In Search of My SOLEmate...

Every multi-stage race is the same for me: good out of the blocks,  a strong first 2 stages, and then disaster. Other than the bizarro gastro bug that I got in the Atacama, when the wheels fall off it usually has to do with my feet. The wheels literally come off, so I continue my search for the perfect mate. The shoe that will stick with me for better or worse, through sand or through rivers, up mountains or down dunes.  

In the Sahara in 2008 I had the bright idea of checking my shoes with my luggage. I paid dearly for that moment of genius by having to wear another competitors shoes that were two sizes too small. That's right, 250km in a pair of shoes too small. By stage 3 in that race the toenails were literally being pushed back through the cuticles. It was fairly disgusting. 

In Namibia in May of 2009, I picked up a pair of Nike Trail shoes a week before the race...another no-no. I've been wearing Nike for 10 years and can usually walk into the store pick up a pair of 11.5 US and head home. 11.5 US fit me like a glove but not this time, not this model. Of course not, these were too small. Just another reminder that complacency will destroy you. During that race I developed an infection so bad that when I took the tape off my toes, the skin came off in whole pieces like they were little skin mittens keeping the bones warm. It was beyond disgusting. 

Fast-forward to Atacama 2010. Salomon Speed Cross 2 trainers. Size 13...a size and a half too big. Great shoes all the way around, but....the biggest blisters you've ever seen in your life. By stage 3 my feet were Namibia x 10. My toes were good but the narrowness of the shoe just rubbed away the skin on the back of my foot near the heel.

At this point I've figured I need a few things: a size 13 shoe with plenty of toe room, a rubber foot protector found on most Salomon shoes, and an extra wide shoe. I think I also need to figure out something about the baby feet that I've been saddled with. My feet just don't seem to callous. Meanwhile, guys like Ryan Sandes and Blair Turnbull walk around camp at the end of stages in their bare feet. Ridiculous. 

More on the skin part later, but shoe-wise I'm going to test the very cool sounding Salomon XA Pro 3D. They've got all kinds of very serious sounding features like 'contagrip rubber soles' and a '3D advanced chassis', and a 'Sensifit urethane overlay'...whoa! I have no idea what any of that really means but all I can say is that I'm a bit disappointed that there's no 6-disk CD changer or in-flight entertainment system. Despite all of the technologically advanced sounding features that some poor French guy at Salomon thought would sell this shoe, I am going to buy them for four reasons: they have a rubber toe cap, they're breathable, they come in an 'extra-wide' version, and well, they're available in a size 13. I've posted a picture of them and we'll see if this could be 'the one'. Regardless, they're very attractive...