[pct-l] Feet Swelling

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

Joan,
I stuffed extra insoles in my shoes too. I used flat, springy ones,  
not supportive ones. I used some Spenco ones that have no arch or  
other kind of shape to them, and also some flat insoles I ripped out  
of a pair of Nikes in the garbage. Again, no arch shape of any kind.

I could rotate through various options of extra insoles this way too.  
Add more when my feet felt sore, take some out when my feet got  
bigger. Put the softer ones on top when my feet really hurt.

I was surprised how much padding I felt I needed. The ground gets  
really hard after a while.

I read Born to Run, too, and while I agree with it, the ground is  
really hard after 25 miles of walking each day. Walking doesn't  
employ the same kind of springiness that running does.

Also, I found that nylon liner socks were too slippery for me. I did  
better with wool. With wool, I could wear very large shoes and loosen  
the laces and they never felt like they were big and clomping around.  
They felt like they fit.

I'm a little odd though. I can't tolerate tightness in my shoes at  
all. I can't even tolerate what people say is a good fit.

Diane

On Feb 16, 2010, at 4:27 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Linsey wrote: "Last year, if my pre-hike purchased shoes seemed too  
> big I
> had great success adding an extra insole or volume adjuster."
>
> I thought about this option. I just feel dubious about packing my  
> shoes with
> all kinds of padding.  For good or bad reading  "Born To Run"  
> reinforced my
> belief that heavy duty insoles are not necessary for me.  I will  
> probably
> replace the factory insole with Superfeet before my hike. I like  
> how they
> stabilize my feet in a very subtle way.
>