When I took them out of the box, I noticed the shoes had a squishy gel-type insert. I immediately put them on and these shoes are SO comfortable! I wore them out to the Churchill Downs racetrack that night (lots of walking) and my feet didn't hurt, nor did I even get a "rub mark" that I usually get with new shoes. My feet didn't sweat at all. I'm now a huge fan of this particular shoe and I plan on buying more in the future. Oh, and if you're like me and your shoe size is really 7 and 3/4s, I would order the 7.5 instead of the 8.