My footwear woes

Michael, I have been going through the lighter footwear transition for a few years now. I took it in a couple steps going from heavier footwear to much lighter Hoka mids to La sportive trail runners. I have a tough time finding shoes that feel just right but IMO it is essential to get a pair that feels perfect from the start. I have never owned a pair of shoes that felt better or magically resolved their initial problems with more use… so called “break in”.

I found strengthening of my foot came with simply hiking more miles and in the shoes I wanted to be wearing, which would be the lightest and most comfortable at the end of the day. For me some key factors were decent cushioning and a well fitting shoe around the mid section and heel of my foot to control hammering of my toes on the downs. I hike the same kind of stuff Bob illustrated in his pic above and find a decent bed of eva foam is just as good as a shoe with a stiff hard foot bed for easing the woes of hiking rock and roots all day.

My current shoes are La sportive wildcats and so far I find them pretty darn good. Very comfy with lots of toe room and very well fitting…no toe bumping on the downs. The soles are pretty grippy but not as good as my Hokas were. There are compromises to be made sometimes. In fact I have another pair of La sportivas that were absolutely terrible on slippery rock and I just kept them for front country use or short walks around the house. So even within the same mfg. you can have huge variances. I would strongly recommend buying from a store you can return used items to after you give them a test drive. You will save a ton of $$ and worry.

Also with different gear sometimes comes different techniques. Simply picking good lines and stepping down on as much flatter softer ground as possible can save your feet a lot of punishment over thousands of steps each day. I would go with the trail runners and ease into using them. Once your comfortable with them chances of returning to heavier footwear will be slim.

Probably 35 lbs

of course that depends on length of trip and season

Your feet are different from someone else’s feet, so what suits someone else will not suit you. That is why model recommendations are so dangerous and useless.

Step 1: get your feet measured on a Brannock Device, while wearing thick wool socks and standing up. Until you know what size and width your feet are, you are flying completely blind. And don’t trust young ‘assistants’ in shoe shops: they are being measured on dollars profit for the shop, nothing else. (Hard fact of life: don’t blame them.)

Step 2: Understand that your feet will swell by at least 1/2 size in length after a day’s walking, and probably a size in width as well. They will also grow in size over the years of walking. Some podiatrists claim your feet don’t change in size, but that is pure ignorance on their part. My feet went from size 8 to size 10 in the years from age 45 to age 55. Many others here at BPL have reported the same growth.

Step 3: Add at least 1/2 size in length and a full size in width to whatever your shop-measurd size is. DO NOT buy anything smaller than this. Also, if the shoe does not have a width specified (on the ABCDE scale), then it is probably a C or D. Many ‘cute’ niche brands only come in one width – they may not fit you.

Step 4: When trying shoes on, make sure that you can fit your finger down between your heel and the back of the shoe.

Step 5: Do not lace the shoes up tightly. They do not need that.

Step 6: do not buy expensive after-market inner soles: they are gimmicks of no value.

A special note for women: Women’s magazines are usually full of ads for foot baths and massage soles and so on. That is because women usually buy shoes which are too small for their feet. This is well-known in the shoe trade, but does ensure lots of business for the shops.

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Cheers

When trying on shoes I often try a half-size up (9) from what I think is the right size (8.5) to make sure I’m at the best fit. Which is usually still larger than my dress shoes (8).

I haven’t tried Running Warehouse yet, but I want to sometime — they have an awesome return policy. You can exchange shoes you’ve tried out on the trail!

Michael, Is that base weight?

Sorry, what does that mean?

Michael, how about trying trail running shoes with less cushioning and less protection and just toughing it out. I think you will find that your feet will become tougher and conditioned to that sort of thing. Needing shoes that provide extra stability and underfoot protection is a sign of weakness and should not that type of weakness shouldn’t be accommodated unless absolutely necessary.

Roger, in my experience the brannock device size measurement does not correlate well to the shoes I have sold. Most people go much larger by default (not talking about hiking foot swelling accommodation).

I also think that the width measurement is very flawed as well. It does not measure at the widest part of your foot, which on a healthy foot that has not been deformed by tapering toe boxes is at the toes. Many feet have varying widths at different parts of the foot. For example I have a very wide toe area and a very narrow heel. A “wide” fitting shoe can be too sloppy in the heel and midfoot for me and at the same time have an uncomfortable tapering toe box. The only shoes that fit me well are altra and topo shoes because they have a narrow heel and wide toe box. The brannock device measurement for width does not help me. If you have a high arch then a wider fitting shoe will help accommodate that even though you may measure an average width.

There is far more to fitting a shoe than the 2 dimensional measurements that the brannock device provides.

Also, about heel lift.

Is it okay to have some heel lift? I have heard a small amount is okay, as long as it isn’t a rubbing motion or anything.

I’ve never had blisters, ever, but I always noticed a very slight heel lift in my one foot.

the LaSportivas wouldn’t be noticeable if it wasn’t for the squeaky texture

Just wondering because I’m testing some out this weekend paranoid when I feel it, sometimes tempting me to buy a size too small

I have fairly narrow heels, such that in every traditional boot I have ever owned, except one, my heel moved up and down within the boot.  This was especially true on the uphills.  For the longest time I tried to combat this by lacing the boot ever tighter which, as you probably can guess, didn’t solve the problem and in most cases just made it worse.  I had resigned myself to using moleskin on my heels every time I hiked.  At some point I tried combatted the issue by leaving the boots very loosely laced.  My heel still moved up and down, but at least it no longer rubbed horribly and the uphill problem seemed solved.  Of course now the rest of my foot also moved too much causing my toes to get crushed on the downhills as my foot slid forward.  Obviously you can’t stop and re-lace your boots every time the trail changes direction so something had to give.

Giving trail runners a try immediately revealed the true source of the problem…stiff soles that do not bend.  As soon as the sole of the shoe was able to bend as my foot did, there was no tendency for my heel to lift inside the shoe.  It only took me 12-15 pair of hiking footwear and $2500 to figure this out.

If you still have heel lift in a trail running shoe with a flexible sole, then perhaps you have still not found the right shoe?  I wish you luck my friend, and in particular hope you spend far less money than I did finding “your” shoe :)

Base weight is everything you carry except consumables such as food, water and fuel.

 Needing shoes that provide extra stability and underfoot protection is a sign of weakness and should not that type of weakness shouldn’t be accommodated unless absolutely necessary.

I would argue this one…the wife and I have benefited greatly by choosing footwear with more shock absorbing action over the years. At the end of the day my hips, knees and feet are thanking me.  It is not a weakness to prevent repetitive impact to joints over years of activity. I think this is lost on younger folks who have not gone through enough of the aging process to understand this. Your body does wear out. If the above statement stands true why would anyone bother to put shocks and springs in their car and why are off road vehicles equip with more of the same? I have seen enough knee rebuilds to know I don’t want any part of it. Tough it out if like…not this guy.

Hi Justin

I also think that the [Brannock] width measurement is very flawed as well. It does not measure at the widest part of your foot, which on a healthy foot that has not been deformed by tapering toe boxes is at the toes.

How strange. The Brannock Devices I have used all had a sliding width bit, so you could move it to the widest part of your foot. It’s not perfect as feet have so many variables, while the traditional measurements have only two. But at least knowing that you have a EE width foot should help you avoid a D width shoe.

Cheers