[pct-l] Insole-nt Question

[Scott Williams]

That's a good bit of my story as well Professor.  In 2010, I'd been
training in light trail shoes all winter with no problem and a month before
setting out on the PCT I decided to try Superfeet.  I had plantar's
Faciitis within a few days.  I pulled them out, but suffered with light PF
all across the deserts.  The 5 weeks of snow in the High Sierra in seemed
to cure it.  The pace was reduced drastically and the swelling was helped
because it was as if my feet were on ice for much of the day, which in fact
they were.  Walking wet also chilled 'em out.  I blasted up the northern
Sierra and across Oregon hiking 30 to 35 mile days for weeks and did just
fine.

Then came WA and a tougher trail again, but we kept up the high mileage for
the first week or two and bam, the PF came back gangbusters.  I padded and
cushioned everything I could and  lived on vitamin I all the way to Canada.
 Then the worst was that even off trail it didn't go away.  By mid November
I was getting ready to see a Dr. when I read "Born to Run" and heard  of
the importance of not cushioning your feet so that they can strengthen
naturally.  I pulled out the heal pad.  Instant relief.  A few days later I
pulled out the arch support.  Even better relief.  Within the week I had
pulled out everything including the insert!  That fast, the pain that had
been plaguing me for 3 months was gone!!!

So, over the next year, I trained with light shoes with no insert at all
and then headed off on the CDT in 2012 and hiked the whole darn thing with
no pain.  Rocks, scree, snow, roots and being lost in total disasters of
overgrown vegetation and downfall, and my feet felt great!

I've been training for the AT for the past year and all this winter in the
oldest trail shoes I have.  They're like walking on thick paper they're so
thin.  They're about to come through in several places and have no traction
whatsoever, but I love them.  They cause my foot to become tough and my
ankles strong.  Having to adjust for slippery slopes and rocks makes you
become more observant of what you're stepping on and how you're supporting
yourself.  Not relying on tread makes me conscious of walking with care,
and I'm still fast for an old goat!

Since 2010, I've come to love the feel of all the rocks and roots.  It's
like getting a foot massage whenever I hike.  Going without an insole at
first can be kind of scary, and your feet may even get a bit bruised.  For
this I still carry a simple, flat foam insert to provide a cushion if I
find I need one.  But I haven't had to use it since the CDT.  At the GGG a
few weeks ago, Ken Powers told me he also carries a simple foam pad for
hard rock sections.  He'll put them in when he needs them and then take
them out when he's back on softer trail.  He and Marcia hike in the
lightest "slippers" I've ever seen and they've done huge distances in them,
and they're feet stay healthy.  We can build strong feet in spite of all
the years of cushioning and padding we've done to them previously.

So, if you can persevere, stick with the lightest shoes and insoles you can
manage, or so insoles at all.  Don't hurt yourself, maybe keep the insoles
in your pack at first.  I carried mine for the first 1,000 miles or so of
the CDT and only threw them out in Colorado when it became clear I wouldn't
need them, but I still keep a foam pad, just in case.

Good luck, I think you're on to something!

Shroomer


On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 1:03 PM, Michael Slusser
<michael.slusser at gmail.com>wrote:

> Here's the short version of my story (no, really):
>
> About a decade ago, I started having trouble with heel, toe, and knee pain
> and swelling (plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia kinds of issues)--not
> constant, but too often. I tried out Superfeet and had a good results with
> only occasional bouts of trouble, maybe once a month. As I started prepping
> for the thru-hike this year, the incidents started to worry me more, so I
> tried out half a dozen orthotics. A trip to the orthopedist later, I still
> hadn't found a great solution. I've had Montrails, Solomons, New Balance,
> and Brooks, all of which performed about the same.
>
> In frustration, one day I took out all the trappings and walked around in
> shoes with no insole at all.
>
> That was four months ago, and since I haven't had a single issue. I'm
> afraid to be hopeful that this is a solution, but I'm willing to try it
> out.
>
> The only concern is that, without an insole, I feel a lot of the rocks and
> other detritus on the path. So the question is, does anyone have a good
> suggestion for some sort of very, very thin padding to take the place of
> the missing insoles?
>
> Muchas gracias,
>
> Professor Errant
>
> --
> *Quid sum? Nil. Quis sum? Nullus. Sed gratia Christi, quod sum, quod vivo,
> quodque laboro, facit.*
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