Has This Happened To You?

[windwalker]

Has This Happened to Any One Else
All through my adult life I wore a size 8.5 shoe. Then about age 40 my feet started growing larger, I went into size 9 then 9.5 and now at age 59 I'm having to go into a size 10. I have always been a runner or a walker so I don't think it has anything to do with muscle growth nor does it have to do with body weight since I have fluctuated up and down some over the years.

I have a friend that swears that as you grow older your ears grow larger and of course men's ears get hairier as they grow older. But I haven't ever researched feet growing larger as you age. I'm going to look into it though, since it affects shoe fit and comfort for adult athletes. I may have stumbled onto something that is common but no one has given it much print.

Shoe fit is critical when your an endurance athlete since you spend a lot of hours training and races are often over 2 hours and can last much longer. It's common knowledge that your feet swell as you exercice for long periods so you should wear a half to a full size larger shoe to exercise in than your work and dress shoes.

If anyone else has experienced this please let me know. It will be worth getting some print on the subject if it does affect other people. It may be a contributing factor in a lot of foot issues.

Thanks for reading.

Rambling Panda

 

[John VN]

No GFS (growing feet syndrome) here.

At 60yo, 5' 9.5", 142+/-lbs, I'm back to early 20's weight due to healthier eating, bicycle riding and now walking. It's a good thing that I don't have the extra pounds because of the joint issues I currently have.

 

[windwalker]

No GFS (growing feet syndrome) here.

At 60yo, 5' 9.5", 142+/-lbs, I'm back to early 20's weight due to healthier eating, bicycle riding and now walking. It's a good thing that I don't have the extra pounds because of the joint issues I currently have.

I'm exactly the same height but one year younger and 40 lbs heavier. I hope to get back to the 150/160 range soon. I eat well and race walk. I just tend to eat to much.

Dave

 

[cewait]

Age 54 and I am about a size bigger than I was as a 30 something. I have noticed that my current 10.5's are a little short in the toe box with the last shipment.

Though I also blame the shoe companies as I think that the marked size has grown... meaning that today's 11 is the same as a 10.5 10 years ago. Shoes are a highly competitive market lwith very, very little margin. So overseas suppliers use the cheapest labor pools available. Then as the company pushes harder on the supplier for a cheaper shoe, all that is left to squeeze is materil going into the shoe. Thus the supplier starts to manufacture at the small end of the tolerence and pushes that limit time and time again. Finally, to not be forced to reject 5 million new Air Wizbags just efore Christmas the shoe company starts to lower than minimum size tolerance and size creep follows.

Just look at RoadRunnerSports.com. They give a sizing recommendation for all shoes. When I first saw their website 10 or so years ago I seem to remember that they were equally split between recommending sizing up and down to get the best fit. Today, on most all shoes they recommend sizing up.

 

[windwalker]

Very interesting Charles, I wonder if that last pair that I ordered was a Friday night in panda land product. I'm still going to order a larger size and hope for the best. I wish I could afford to get custom Hershey shoes.

Dave

 

[Steve's Girl]

I've gone up a whole shoe size in the last 5 yrs. or so. I now wear a 10.5. I'm only 41. Can't imagine what size I will be wearing when I hit 60

 

[johde]

I've actually gone down in size (a little), since I've been losing weight. At my heaviest I wore a 14, I'm not in either a 12.5 or 13. I notice it mostly in the width.

 

[bunnyfoo]

I've gone up a size since I started running. I use to wear size 7 in regular shoes and now I find them too tight so I go with 7.5 or 8. I wonder if that means I should be going up in running shoe size too but knock on wood - so far no problems with the feet.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

I have the same problem. I use to wear 8.5-9's and I now am up to 11.5

I did read an article from an podiatrist that stated your feet could "grow" 1/2 inch every 10 years after a certain age( I forget what age)