[pct-l] Trail Running Shoes so great?

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Feb 21, 2009, at 7:49 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Trail Running Shoes so great?
Ok, so I got a brand new pair of New Balance 811s in the mail the  
other day. I have never worn these shoes before. They are an EE  
width, which I've also never tried. I like the width. Feels good. I  
took out the insoles that came with them and put in the cushy old  
lady insoles I like so much.

I decided to wear them on a hike today. I thought we were going on  
just a nice little hike, but it turned out to be an off-trail  
adventure instead. Here are all the things wrong with trail runners.

1. These are the ugliest shoes I've ever seen. Ok, not all trail  
runners are ugly.
2. I stepped in quicksand and immediately my left foot was wet.
3. Walking off-trail on a perpetual slope down to my left, my left  
foot was in danger of getting a blister under the big bone where your  
big toe connects. After several miles of this, my left inner ankle  
was starting to hurt where the edge of the shoe rubs against it.
4. While hiking off trail I got tangled in a bush and when I stepped  
down on a branch with my left foot I crushed my right foot. That hurt.
5. There were these white plants that stuck annoyingly to my clothes.  
These things stuck to my shoe laces and to my socks around the ankles  
and even fell down inside the shoes.
6. We hiked in a lot of soft, silty sand in our off-trail adventure,  
sometimes sinking in pretty far as we went down impossible canyons. I  
had to stop a few times and shake the dirt out of my shoes.
7. I stopped to take off my shoes to cross a creek. My feet and socks  
were incredibly dirty, especially my toes.
8. I didn't find them as soft and cushy as I'd like. I guess I'll add  
another old lady insole to them.