[pct-l] Shoes

[Jason Moores]

Blim Blam,


- How important is the color of the shoe?

Not very. Black might not be a great choice. As Piper said, they'll be
covered in dust by the end of the first day.


- Do highly breathable/mesh shoes gather more dirt/rocks?

It seems to be the most popular shoe type on the trail, the highly
breathable type. I tried a pair of Montrails off the border in '09 that were
breathable and had issues with the amount of grit that built up around my
toes. Even with gaiters, frequent changing of socks and washing of feet, my
toes began to get friction blisters. I switched to a slightly less
breathable and thicker soled shoe, Lowa-Vento Lo, and the problem went away.
And on the plus side, I normally get over 800 miles per pair and they can
often be found on sale.


- Should we really start out one size bigger than normal?

I would buy a pair of shoes one size bigger but not expect them to fit well
right off the border. It'll take a little while for your feet to beef up or
flatten out. You might be better off starting with the shoes that you are
training with and send the larger shoes to say, Warner Springs. Or, another
option would be to bring and extra set of insoles and ditching them as your
foot grows. Most lighter shoes break-in right out of the box but it would be
a good idea to put some miles on them before hitting the trail.

Jackass



On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 11:44 AM, Ben Glenn <ben at benglenn.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I have a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3d trail runners that I think will work
> well for the Sierras and beyond, but Yogi recommends lightweight,
> breathable, light-colored shoes for the desert. So I have a few questions:
>
> - How important is the color of the shoe?
> - Do highly breathable/mesh shoes gather more dirt/rocks?
> - Should we really start out one size bigger than normal?
>
> I'm considering these two shoes:
>
> http://www.rei.com/product/809412
> http://www.nextag.com/asics-gel-ds-trainer/compare-html
>
> Would love your thoughts and suggestions. Looking forward to meeting some
> of you at kick-off, if not before (I'm in SF).
>
> Ben aka Blim Blam
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