Inov 8 MudRoc 280 Trail Running Shoe - Men's

Seriously, with a pair of shoes that weighs under 600 grams, how can you not go fast?! The super-minimalist approach suits me fine! The less the shoe does, the stronger my feet and ankles get. I don't like shoes with burly overgrown heel crash pads or that are so wide to give the perception of support that the footprint I leave is three sizes larger than the shoe. Inov-8 keeps it simple, I feel the ground, the shoes grab onto anything wet or dry in my experience and my feet & ankles just get stronger. One thing, however, as with the Nike Free shoes, it's a good idea to do some plyometrics for a few weeks before running anything over 5k in these: most people's foot musculature won't be ready for this minimal approach.

My husband said these shoes felt like they had a vice grip on his heel. Maybe they run small or narrow, but keep this in mind.

This is a case where the star-system really doesn't make sense. For someone with feet like mine, this shoe should get zero stars. I have now given these shoes three different shots with three different sock/liner/footbed combinations - and each one of them has resulted in my heels being absolutely torn to shreds after less than three miles of running - a feature of the shoe that was definitely not evident when I initially tried them on or even ran around in them a bit. I know of at least one other trail runner who has had similar experiences. That said, I also know a guy who loves these things, who has had absolutely no heel rub and would readily give these shoes 5 stars. If not for the rampant destruction of my heel, I, too, would consider these shoes wonderful. They are light, have a very low profile and are very good on rough or damp terrain - especially given their weight. I would suggest just being very careful in determining the fit and whether heel rub might be an issue given the fact that the back of the shoe is not well-padded and does not come up as high as most other trail shoes (including most other inov-8 models).

These shoes are great, they meet all of my needs for a trail shoe - lightweight, great traction, low profile, comfy. I've only used them for shorter distances (25k) so far, but they gave me no blisters or hot spots.