Getting fitted for trail runners

Hi Jeffrey

> I think my feet swelled and got sore.
Yep, 110%. Happens all the time.

Step 1: find a good SHOE shop and get your feet (in thick socks) measured on a Brannock Device. This will give you both foot length AND foot width. The latter is crucial.

Step 2: take the size (length) they give you and increase it by AT LEAST half a size. This allows for the swelling which always happens. Few shoe shop assistants have heard of this.

Step 3: Only consider shoes which match the size (length) AND the width you measured. No matter what someone tells you about how XYZ are wonderful: if they don't fit YOUR feet they are no use to you.

Option: have a look at the New Balance web store at
http://www.nbwebexpress.com/
to get some idea of what is available in YOUR size. Be careful about other web sites which don't give shoe width, or just say 'large'. From direct query I find that 'large' or 'wide' often means nothing more than width D. (Yes, I like the NB shoes.)

Avoid like the plague any shoes which feature significant 'arch support' or significant 'pronation control'. Both of these 'features' can damage your feet. Neither of them have any scientific support: it might be truer to say both have scientific evidence against them. Pro athletes and coaches don't touch them.

Do not go for 'gel soles' either: they are known to lead to ankle injuries. They stop your feet from sensing the ground, which is always dangerous on rough terrain. On the other hand, a little stiffness in the sole may be good while your feet toughen up.

Get some good socks as well – and be prepared to pay for them. Some of us are devoted to Darn Tough Vermont Boot socks – they are available via Amazon these days.

Yes, a lot of this advice is counter to what the big shoe companies (eg Nike) advertise madly. Rather similar in fact to the way many companies push big, heavy and very expensive leather boots at you. Their over-riding concern is their profit margin, not your feet.

Cheers
PS: yes, true, I have strong feelings on the subject of correctly-fitting footwear. Sad )=painful) experience has something to do with it….

Hey buddy,
I work at an EMS and have sold a fair share of trail runners (And i do the opposite, i always try to sell people shoes over boots!) I cant help you out with where to go being that i live on the east coast, but wherever you go, try on a few and make sure you have your feet measured (overall length, width, arch length) but I've got between a C and a D width and find that the brooks cascadia is an awesome trail running shoe. I pair the shoes with green superfeet when I'm out hiking, but tend to take the superfeet out when running trails. I'm also a big fan of saloman xa pro comps, even a pair of merrell overdrives that were decent. whenever trying on shoes, there are a couple of tricks, but for me the big things i check are: in no particular order

where the balls of your feet lie in the shoe, this is important because a shoe breaks in a certain spot, and tends to have extra padding for the forefoot.

Make sure you have enough toe room (for me, i have about the width of my pointer finger between the front of the shoe and my biggest toe.) when your shoe is tied, and you tap the toe of hte shoe to the ground, are you hitting the front? an incline ramp is an awesome tool for checking when shoes feel like on a downhill and an REI prob has one.

for me, as long as your instep is secured by the upper, and your heel isn't moving much, the balls of your feet lie in the right spot, a little extra room in the toebox is a godsend on those longs days on the trail.

You'll get all kinds of opinions on whats the best shoe, but in the end it all comes down to COMFORT, and an all mesh/synthetic shoe (goretex isn't awesome for trail runners) get a good pair of socks, and try to get some miles in before you throw the backpack on.

good luck!
mike!

P.S. Roger beat me to it! well feel free to ignore the redundant!

Thx for all the information Roger and Michael. Should the socks I use when getting my foot measured be the same socks I use when hiking? – I assume so, but thought I should ask. Also, what is your opinion of superfeet? And lastly, I seem to have more sensitive feet than others. Will this fact change the type of shoes I should look at?

This is the place to get fitted and buy.

Jeffrey:

All my trail runners are purchased at REI — actually, REI Outlet. Maybe this will work for you too:

1. Shop online for best description match(es).
2. Order accordingly. In between sizes? Order both sizes!

When you pick up at your local REI:

1. Try everything on. Keep the 1 or 2 best fitting pair(s)
2. Return the rest right then and there.
3. Go for a hike — 2-3 hours, different elevations.

If no particular discomfort, then you've found your pair. Otherwise, return it.

Considering how hard it is to know for sure — REI's satisfaction guarantee really comes in handy.

Finally, when I find something I really like, I will usually buy an additional pair or two.

Thanks for the suggestion Nick! Do you know if their employees are familiar with using trail runners for hiking/backpacking or do they focus more on "running shoes."

Benjamin, that's a great idea. I will definitely try and buy through REI once I'm initially sized if they have the shoes I'm looking for. I've had good experiences with them and its nice to know I can return the shoes if they don't work.

Jeffrey:

You're welcome. Ordering multiple pairs (if need be) is just a way of ensuring that the shoes you specifically want to try will all be there for you when you visit the store. The ones that don't fit right off the bat — returning is a cinch and REI will still be able to sell them as new. So no harm done.

As for the one or two that you decide to give a try — yes, it's nice to know that you still can return them if they don't end up working well for you.

It is a running store. But running a marathon is tougher than most trail running.

They will fit you with about 3 pairs of shoes of different brands. Then they will have you run and make a recommendation based on how your foot strikes the ground. Best training shoe I ever got was a pair of Brooks shoes. Brooks wasn't even on my shopping list.

These guys are runners and a lot of the local elite runners get their shoes fitted their.

I cannot speak to their selection of trail runners. It has been several years since I was there. I was having problems getting the right shoe. My son got all his shoes there when he was in high school. He ran a ton of miles in high school so fitment was important and this is where his coach sent him. His coach took this pretty serious since Joe was 2nd in the State Championships in cross country and the 1600 meters. This was a few years ago.

I personally use trail runners- Brooks Cascadia for hiking and Montrail Mountain Masochists for actual running. But just because its popular on here doesnt mean you should rule out light hikers. Light hikers tend to cost relatively the same and can last a lot longer. Try on some Merrell Moab Ventilators and youll probably love em. Light hikers could be good for you since you are still transitionsing all your other gear from heavy weight to lightweight, not quite superultralight. Might as well take the same approach with your shoes.

I'm curious…with trail runners, what "cut" of socks does everyone prefer to wear (no show, crew, boot, etc.)?

I'd add another suggestion to the good ones you've already received: get fitted late in the day, after you've spent a lot of time on your feet. Maybe even go for a morning day hike, then get fitted. Your feet swell during the course of the day due to gravity pulling your blood down, so you want your feet at their most swollen to better approximate their condition on the trail.

Oh, yeah, and definitely use the socks you take on the trail. FWIW, I use regular crew sock length, as I like the extra protection on my ankles against scrapes.

For just about everything I really like low cut-1/4 length thin synth or wool socks.

SockLengths

I like Low cut-1/4 length because with short gaiters they go well together and if gaiterless it prevents stuff from grinding at my ankles which has happened with “no show” socks. When just hanging or whatever I like no show socks. I really like thin socks because they dry faster and feel less sloppy when wet (and are just lighter!).

I’ve had really good experiences with Wrightsock and smartwools alike.

I recently just tried those Injinji toe socks… Crazy comfortable, felt like I was barefoot! Im sure others use them… Opinions?

I hope that helps.

-T.

I usually end up doing a lot of research online, picking out some favorites, and…realizing that none of that means anything till I can try them on in a store.

It's all about comfort/what fits you in the store. Only about 10% of shoes I try on seem to fit well. All my Internet research ends up going out the window.

So go into the REI, but if you want to avoid all the "You Should Wear Boots" grief, simply don't tell them you're going backpacking. Just tell them you're a trail runner and want to try on all the trail-running shoes.

Elizabeth

Not sure where in OC you are (I am in the HB area) but New Balance knows their stuff.

NEW BALANCE SOUTH COAST PLAZA
3333 S BEAR STREET
COSTA MESA, CA 92626
(714) 434-9405

I like a short sock like Teko mini crews or SmartWool Adrenaline, or a half-crew like the Darn Tough Merino Wool Micro Crew Cushion.

I use super feet footbeds, but be sure to purchase your measured shoe size which might well be a size smaller than your low cut trail shoe. For example, my foot measures 9.5 or 10 on those metal foot size things, but I wear a size 11 Merrell, Montrail, Inov-8, I use a "D" not "E" super feet footbed. Be sure the footbed fits your arch.
In the store size 10.5 feels great. On the trail I need a size 11 or my toes will soon suffer.

The BPL magazine/booklet awhile back had an article on the subject of foot beds. One of the sources is:

http://www.yoursole.com/products/footbeds/

At that site, check out "performance socks", one of the models has a built-in liner sock.

I wear a low cut sock, but not the lowest cut model. Low cuts dry faster!

I prefer to wear very thin socks in all but the coldest weather, and thus try on shoes with thin socks. Dry and cool feet are happy feet, thus the thin socks. If you follow the below, you ought to be able fit some thicker ones in for colder weather.

I buy the biggest size that keeps my heel locked in. Emphasis on LOCKED.

Make sure there's no side to side slop.

New Balance makes shoes in mid-narrow widths, and LaSportiva tends to run on the narrow side.

Some great replies. I'm in Costa Mesa so I'll definitely check out new balance. It seems people buy 1/2 a size to a whole size larger than normal to allow for foot swelling. How much bigger than a "normal fit" should I go? I'm guessing it depends on whether or not I can keep my heel locked in the larger size.

Heel fit is all. Blisters are bad.

Provided you've got a good fit in other respects (snug enough, no pressure points), I'd reckon on 3/4"-1" of empty space in front of your toes.

I'll second the other Nick's recommendation for the Snail's Pace or a similar dedicated running store. I haven't lived in the OC for about a dozen years but that store has a great reputation. Trying to get properly fitted for a running shoe at an outdoors store (like REI) has left me less than satified in the past. The guys that work at a true running shoe store know their stuff and take the time to find you the perfect (shoe) match to your feet/needs. I use a similar store around here (in SB) called Santa Barbara Running Co. I've heard good things about the New Balance Store in South Coast Plaza but have never personally been there.

I'll second/share a few other thoughts as well.

The lighter, more mesh (no goretex), the better as far as I'm concerned for hiking in southern CA.

Go up in size 1/2 to 1 full size. I go up 1/2 size.

I like a thin, low cut (ankle), breathable sock. For hiking, I've had great luck with the injinji toe socks. They look goofy but I get no more blisters.

Finding a shoe that lines up correctly with your arches can be important. Different shoe brands will move the arches forward or back slightly or offer a more pronounced arch, etc. If the arch in the shoe/insole is hitting in the wrong place or doesn't fit your feet correctly, this can lead to problems or pain later on while hiking/running.