Trail Runner Size, Swollen Feet

[Josh Calhoun]

i am trying to figure out what is the perfect size shoe. i know on a thru hike your feet swell. i wear a size 12 normally. i have a pair of 12.5 la sportiva's. the longer i hike the tighter they get. mostly on the top of my feet. my question is in your experience how much bigger should i go. on avg how did your shoe size change? also i am using orange superfeet in them also. thanks in advance

[Don H]

It depends, and it's hard to tell how much your feet will swell or grow.
My feet had grown from 9 1/2 to 11 before my thru last year just from 100 mile section hikes. So when I thrued my feet never increased in size.
Just the fact that you realize that your feet will grow puts you ahead of many attempting a thru. If you're using trail runners you'll probably be replacing them every 500 miles. If the current pair start to feel a little tight just jump up a half size for your next pair.
Biggest problem I see with tight shoes is loosing toenails due to your toes getting jammed on the downhills. Not a pleasant thing to go through.

[Spokes]

It is hard to tell since the shoe industries "sizing standard" really isn't all that consisent.

My feet didn't "grow" a bit. Of course I attribute that to all my marathon and ultra running prior to the thru. I will say, I always try on hiking boots in the evening after I've been on my feet all day long, never in the morning.

Oh, and SuperFeet insoles are best for fine tuning the volume fit of the boot/shoe.

[Wise Old Owl]

la sportiva's. are narrow by choice of runners, nice to see you have a wide, I went to the store with Hiking Socks and tried several pairs... you are in the zone even if your feet swell.

[gumball]

For running all my running shoes are one size larger than my regular size. Hiking, one size to one and half sizes, depending on what type of sock and liner I am wearing.

[Grinder]

I was old (65) when I started to hike. I was a life long 9 1/2 C shoe size and used to run 2500 miles a year. My feet grew/ spread out/whatever they do. I went up to 10 and finally to 10 1/2 D before I was happy.

[Don H]

Hey Grinder, you're only as old as you feel. So how ya doing??

[Miner]

For thru-hiking or just hikes lasting more then 2 weeks, I prefer to go with shoes 1.5 sizes over what I wear at home. As a side benefit, when people talk about bruised toenails or losing their nails, I just stare blankly at them while scratching my head while saying, "Nope, never experienced that."