How I made my sneakers fit correctly

A while ago (possibly about a year?), I bought a pair of Skechers Vigor sneakers because they offer a wide size and have a nice unassuming appearance to them.

The sneakers arrive in the mail, I put them on, and they fit but at the same time they didn't.

I figured these things are new so they have to be broken in. I tried wearing them for a few days but they still felt wrong.

I made a decision at that point.

They went back in the shoebox and in the closet.

Even though they didn't fit the way I liked, I figured I'd keep them anyway as a backup pair for when my tried-and-true New Balance 608's wear out.

Recently, the time finally came when I had to retire my 608's. They were very used, beat up, starting to fall apart and looking terrible.

I was going to put on a new pair of 608's, but then remembered I had the Skechers in the closet.

My thought was okay, money was spent on those sneakers. I'm going to try an experiment to see if I can make these things fit correctly.

I took out the soles.

What I figured was these would make the sneakers feel even worse...

...but that didn't happen.

I put on the Skechers and now they felt great.

Perfect? No. But way better than before. NOW I can wear these things.

What I realized is the memory foam sole used in the Skechers Vigor is way too thick, so much to the point it felt like I was walking on putty. Those memory foam soles also made my feet sweat like crazy. I have no idea why. They just did.

Without the soles, my feet breathe properly and I can wear these Skechers all day comfortably.

It's probably true these sneakers will wear out twice as fast without the soles in them. I'm okay with that since they didn't fit correctly before anyway, so getting them into a wearable state is a win. I saved these things.

Small victory, but I'll take it.

Published 2024 May 9