thumbs width in toebox.....really ???

Kevin Graham said:

My thumb nail is 3/4 inch wide. Do people really have that much space between their toe and the
end of the shoe ?

Yup, cuz when you don't have that extra room your foot slams into the front of the shoe, you get
black toe nails and some pain.

Quoted message said:

An on a related note, my arch is shorter than my toe length. If a shoe has that much room past the
end of my toes, the arch doesn't fit bec/ it's too far forward. If I fit the arch, the shoe seems
too short. If you have this problem how have you solved it (other than sandals) :-)

I have a 12 and 12 1/2 foot and wear 13's without a problem. You can opt for custom made shoes if
you can find one off the shelf.

--
Doug Freese "Caveat Lector" [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

My thumb nail is 3/4 inch wide. Do people really have that much space between

their toe and the end of the shoe?

You WILL need more toe room in running shoes than in your "street" shoes, or else the "black
toenail" thing can sneak up on you (from my experience, when this happens you often don't notice it
while you're running, but after you go home and take off your shoes, the undernail bruises swell up,
darken, and hurt the next time you lace up your shoes). Two factors are probably at work: (1) your
feet swell some when running; and (2) over the "long run", your feet will get a little larger as
they get stronger, in a "micro" version of the way Arnold Schwarzenegger has big biceps. That being
said, I personally have found that it is easier to get around this problem by switching to a brand
of shoes with a roomier toebox than to wear shoes that are too big overall. In my own case, I may
get black toenails from size 12 New Balance shoes, but ASICS in size 12 fit me great.

(Kevin Graham) said:

My thumb nail is 3/4 inch wide. Do people really have that much space between their toe and the end
of the shoe ?

An on a related note, my arch is shorter than my toe length. If a shoe has that much room past the
end of my toes, the arch doesn't fit bec/ it's too far forward. If I fit the arch, the shoe seems
too short. If you have this problem how have you solved it (other than sandals) :-) thanks

No. I once tried going for a 1/2 size larger. It was probably in the range you indicate. It didn't
work out well at all. I've since reverted back to a snug fit.

Fit your shoes to what is comfortable. If their too tight you'll probably get black toes. Too loose
and they'll be flopping all over.

Kevin Graham said:

My thumb nail is 3/4 inch wide. Do people really have that much space between their toe and the
end of the shoe ?

Better shoe stores (e.g running shoe store, REI) will have sloped ramps in them. Stand or run in
place on those. I use that as a judge as to whether toe box is roomy enough since that's going to be
the real-life test on downhill runs. If I can't get proper fit, I don't buy that shoe model.

Quoted message said:

An on a related note, my arch is shorter than my toe length. If a shoe has that much room past the
end of my toes, the arch doesn't fit bec/ it's too far forward. If I fit the arch, the shoe seems
too short. If you have this problem how have you solved it (other than sandals) :-) thanks

I'm not sure what exactly what you're saying initially, but the result seems to be that shoe's arch
doesn't match your arch. Yes, I've had that problem (not sure why they seemed ok in the store), and
I generally don't wear those shoes any more. I found other models that fit my foot better.

Another option might be to remove the internal arch support and replace with another that might fit
your foot better, if one exists.

Just some thoughts.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

Kev, just the fact that you measure your toenails, should be enough to have you committed. It makes
one wonder what else you measures on a regular basis........with disappointing results.