According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, last year more than 40 million people walked for fitness. Hooked on the Outdoors, a backyard travel and gear magazine, reported more than 159 million Americans age 16 and older participated in human-powered outdoor recreation activities in 2004. Both numbers are outstanding. Our society has become an obese society—with weights scary especially at younger ages. The simple act of walking can, and will, help you get …
Choosing the Right Footwear
If you are unsure of how to choose the right footwear for your activity, ask the salespeople at your outdoors store. One caveat though, I mean a “quality”outdoor store. Many people make the mistake of going to a discount store, a department store, or a chain store where, for the most part, the sales people have “zero” shoe-fitting experience. Fitting shoes means more than simply handing you a size nine shoe and pushing down on the toe and saying, “Yup, it has enough room.” …
Can You Get Enough Information About Feet?
For the past four years, I have written the monthly Fixing Your Feet Ezine. That’s a lot of words about our appendages that we so often take for granted. Is there really that much to say and is it important? For athletes, especially extreme athletes, you can never have too much information. Whatever we do, it’s usually our feet that get us there—and back. In the same way we spend money on gear and training, and travel and food, we need to remember our feet. There is a lot of …
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Getting Help Buying Footwear
If you are unsure of how to choose the right footwear for your activity, ask the salespeople. It may be at an outdoor store, a walking store, a running store, or a tri-athlete store. One caveat though, I mean a quality store. That means a store that focuses on sport specific activities. The salespeople are typically better trained to help customers with shoe selection and fit. Many are also able to analyze your gait and stride. The result is a shoe selection that will provide comfort and …
The Right Footwear Can Make all the Difference
This past weekend was spent with friends in the Northern California High Sierras, combining trail running with social fun. I did three runs, two with the group and one solo, covering sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. The trails are great and the scenery spectacular. Every inch of the trail is going either up or down—never flat. The footing ranges from soft dirt to rocks, to shale and granite. If you were prone to turned ankles, it would happen here. In between the fast …
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Tossing Socks
Ok, this is a quiz. Of all the socks in your sock drawer, how many should have been tossed months ago? I’ll bet you have two to three pair of socks that should have been aimed at the wastebasket a long time ago. Maybe even more. So how do you know when to toss out a pair of socks? Actually, it’s fairly easy. After washing socks, put your hand inside and feel around. Then turn them inside out and check them again. 1. Can you see your fingers through the weave of …
The Right Sock for the Right Shoe
I have to confess—I love socks. Last weekend I spent three days at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City. Vendors of outdoor gear showed their wares to thousands of hungry store buyers. Up and down the aisles I walked, drawn to the booths that showed anything related to feet. Sure there were lots of shoes. And sure, I spent time looking over the packs and clothes and other goods. But what caught my eye were the socks. It’s a good thing I had an extra bag to carry stuff …
Proper Footwear
Today’s shoes are easily interchangeable between sports—or so it seems. It is easy to pull on a pair of shoes and go walking, or running, or hiking—without thinking much about whether the shoes are right for the activity. Everywhere we look, in every magazine we page through, we are inundated with choices in footwear. Why not walk in running shoes, run in walking shoes, or hike in road shoes? In fact, do all three in one pair of shoes. Does it matter? Well, in fact, …
An Intense Focus on Feet
This past week I spent three days at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City. The show features vendors with product for the outdoors, from tents, backpacks, kayaks, climbing gear, food, clothes, first aid kits, outdoor books, accessories—and of course the reason I was there—footwear. I had a ball walking the aisles meeting people I had emailed and talked to the previous year, and meeting new folks. I came home with many pairs of socks, insoles, and lacing and skin care products. I also …
Our Aging Feet
As we age, our feet change. Make no mistake, that “fat pad” on the bottom of your foot is getting thinner as you get older. Our feet spread out, getting longer and wider, so we may move up a size or more in footwear. Additionally, we usually become a bit stiffer in the joints. Your arch may also flatten more than normal. So the natural question is, “What should we do?” Here are three steps to keep your feet happy: As mentioned in an earlier blog, get your feet measured each time you buy …
