[pct-l] Foot Expansion

[Scott Williams]

Hi Yoshihiro,
The first quote is mine.  My feet have grown much wider, as have a number
of other long distance hikers I know.  I call this spread, but I don't know
how this happens over time, but it does.

The second quote in your second paragraph is not mine, and I'm not quite
sure what it means out of context.  One thing I have never said is that the
growth of one's foot makes a person flat footed.  I believe it is just the
opposite.  Proper use of the foot strengthens the arch and for me makes it
more pronounced, more arch like.  In architecture an arch is built to
support weight.  The arches in our feet do the same, but are dynamic and
act as a spring, providing cushion for the constant pounding of walking and
running.

I believe that training without arch supports over the past several years
and hiking the CDT this year with no arch supports, heal pads or insoles
helped strengthen my arch and the rest of each foot.  I think you may have
mistaken the second quote, as I completely agree with you that a high arch
is desirable and very important for long distance walking.

Shroomer

On Sun, Feb 3, 2013 at 4:22 PM, Yoshihiro Murakami <completewalker at gmail.com
> wrote:

> Dear Shroomer
>
> You wrote :
> >  When you really use your feet, as in a thru hike, all
> > the incredible network of muscles grow and become stronger and bigger,
> and
> > the structure of the foot seems to actually spread, hence the need for a
> > wider toe box.
>
> As a whole, I agree, but became nervous about " the structure of the
> foot seems to actually spread".
>
> You also had written "That is funny.  I needed to be able to strap one
> of those on after about 2pm, when the steps got a bit slower." in
> response to the passive walking robot at 2011/05/16.
>
> How does your arch of foot changed? If the arch became  lower, there
> is a probability of flat foot, which may be resulted from the overuse.
> The flat foot cannot kick ground effectively, so the flat foot person
> are easy to fatigue. You are trained enough, and you seems to be
> supplemented by your physical strength.  But if your arch remains
> high, you can walk  longer with constant speed.
>
> In my case, my foot became large very slowly in 20 years (rated is
> 1/20 size/year) . My arch of foot also became high, but the width of
> foot remains narrow. So, I need not  wide boots. In Japan, wide
> footwear are predominant, and all the footwear are small for me. I
> import footwear from USA personally. ( I am sorry my favorite boots is
> Asolo Titan with soft insole. In every day life, I wear boots, so the
> weight is not my concern. )
>
> My walking speed is slow, but stay constant, never became slow after 2
> pm. Last summer, I had to shorten my schedule due to my wife. So I
> walked until 7 pm two days with an accelerate speed ( from Agnew
> Meadows to Purple Lk, and from Purple Lk to VVR  via Goodale Pass )
>
> I have just noticed the probability of overuse syndrome is included in
> the foot expansion phenomenon. If your arch became lower, the
> efficiency of kick is disturbed, and it mus be compensated by the
> muscle power of your sole. Then the energy consumption will increase.
>
>
> --
> Sincerely
> --------------- --------------------------------------
> Hiro    ( Yoshihiro Murakami  村上宣寛 )
> facebook  http://www.facebook.com/completewalker
> Blogs  http://completewalker.blogspot.jp/
> Photo  https://picasaweb.google.com/104620544810418955412/
> Backpacking since 1980 in Japan, A foreign member of PCTA
> JMT, 2009, 2010, 2011(half), 2012
> Handbook of Hiking will be published in 2013
> ------------------------------------------------------
>