I couldn't think of a more specific name for this topic… I've searched around the forums, and this has been touched on in various threads, but I wanted to start a fresh discussion about it. To get to the point: I have "problem" feet. I'm flat footed, and I've been told by podiatrists that my feet just don't work quite right. The conventional wisdom, including the medical opinion, is that with problem feet, it's a good idea to wear a more rigid shoe when doing long-distance walking. I use a reasonably lightweight hiking shoe (Montrail Mojave)… it's heavier than a trail runner, but it's a far cry from a full-on boot. Inside, I use a Sidas Trekking insole, since it does the best job of spreading shock loads across my whole foot (I've found that many aftermarket insoles, including Superfeet, Montrail CTX, Sole Custom, Spenco, and others mostly concentrate on arch support and heel cushioning, rather than load distribution). Still, my feet get really bad after about 8 miles of walking. I've tried many things, including wearing more flexible shoes (I own a pair of Montrail Odysseys that I wear for day hikes), but those are too narrow to fit my Sidas insoles, which I'm kind of attached to.
So… my question: am I doing anything wrong? Anything you'd reccomend trying? Any time I wear a shoe that's too flexible, I end up with really bad muscle pain in my foot. The soreness I can deal with, but the muscle pain lasts for days, and sometimes even goes up into my ankle and my calf. So for now, I take the more rigid shoe and the soreness, but I'd like to be able to do a 15-20 mile day, which is out of the question currently.
I appreciate the wisdom here, so whatever you've got, toss it out there.
