[pct-l] Insole-nt Question

Thu Feb 6 17:22:06 CST 2014

That foam pad Shroomer spoke of is a Dr Sholls insert sold at nearly every 
grocery & drug store in the US. About a 1/4 inch of padding for the sharp 
rocky trails. When it starts getting flat I pull the pad out. My socks are 
very thin sock liners and the shoes are New Balance Minimus trail running 
shoes. Almost no padding between my feet and the trail.

Ken
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Slusser" <michael.slusser at gmail.com>
To: "Scott Williams" <baidarker at gmail.com>
Cc: "PCT" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2014 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Insole-nt Question

Scott,

Rock on. I think my hesitation was only because so many people kept looking
at me strangely and suggesting I was going to die if I didn't get a good
insole. Thanks hugely for this insight (and for the other helpful ideas as
well).

~PE

On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 1:38 PM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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>
>

-- 
*Quid sum? Nil. Quis sum? Nullus. Sed gratia Christi, quod sum, quod vivo,
quodque laboro, facit.*
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