Well, it was two clinics: a running shoe store in Utah that does not sell vibrams, and then a university physical course called "Jogging.". I already in the vibrams back then, but was not permitted to use them in the class, this was probably 5 years ago now. The strongest feedback about the general difficulty of hitting midfoot properly in shoes with a heel was in the jogging class, I asked about it in the running test at the shop as well. I've visited with doctors on the topic as well, but I suppose I csn't say that I have visited a medical clinic dedicated to helping you run correctly just yet. :D

The major problem was that I could overdo the motion, hitting on the ball of my foot, or underdo it and hit the heel, but hitting the sweet spot for middle foot landing is- well, I can agree with the way you put it, but I'd intensify the statement: the feedback from a well-shoed foot is so weak that an inexperienced person like me will literally not be able to tell the difference between a foot strike that is actually correct and one that is not. My understanding is that a your shoe's heel on a midfoot strike actually still generally touches first, it just does not hit as hard, bit then, like I said, I never really mastered this.

I should mention, well, both the class and the shop took detailed video of me running, from multiple angles, and analyzed them with me, along with analyzing the sole of my regular running shoes (I did own both vibrams and regular running shoes at the time, the vibrams we're sort of my special cases, most especially because they were quite annoying to wear if it rained substantially!)- but analyzed where the wear and tear was on my regular running shoes.

Out of curiosity, have you ever tried running barefoot? I spent four years of cross country practice in high school desperately fighting my tendency to overstride. At the start, my stride rate tended towards the high 70s (a healthy stride rate is high 80s, low 90s), and I barely got to the low 80s by the time I graduated.

The first time I went running barefoot, my stride rate was over 90. Instantly. If someone had told me, I would have been spared four years of stride rate exercises.

You might be right to claim that someone who's run barefoot their whole life will have no trouble running properly in standard runners, but if you don't already have perfect form cushioned shoes are not doing you any favors.

> overpriced Vibrams

A particularly odd criticism, since Vibrams cover the same price spectrum as more traditional running shoes, and both groups are essentially centered on selling shoes for just above $100 (and have been for more than a decade now).

I would second this, that sand you mentioned is perfect, plus I'm taller and have more weight so anything softer than asphalt is a plus.