Barefoot or Shoes?

There's a lot of talk about barefoot running these days. While I'm not about to start running without shoes I do like the less is more idea. The basic idea is that running shoes by virtue of the amount of cushioning, force you to land on your heel which actually reduces the foots natural ability to absorb shock. The foot is naturally designed to land on the ball of the foot and not the heel, so bare foot proponents suggest that running barefoot actually reduces stress on the body and reduces injury. I recently purchased pair of minimalist shoes which have a minimal drop from the heel to the ball of the foot. The idea is that it encourages you to land more on the ball or transition to the ball of your foot faster enabling your body to dissipate shock more efficiently. I've been running in Saucony's for a long time
so I picked their version of the minimalist shoe called the Kivara. I only had a chance to run ten miles in them before the heartbreak ridge half. I was concerned as I've been having some heel pain so running in a shoe with less cushioning in the heel seemed pretty counter intuitive, but they felt good so I used them for the race. I didn't have any issues during the race. I did have some calf soreness but my heels felt none the worse for wear. The following day most of the calf sorness was gone. I'm pretty happy with the shoe, but it'll be interesting to see how well they hold up.