[pct-l] Buying larger shoes

[Jim & Jane Moody]

Gretchen, 

There is no one perfect answer for this, but here's a couple of things you can do to reduce the toe-jamming effect.  First, tie a surgeon's knot in your shoe laces at the point where the laces cross under the instep.  (Google "surgeon's knot" - it's just 3 overhand knots in sequence).  This is supposed to keep the foot from sliding forward so much. 



Second, with oversized shoes (or at least oversized toebox), you can move your toes around, even curl them under somewhat on downhills.  This reduces the time they are hitting the front of the shoe. 



Finally, try going downhill with a side-to-side stride, almost like you are skating.  That tends to put more pressure on the sides of your foot and less on the toes.  Think vectors - less on the y-axis and more on the x-axis. 



Good luck. 

Mango 



----- Original Message -----


From: "Gretchen Brauer-Rieke" <gretchbr at gmail.com> 
To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 1:10:29 AM 
Subject: [pct-l] Buying larger shoes 

" Try on one size larger and see how they feel. My guess is that if you go 
1/2 to one size larger than your normal size, your feet will thank you. 
But that is just a guess. You will have to decide for yourself." 

I'm thinking about the advice about wearing shoes that are larger than what 
one is used to - what happens with the downhill stretches?  Wouldn't one's 
feet slide forward in too-big shoes and hit the ends with one's toes?  I 
usually tighten my laces for downhills to keep my feet from sliding forward 
- wondering how that works if the shoes are big enough that one's feet have 
lots of room to move... 

Gretchen 

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