[pct-l] My footwear experiences

[saskiadaru at xs4all.nl (Saskia Daru)]

Hi Eric,

I presume you have discussed custom orthotics with your podiatrist. If you
haven't, do. That's what has made all the difference for me. I had lots of
ankle problems for years, even in high leather mountain boots I managed to
sprain my ankle! But since I use the orthotics, I haven't once hurt my
ankle, while I have been hiking in trail runners. And of course carrying a
base weight of about 10 pounds instead of my initial 25 makes a big
difference too.

Saskia

> From: "Eric Lee (GAMES)" <elee@microsoft.com>
> Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 11:08:10 -0800
> To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
> Subject: [pct-l] My footwear experiences
> 
> Regarding shoes:  My ankles and/or feet aren't very mechanically stable
> and I have a tendency to walk on the outside edges of my feet.  As you
> might imagine, I have a long history of severe ankle sprains and my
> ligaments are pretty stretched out.  A few years ago I really put a lot
> of effort into strengthening exercises and after awhile I felt strong
> enough to try trail runners instead of hiking boots.  I loved them, but
> on the Glacier Peak section (Wa. section K) I rolled my ankle and
> sprained it again about 30 miles north of Steven's Pass.  I didn't have
> any great bail-out options so I taped up my ankle with athletic tape and
> continued, but needless to say that didn't do my ankle any favors.
> 
> It took me almost a year to put it back together again and my podiatrist
> warned me that if I sprained that ankle again my hiking days might be
> over for good. So . . . it's back to high-topped footwear for me.  I
> wish I could wear running shoes for hiking but it just isn't going to
> happen.
> 
> Eric
>