[pct-l] Insole-nt Question

Thu Feb 6 15:46:15 CST 2014

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.*