[pct-l] how do running shoes tend to die, and when?

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good afternoon, Duck,

I generally wear middle-line running or trail shoes, and I also target
approximately 500 miles.  Some have been replaced at Hiker Heaven while
others continued to Kennedy Meadows.  At those points none have been worn to
the point of being unserviceable but I expect the EVA foam in the soles had
long ago become poor at absorbing shock.  In that regard I’m more concerned
about shoes for running rather than for hiking.



One of the first areas to get ratty is the lining inside the back of the
heal.  It goes quickly, and looks awful, but I haven’t been troubled by it.
I used to patch the inside with duct tape or Gorilla Tape but I no longer
bother; I just let them wear out.



Most soles have an extension of sole rubber – narrowing to a rounded point
-- glued up the front of the toe box.  Often this glue-job fails and the
rubber makes a flap that sticks forward.  It looks bad but also it tends to
catch rocks and sticks while walking.  I usually trim the flap with a knife
because I don’t need anything else tripping me; I do enough of that without
help.



Often parts of the toe box are made of some kind of synthetic leather-type
material which tends to crack over time.  The cracks, in themselves, don’t
really cause a problem but given sufficient time they will admit dirt,
pebbles, and other trail-trash.



Standard marshmallow insoles often wear quickly, and tend to slide and
bunch-up when wet, so I rip them out and install SuperFeet when the shoe is
new.



I’ve seen some pretty pathetic shoelaces, but I seldom have a problem
because I keep them as loose as possible and I wear gaiters to cover about
half the lacing, the knot and the ends.



The soles see some wear, but surprisingly not a great deal.  I’m
particularly alert to uneven wear that could alter my gait or otherwise
unbalance my walking.  I don’t often find anything unusual.



The claim is that sneakers don’t need any break-in but I prefer to wear them
for about 100 training miles before I set them aside for the hike.  Sometimes
an inside seam will move to a place where it troubles my foot and can
possibly cause a blister; even on trail-tough feet.



Enjoy your planning,



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 12:26 PM, greg mushial <gmushial at gmdr.com> wrote:

> For my (what proved to be an aborted attemp on Section O) I gave up on the
> boots and went with running shoes. In this case, the bottom of the line
> Nike's - $29.95 at Target on sale. Before heading out on O I put 60ish
> miles
> on them on the local fire trails/roads; on O I added another 35-40; and
> since then, another 300ish again on the fire trails. Clearly at this point
> they'd nolonger be confused with new shoes - they're more northern calif
> red
> clay dust red than their original blue and grey; the foodbeds have taking a
> nice imprint of my foot, ie, they fit my feet well, are super comfortable
> (and clearly one would have no problems finding them in a dark room - just
> follow your nose). But I'm wondering is: in reading the various trail
> journals it seems thru's are replacing their shoes every 500 miles +/- [yes
> they're carrying a pack, but mine only added 15% to the total weight the
> shoes would see]..  how do the shoes tend break down? Stiches blow out?
> Bottoms wear out? I've read about some thru's limping into the next
> resupply
> with their shoes more duct-tape than shoes etc) I'm wondering if by buying
> the bottom of the line shoe, and being very basic shoes, ie, real laces
> through real eyelets, ie, no super duper space age gonzo light stiff...
> they're actually more robust than the upper end shoes? At this point, if
> they continue to hold up like they are currently, I'm inclined to try to
> find a couple more pairs, and used them for next year's hoped for thru.
>
> many thanks - TheDuck
>
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