You mean everyone doesn't do this?

Nevels.... I was reading some comments back and forth between yourself and another blogger pertaining to the inov8 shoes that you currently use. Was it the roclite 295 and one of the flyrocs? All the reviews seem to be positive concerning the brand.

ahhh... my 3am conversation with aaron kennard...

yes, as far as trail running goes, i have yet to find a line of shoes that works better (for me, at least).

the first pair of trail shoes i ever bought was a pair of flyroc (310's, i think, and i was the first person i knew to own a pair of inov-8's, before they were the cool thing to have...), and i wasn't quite ready for them foot- and ankle-strength-wise, so i ventured over to some of the beefier style trail shoes.

i had a decent amount of success in the bigger shoes (montrail odyssey and nitrous) before transitioning back down to the slightly lower-profile inov-8 line. (i finished my first 100-miler in a pair of body-armor-like montrail nitrous and my second in a pair of nike trail pegasus shoes)

for the last year or so, i've been really enjoying the inov-8 roclite 295's (even running my PR 100-miler in them a couple months ago), and at least for my little "experiment of one," this particular style seems to fit my feet and stride pretty well.

all that being said, the inov-8 line is built upon the notion of more low-profile running (read: less structure/support), so if you are wanting to go in that direction (which i would heartily recommend), you probably ought to make sure that your feet and ankles are conditioned to handle a somewhat more minimalistic shoe. again, in my humble opinion, it's worth it...

Thanks for the feedback! Now I just need to drive into Boston to try a pair on and see how they feel. I did read this morning that they were fairly low on support. I was very suprised to see how flexible the sole was in the forefoot area when I watched a video review of the model.... never would have guessed it from the pictures alone.

i think it's completely worth the effort to get into a pair, and the outsoles are very much suited to lower-profile, even kind of (dare i use the fad term...) "minimalistic" in that they do allow you to control your own feet via ankle motion and, to some degree, "feel" the trail beneath you with the rather flexible sole, not to mention the exceptional grip you get with the pretty aggressive treads and the "sticky" rubber compound they use on some of the shoes (such as the roclites).