get some cheap trail shoes and go and run through mud and rivers or run over hills or mountains. Get a book of walks or mountain bike routes and go and run them. meet up with a friend that you havent seen for a while and go for a run with them and have a good gossip.
Run through a bustling city center and people watch. how can all that be boring
Alistair, i used them new balance 110's for the thames path 100 and they were fine, even though it had been rerouted and a lot of it was on tarmac. Infact i'm going to do the london marathon in them this sunday as i havent really got any road shoes.
its not so much about cushioning as protection from bumps and stones etc. I find when running in my vivo's i have to concentrate on avoiding little pebbles etc and dont really want to be concentrating on that for more than an hour.
If you're not running on tarmac, have a look at the new balance 110's. They're silly cheap and absolutly superb. They have a 4mm drop, so minimalist rather than barefoot
Can't be bothered to read through the whole thread but here's my two pennys worth. I do a couple of runs a week in my vivos and all my long runs in new balance 110's. Good protection and I do like a 4mm drop on longer runs. Wore them for the Thames path 100 with no major problems except they do gather mud inside and had to stop a couple of times to scrape mud out of them with a stick.
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