nofeer]

Sounds good Mal, thanks!

 

[Zachthewalker]

Hi All,

So I did el Camino 2 years ago from Leon to Santiago and messed up with shoes. So now I'm planning to do the same route in July and looking for good breathable light shoes. Bought Moab 2 ventilator and walked with them a few times now, but find them too heavy and chunky. Then somebody mentioned Merrell Glove 4 Running shoes, tried them on today and they feel really light and good. Has anyone done Camino in this kind of shoes?

Did you ever end up getting these? I too am curious about them for my own Camino as the other shoes I got aren't as I hoped.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I've worn trail runners for over 10 years on the Camino with no issues.
Wear what's comfortable unless you have a medical need for high top ankle support.
That's my opinion.

 

[Donna Sch]

I almost took a pair of those with me last Camino because they are exceptionally comfortable. They are my default runner around the house. However after a few walks between 15-20km I started to get an odd burning sensation on the top of my foot. Not painful per se just odd. Saw the podiatrist and got told to ditch them because the flexible sole over long distances means I crunch my midfoot bones together.
To prevent that I need something a bit more solid and much less bendy.
I do love a zero drop shoe though. https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/shoes-and-boots/best-trail-running-shoes These guys do great reviews. For a foot like mine I would be tempted to go for the Altra.

 

[Nofeer]

Did you ever end up getting these? I too am curious about them for my own Camino as the other shoes I got aren't as I hoped.

Hi,



I bought them but read afterwards that you really need to walk with barefoot/minimalist shoes for at least 3 moths as there is hardly any coushinging support and a lot of your muscles haven’t been working at all if you been walking with normal shoes with sole.



So I bought a pair of normalish looking barefoot shoes to train the feet/muscles and interesting enough the on/off light knee pain I had for several years, lower back issues, kind of weak hip on left side and other small things started to disappear. After a month which was in June this year all those issues are gone. So I ditched the normal shoes and just been using Barefoot shoes since May this year and have had zero issues with my knee, hip or back. Everything feels super strong and I don’t exercise at all. I know this is a bit off topic, but using bearfoot shoes helped me so much, and I anyone have kind of smiliar issues, try using this kind of shoes instead of spending money on physio/chiro like I did.



Now back to topic. Just before I did the Camino this year I realized that the Trail glove 4 I bought was actually womens version. But had another pair of bearfoot running shoes and took them with me. I started in Astorga and after 3 day my feet were really soar tbh, all the down to the bone. Guess I wasn’t trained/fit enough. So took 2 days rest and bought adidas Pure Boost DPR that I used for the rest of the trip. I really appreciated the cushioning but would not recommend those for camino.

If you are fit and used to barefoot shoes, it should be ok I guess. After a lot of reading I think my next camino will be in Altras lone peak, same principal as barefoot shoes, like wide toe box, zero drop sole but good cushioning. This helps reduce the foot fatigue which is good if you want to do 25-30 km a day, that what they say anyway. A lot of people on camino forums rave about them.



Sorry if the answer was a bit long