I have an annoying problem. I have put up with it for a long time, but I feel that if I could overcome it I might be able to improve my times.
I appear to have wide feet. the only spikes (or general shoes) that fit the width of my feet are always too long. for most shoes this isn’t too much of an issue, but for spikes it means that the location of the actual spikes is in front of the ball of my foot, and even around the front of my toes! it also means that I have difficulty getting the shoe to fit tightly around the front of my foot. all of this would, I expect, be costing me energy with every step.
if I push my feet into the front of the spike everything seems to be fine. toes, spikes and the ball of my foot are all in a good position in relation to each other, but there’s a big gap behind my heel. I’m considering adding some kind of padding to the back of the shoe, but I imagine that would look pretty strange with the heel jutting out. I could also cut the spikes up a bit (maybe trial with an old pair first) and see if I can reattach the heel portion closer to the front. this might help a bit. or perhaps there is some way (without breaking the bank) I could get some kind of custom sized spikes. or maybe someone knows of a particular brand/type of spike that would better suit my foot proportions.
either way, I’d love some suggestions as to the best way to go about solving this issue.
Different manufacturers have different shoe width’s. I don’t recall if it was Nike, Adidas, or whatever who had the wides shoes.
Stand on a paper and draw with a pencil around your foot. Then make some copies and snail mail them to several spike shoe sellers.
I did this and ordered 3 shoes (I think it was from Globalsport, but not sure) and two of the shoes sucked, but the third was the best pair of spikes I’ve ever had.
Those who has good service like this is surprisingly also the ones who has the best prices.
Most online stores will send you a return note so that you can try the shoes and then send back if they didn’t fit.
Also, I’ve managed to make a shoe that was two sizes smaller to fit by smushing in newspaper paper in them. Most materials can always bend a bit =)
NFS has made some really good suggestions.
Shoe companies and or the sites selling equipment are motivated to sell you something online with success. It’s in their interest to get you the correct fit.
I am not sure I would be trying to fix a shoe issue for a spike myself.
You need to seek out a specialist online and or someone local that also might best advise you about shoes for you that would be best.
My thoughts might be to go to a retailer online or otherwise specializing on athletic gear as they have been trained to understand the best qualities of various spikes and brands for all sorts of shoes.
I have also copied your note to Mike Forgraves who has dealt with my own feet issues since I was in high school, ( that was a little bit ago now… and he will get back to me. Mike is one of the best foot people anywhere, he travels to the Olympics and promotes proper foot care and understands various brands for what type of feet etc. Mike was a Canadian 400 meter hurdler and I used to run the 100 meter hurdles against his wife when I was a midget and she was senior.
My daughter, age 16 as of last Sunday, has the same problem.
She has small, wide and “flat” feet.
She wears a womens size 7/mens size 5.5 in length, but usually are too narrow, especially with the Nike brand.
As I stated in the “other” spike thread, she has found an Asics sprint spike to fit for now, but we would like to upgrade soon.
Another problem, many brand/model spikes are not made in her smaller size, so she is limited on choice.
and he will get back to me. Mike is one of the best foot people anywhere, he travels to the Olympics and promotes proper foot care and understands various brands for what type of feet etc. Mike was a Canadian 400 meter hurdler and I used to run the 100 meter hurdles against his wife when I was a midget and she was senior.