confused about shoe fit (Read 1263 times)

The one time I got a blister on that spot, it was because the shoes were too tight.  

Try on sizes until it feels ridiculously big, then go back a size.

SHould be at least a good-sized man's thumb in front of your toes.

Your feet need room to swell.

Make sure you aren't wearing cotton socks.

--Jimmy

Thanks. I think I'm ok with the size number since I do have a thumb's space in front of my longest toe. The callus/blister area is to the side of the foot so I'm suspecting if I need a different width (narrow or wide?), but unfortunately those widths are not usually readily available in stores to try on.

I've been developing callus near the ball on my right foot (on the side of the big toe) for a while. I haven't gotten a blister there for several months until my marathon last weekend, when it developed a big bloody blister. I do always put vaseline on it and wear moisture-wicking socks on every run. Other than this, I don't think I have any other problems with my current shoes. I have heard the following and am confused by them:

 

1) Shoe is too tight, causing blister?

2) Shoe is too loose, foot shuffles inside the shoe during run, causing blister?

 

So which is it? The shoe felt just right to me but obvious my foot didn't agree. It will be nice to know which direction to look when I shop for my next pair. Or is this a non-issue if blistering is just an inevitable part of racing/long runs? (I don't race much at all, so I don't know)

 

Also, assuming that there are no painful blisters, but only thickening calluses, that is ok, right? I mean the thickened skin is there to protect my foot, and so if no pain is involved, there's no need to find better fitting shoes?

To a certain extent, the shoe size has got NOTHING to do with blisters.  Blisters develop from heat.  Heat is caused by, mostly, friction.  If the shoe is too tight, then, at certain spot, the shoe literately rubs against your skin, heat develops and you get blisters.  If the shoe is too large, your foot is most likely move around too much, some spot gets rubbed around against the shoe inside, heat develops and you get blisters.  Sometimes you have too much junk on the upper of the cosmetically advanced shoes and, either from stitches or materials, you get bulky wrinkles and that would rub against your foot and you get blisters.  Sometimes the shoe fits well but from the heat developed from pounding of the run itself, you get blisters.  

Having to have "a thumb width" at the end of the shoe is the OLD wife's tale.  You need SOME extra space for swelling, yes.  But thumb width?  That's A LOT!!!  Some people even go out and say "get shoes one size bigger than your size."  If that's true, the shoe manufacturers would (should) build shoes that's one size bigger for everybody.  Nonsense.  If the shoe fits well, you don't need any of these BS.  If the shape of the shoe doesn't fit your foot, THEN you'll probably need thumb width space so your foot can fit into unfitted shape of the shoe.  That used to happen back in 1960s when there were probably 2 types of shoes available in the market.  Today we have a tad more different types of shoes to choose from.  If you are smart about it and choose the shoe that actually fits your feet and not some magazine advertisement tells you, then you really don't need ANY extra space (except for the room for possible swelling).  You get shoe that's one size bigger than your foot, then the widest part of the foot doesn't fit onto the widest part of the shoe.  What often happens is then the inside of the arch, right below the big toe, gets rubbed because that's where this area fits on, and gets rubbed too much and gets blister there.  If you get blisters there, that's because you listen to this old wife's tale too much and got shoes too large.  

The best way to choose "the right shoes" is to talk to your feet.  Put them on.  If possible, run a little.  Check the SHAPE of the shoe, not the size or brand or color.  

For me, I've observed races of 15 miles or longer tend to show subtle issues that might not have been otherwise noticed with 1000 miles of regular training, long runs and shorter races included. For the most, part going up a half size has helped.

Same thing here.  Having gone up 1/2 a size has helped.  But still...on long training runs of up to 15 miles and shorter tempos or short races, no problems with blistering.  But the balls of my feet and big toe still end up worse-for-the-wear during my last couple of half marathons.

Sometimes, balls are just metaphorical balls (Right?).

I get calluses in the same spot you describe. On occasion I've had a blister form there. And this has happened with different shoes so I don't attribute it to that. A little Body Glide takes care of it. More effective than Vasoline and lasts longer. Experiment with socks too. Body Glide on that spot and Thorlos socks have pretty much eliminated the blisters for me. Once it's callused, I don't really get blisters anyway. If I take some time off (which I am right now involuntarily) the risk of blister increases since the callus goes away.

It sounded like there's no easy way to evaluate a shoe without actually buying and running many long runs in it. I guess experimenting with body glides and those sticky patch things will be cheaper. I just read about duct tape, I'm not inclined to try it because it seems like a big hassle before every run; but a thought occurred to me, if duct tape works, why not just duct tape the inside of the shoe instead of over the foot? (assuming there's no creasing on the tape)