Insoles

[Wandalina]

Hi apologies if this question has been asked a lot. Last year I found my feet were throbbing in pain during the mid to later stages of the Camino (I hear you all laugh...What the hell were you expecting??? )so much so that I couldn't sleep. I wore meindl respond trekking shoes. This year I'm planning 100k more and I'm anxious to get a good pair of insoles. I did have a pair of superfeet insoles as well as my meindl soles but found they offered no relief.

In particular I'm hoping to protect the front pads of my feet. I was looking at gel soles but wonder how they wear after 300km? Should I be looking for something more structured? Nothing I've looked seems to have a thicker depth of foam in the insole ( if you know what I mean) which I feel may help me.

And yes i broke the shoes in initially for at least two months before I went. Any suggestions would be great

 

[Sparrow in Texas]

Look at theinsolestore.com online. There is an extensive selection for all types of shoes and foot problems. They can advise you on something that might work for you.

 

[trecile]

I would definitely not wear the same kind of shoes that gave you so much pain before!

 

[Chris Gi]

Hi apologies if this question has been asked a lot. Last year I found my feet were throbbing in pain during the mid to later stages of the Camino (I hear you all laugh...What the hell were you expecting??? )so much so that I couldn't sleep. I wore meindl respond trekking shoes. This year I'm planning 100k more and I'm anxious to get a good pair of insoles. I did have a pair of superfeet insoles as well as my meindl soles but found they offered no relief.

In particular I'm hoping to protect the front pads of my feet. I was looking at gel soles but wonder how they wear after 300km? Should I be looking for something more structured? Nothing I've looked seems to have a thicker depth of foam in the insole ( if you know what I mean) which I feel may help me.

And yes i broke the shoes in initially for at least two months before I went. Any suggestions would be great

I always take 2 sets of insoles and alternate them on a daily basis - gives the gel a bit of time to "reconstruct".

 

[Ed Aster]

Dr. Scholls, “HEAVY DUTY” gel soles work best for me for past 3 Caminos, very comfortable.

 

[Texas Walker]

IMHO, if getting insoles, it's important to get the kind of insole that is designed to be stood and walked on all day long. That was my reasoning when I got the Dr. Scholls Womens Work Gel insoles. (Guarantee listed on box is 6 months, and intended for people like nurses and factory workers who are on their feet a lot. I thought that if a nurse or teacher or factory worker can use them for half a year they can certainly walk from Lisbon to SdC or Irun to SdC. Which is only 1 or 2 months of use.)

These are a trim to fit kind of insole, I take the old insole out of my shoe and trace a line around it on the new one, then cut the excess off. They work for me--after a full Camino walk the insoles are dead but then that's because the walks they went on were long. And new insoles are cheap compared to new shoes.

On a related subject, if the front of the foot was throbbing, perhaps your gait may have "helped" as well?

You just might find that, as Trecile said above, you need to change to a different shoe.

HTH
Buen camino

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Last camino I had boots for walking and lightweight sneakers for afterwards. This year I'm planning on just taking one pair of walking shoes but taking an extra pair of insoles so I have a dry pair at the end of the day. This means that there will no problem with wearing out the insoles because I can switch as needed.

 

[vwzoo]

Hi apologies if this question has been asked a lot. Last year I found my feet were throbbing in pain during the mid to later stages of the Camino (I hear you all laugh...What the hell were you expecting??? )so much so that I couldn't sleep. I wore meindl respond trekking shoes. This year I'm planning 100k more and I'm anxious to get a good pair of insoles. I did have a pair of superfeet insoles as well as my meindl soles but found they offered no relief.

In particular I'm hoping to protect the front pads of my feet. I was looking at gel soles but wonder how they wear after 300km? Should I be looking for something more structured? Nothing I've looked seems to have a thicker depth of foam in the insole ( if you know what I mean) which I feel may help me.

And yes i broke the shoes in initially for at least two months before I went. Any suggestions would be great

I did a lot of walking prior to my Camino last Sept. Leading up to it I experimitted with different shoes and insoles. What I ended up doing was going to my doctor and getting a prescription for custom insoles and I went to a shoe store that did this sort of thing. They had me stand in some molds and about 2 weeks later I had custom insoles for my feet. I wore Keene ankle high hiking boots with custom insoles which felt great. I was 57 and had my knees replaced about 6 years earlier so I wanted more ankle support to protect my knees especially on down hills. It worked fantastic. I averaged 18 miles a day and completed Camino Frances from St Jean to Santiago in 28 days, took a day off 3 days to Muxia and then finished walking to Finnistere. That combination was fantastic for me. No blisters and my feet did great. That may not be best for you for you, but I highly recommend custom insoles.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Hi apologies if this question has been asked a lot. Last year I found my feet were throbbing in pain during the mid to later stages of the Camino (I hear you all laugh...What the hell were you expecting??? )so much so that I couldn't sleep. I wore meindl respond trekking shoes. This year I'm planning 100k more and I'm anxious to get a good pair of insoles. I did have a pair of superfeet insoles as well as my meindl soles but found they offered no relief.

In particular I'm hoping to protect the front pads of my feet. I was looking at gel soles but wonder how they wear after 300km? Should I be looking for something more structured? Nothing I've looked seems to have a thicker depth of foam in the insole ( if you know what I mean) which I feel may help me.

And yes i broke the shoes in initially for at least two months before I went. Any suggestions would be great

If you haven't already, you can see if metatarsal pads will alleviate the pain in the area you describe.

The area of pain describes, among other things, a potential for metatarsalgia. Normal OTC insoles, custom insole, nor orthotics are very effective by themselves to deal with that deep, throbbing, ache from metatarsalgia.

If you haven't visited with a sports Podiatrist to sort things out, that might be of help to do.

 

[Hiawatha]

Try inner soles by 'Neat Feat ' . Available from large pharmacies for under $30 . I've used them through Spain , France and Italy as well as the Australian bush . Nothing comes close for forefoot and heel cushioning or arch support . They thermo mould to your foot's shape and last over a thousand km .
The only downside is that you really do need a size bigger shoe to accommodate them .

 

[koilife]

I suggest going to a running store and have them heat mold inserts to your specific feet. I use Road Runners locally (they are a national chain) and they do free gait analysis and will make custom, heat molded inserts.

A good set of trail shoes specific to our gaits, high quality Darn Tough wool hiking anklet socks, and custom molded inserts were all that my sons and I needed to be pain free and blister free with no extra fuss or bother across 500+ miles on both Caminos.

 

[Mike Savage]

I use "Powerstep Pinnacle Plus Full Length Orthotic Shoe Inserts - Built-In Metatarsal Support" in all of my shoes and carry an extra set with me. I get them through Amazon. This gets me through an 800-1000 mile camino over a two month period.

 

[Sparrow in Texas]

I also use the Powerstep Pinnacle Plus insoles. They were suggested for me by theinsolestore.com after having had every foot malady known to pilgrims on my first camino. These insoles have gotten me through two more challenging caminos pain and blister free. The Powerstep Pinnacle Plus would certainly be worth a try.