Lunarracers are eating my heel

Somebody here suggests softening and pushing the top part of it down by using binder clips:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_printable

;post=2848032;

Another idea is to just cut out the top of the heel cup. I've done this before with other shoes and it sometimes helps, but is quite invasive.

exact same thing happened to me man. i guess the LRs just don't work for some people. the shoes were just downright painful to run in. i came back every time with my feet chewed up. i didn't have this problem with the lunaracer 2s but they're discontinued now. my advice is to switch to the saucony kinvara 2. lightweight, comfortable, and don't destroy your feet.

i know it sucks to buy new shoes and realize that they don't work for you. i assume there is already blood in them and you cannot return them. just consider it a sunk cost and get new shoes. nothing worse than wearing (and running) in shoes that hurt.

I have found that it is a vicious cycle... Once you get that chafing on the heel, it continues to get worse and worse. If you can break the cycle, it will usually go away.

Can you switch shoes for a week or so?

Also, when it is time for the race, you might want to try duct tape.

forgot to mention...if you decide to switch to the kinvara 2s. they run exactly the same as the lunaracers size wise.

I would ditch the shoes. Nike makes crappy running shoes anyway.

my first pair of lunaracer 1's cut up the skin on my achilles, is this the irritation to which you're referring?

i solved it by buying a half size bigger and ran most of the next 5,000+ miles in ~8-10 pairs of lunaracer 2's. best show ive ever worn. ive reluctantly moved to the hyperspeed 4 since then, but it just isnt the same.

voiceofreason wrote:

I would ditch the shoes. Nike makes crappy running shoes anyway.

+1

Had the same problem. Have you tried athletic tape ?

Try the new Lunar Montreals. very similar, but a different upper that should solve the problem.

Switch to New Balance if you can. The 1400 is better than the LRs.

Thanks for the input guys. I've already considered ditching them, but like I said, this is my second pair and the first pair worked out great for me as long as I wore socks. So I wanted to make an effort before I gave up on them....and yes, they've got blood in them so a return is not an option.

Any other suggestions on a replacement?

I'll second the idea of cutting down the heel counters. I cut off about an inch or inch and a half of the heel counter, and now they're fine for me. On one side (maybe I cut further on that side) the sandwich of materials kind of started coming apart, so I bound everything together with a layer of duct tape.

I also found the front of the shoe too narrow, so I cut about a 1cm slit in line with the long axis of the shoe through the strip of leather-ish stuff at the bottom of the tongue.

It may seem kind of weird to be cutting shoes a bunch, but they've gone from a pair that I just couldn't wear to one of my favorite cushy easy mileage shoes.

I've had luck applying a ton of Bodyglide (vaseline would probably work, too) directly on to the heel cup and also on the outside of the sock I'm wearing where it meets the shoe. Never had a problem after that.

I just saw and tried on the new Lunaracer 3 which is due out next year.

It has the same midsole, with a new upper that is really soft in the heel. Also has a crazy new Flywire type deal over the saddle.

Just to let you know it's getting improvements.

you sure it's a LR-3? not the Montreal? as nikeman said, the upper is nice and soft, VERY stretchy (as compared to the LR's basically non-stretch upper) and the heel grip is very mellow compared to the LR's. i ran 11mi in them yest and they were just fine.

dude~

gatogatogato wrote:

I've had luck applying a ton of Bodyglide (vaseline would probably work, too) directly on to the heel cup and also on the outside of the sock I'm wearing where it meets the shoe. Never had a problem after that.

Tried the Bodyglide on the heel cup and sock, and it worked great. I ran for 80 minutes with no blood, so that was a huge improvement. Thanks alot man!

Lunarlon Works is right on with comments on LR3. He tried on a prototype sample based on his description. LR3 comes out Jan 2013.

Nikeman's suggestion on Lunar Montreal is also spot on. This one is a very good alternative for those that have heel discomfort issues with LR1.

the same thing happened to me in my left foot...the only thing that worked was not wearing them for every run. weird to see that so many people had this problem...obviously a design flaw at work.

This happens to me with Nike shoes these days as well.

I'd just switch brands.