I've been running in Skinners for about a year now. I found that they took a bit of getting used to, but I think the necessity of totally changing your stride is a bit overblown. The adjustment is more to do with building up the different muscles you aren't used to using, or at least it was for me.

When I run in normal running shoes now, I feel weighed down and I don't do as well. My times have definitely improved, but I think that's mostly because I've been running more because I enjoy it more.