Way, way back in the early '70s my family moved from small town New Hampshire to the northwestern edge of the suburban sprawl of Oklahoma City. I was in 4th grade and the move was kind of a big shock to me and my sibs. Different weather, types of houses, culture, trees, dirt--it was red, different games at recess, you name it. Sports seemed to be a big part of school life and it seemed like a lot of the kids were generally more aggressive.
The ubiquitous footwear in gym class was these flimsy little black canvas shoes with 2 or 3 white stripes on the sides, a sliver of a white rubber toe box and thin (1/4") crepe rubber soles with no cleats. They had some toe spring but really it looked like the whole shoe was curved, although they mostly flattened out when stood in. They probably had a thin cloth lined foam rubber insole. They certainly would be called zero drop minimalist shoes by today's standards. I think people just called them track shoes. They looked almost disposable and there were binloads of them in TG&Y. You had to sort through the bin to find a pair your size--no boxes, they were joined at the laces holes with those plastic bead-like-chain zip ties, if I remember correctly. And what company made them? I don't remember a logo.
I think I was in 6th grade when I finally talked my mother into getting me a pair, not because I thought I'd be a track star or anything, but just because everybody else had them. The only problem was that I had always apparenty worn cushier shoes. No playing barefoot for me--my mother kept me in sturdy shoes. I guess, anyway. I honestly can't remember a single other sneaker I wore back then, although they might have been Keds or maybe Converse. I think we actually had to wear regular shoes to school and change into whatever sneakers for PE. When I ran for the first time in my new track shoes it hurt a lot. I'm sure I was heal striking. There were no warnings that came with the shoe on how to transition. No instruction at school on how to run. If you showed some talent you were given some special attention and put on the fast track to track stardom. I was not put on the fast track and I didn't run much in my track shoes. It seems to me though that I did play in them some, and when I was running around while playing, not single-purposely running, that I did adopt a more natural running gait. It could have happened, I tell you!
Anyway, after 8th grade we moved back to New Hampshire. Back to trees, four seasons, brown dirt and none of the flimsy little track shoes to be seen. Much later, after I got out of the Air Force, I drove through Oklahoma City and visited the old neighborhood. The second thing I did was to go into a TG&Y to look for those track shoes. There were none of course, just the modern, thicker heeled running shoes, though not the super thick soles of recent years.
For an early xmas present, I asked the wife to get me a pair of Stems, which she dutifully did. I may never have bought them for myself--I would have a hard time paying 90$ for less shoe. Right out of the box they had an intensely plasticky-chemical smell--reminded me of driving past Hendrix Wire and Cable when they're making cable. They fit good though. I usually wear 10 1/2 to 11, so I got the 11 to 11 1/2. They look like they have a very slight arch, but not enough to notice when they're worn. The sole at the heel is rounded, or cupped, and there's a little toe spring, but the rubber is very flexible and seems to comform to my feet. It is a slightly squishy rubber, but it would be a mistake to think that you wouldn't need to transition into them if you hadn't previously done any BF or min running.
But I started BF 16 months ago, and again last spring, so on my first run with the Stems on 12/1 I did 3.8 miles. It was maybe around 40 degrees, so I wore some wool/synthetic hiking socks. The shoes felt really good--a little cushy but still plenty of ground feel. I have Reynaud's, so usually I expect some toes to give me a little problem (even when I was in regular running shoes) until I get fully warmed up, which takes 15 to 25 minutes depending on the temperature. Lately it's been the fourth, then third toes on each foot that get chilly and this time was no exception. The odd thing was that after they warmed up they got a little hot/tingly, mostly on the left foot. At first I thought the Stems were causing my toes to cramp in there a bit as the toe line doesn't exactly match my foot, but after a while I tried and found I could lift my toes and stretch them out without hitting the end of the shoe. I think I just needed to get the right socks for the temperature as subsequent runs with "cooler" socks have been better.
Are they a replacement for the flimsy track shoes of yore? Are those what the slogans (primitive performance, back to our roots, ancestral footwear) imprinted in the rubber soles are referring to? Will we soon see binfulls of these at Walmart begging to be worn by schoolchildren? Probably not at that price. With the knit uppers and the slightly squishy soles they're more comfortable, at least in cooler weather. I don't know if I'd want to wear them for running in the summer, if I had to for some reason wear shoes. Even as breezy as they feel, the synthetic might be too warm, at least for my weird, circulation-problem feet. I did try them one warmish (about 50) morning without socks and they weren't bad. These are definitely the shoes I'll be running in all winter. I should say also that after drying them out over the heat register after a few runs that the smell has subsided quite a bit--much more tolerable now. And they are really light--just under 5 ounces each, measured on a digital scale at work.
All in all, I'm really happy with the shoes. I've run a total of 28 miles in them and worn them all day at work. My feet tend to get hot in shoes by mid afternoon at work and they got hot in the Stems, too, but I think I have to switch to cotton socks and have cold feet in the morning. Or switch to cotton after lunch.
