[pct-l] shoe sizing - questions thereof

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning to TheDuck,

I agree with Eric’s comments.  During most of my adult life I wore 10 medium
(10 D) shoes, but with increasing running miles in loose sneakers I found
that I could not tolerate any tightness across the ball of my feet.  Indeed,
at times I could run 25 miles without foot pain but I could not tolerate
hiking ½ mile wearing more conventional-fitting D-width shoes.  In my case
the culprit was a predisposition to Morton’s Syndrome, and the
often-associated Morton’s Neuroma – a pinching of the nerve bundle between
the metatarsals at the ball of my feet.  The result was I went from D-width,
to E, to EE, and finally to 12 or 12 ½ EEEE before I got things right.  The
difference was greater than merely moving from D to EEEE because the length
also went from 10 to 12+ and the width also increases with length.



One attribute of loose shoes is the possibility of the foot sliding forward
on downhill sections and damaging toenails in the front end of the shoes.  I
keep the laces loose, but I often tighten them given a sustained downhill.  The
extra width of shoe helps prevent over-tightening the width, and a stop-knot
halfway up the lacing also helps.



The takeaway for others might be to expect change:  Avoid buying a
thruhike’s worth of same-size shoes – maybe 5 or 6 pairs -- in advance,
speculating that good-at-the-start also means good-at-the-end.  During the
hike if the shoes seem to be getting tighter make a change to length and/or
width. Reputable shoes sellers – often internet based -- will send
replacement shoes on short notice to resupply points, and usually at an
attractive price.



Enjoy your hike,



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

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

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 9:51 PM, greg mushial <gmushial at gmdr.com> wrote:

> In reading Yogi's PCT handbook, it seems the suggested shoe size (for
> running shoes) is 1/2 to a full size over one's day-in-day-out shoe size.
> My
> question is: is that for people that wear confining shoes on a daily basis,
> and it's with all the trail pounding their feet broaden out to their more
> normal dimensions; or is that for everyone? The reason I ask is: as someone
> that lives in sandals and/or flipflops (have one reconstructed foot and
> normal shoes hurt to wear on a daily basis, especially sitting at a desk in
> the office), as such, my feet have become quite broad. Should I expect them
> to become even broader on the trail, ie, when I buy a new set of runners,
> should I also plan on buying large. [and not to worry: the best therapy for
> the reconstructed foot has always been walking - doesn't hurt in hiking
> boots...  but would like to try running shoes for a section hike...   also
> of note: in previous hikes (50 milers etc) I've never noticed any
> enlargement (other than from altitude, eg, over 15k ft), and am wondering
> if
> I simply haven't walked far enough to see this effect.]  People's comments,
> please.
> thanks, TheDuck
>
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