It just never ends.

It's like a bra for feet.

While I have more awesome decorated table photos I could share (and probably will), I decided instead to update on my ongoing foot rehabilitation. Because, YES! my orthotics are in and I have been working up to full use of them.

But, before I get to that, more on the ongoing discoveries of my personal biomechanics. My foot was hurting less within a couple of weeks of starting Coach’s ankle strengthening exercises. That just amazed me, really. But then I discovered, during a Pilates class I was taking with my husband, that that same leg is really weak and underdeveloped on the back side. As I strengthen one part, another weak part gets exposed. So I started isolating that leg in weight lifting, and the disparity was wild.

So then my orthotics came in, and after the PT heard about all these developments, she added a 1/8″ lift for my right (never hurting, strong!) foot. I had to phase in the new shoe insoles, and have only run in them for 10 minutes so far; all the rest has been walking in longer increments. My legs are certainly working differently! It’s tiring. But it began as soon as I added the lift to the bottom of my right shoe, long before I tried running in the orthotics: the added 1/8″ on the right resulted, while running, in a noticeable increase in ankle and knee movement on the left! That is just so weird. Those muscles are getting an all-new workout.

I would be such a happy, optimistic camper, but of course it can’t stop there for me. Oh no! Last week in that Pilates class, we were doing some twisty core things, and that compressed disc in my back began complaining. I thought the chiropractor had pretty much fixed that, but it’s way worse now. No more twisty anything for me! In fact, I just became a proponent of the medieval rack: nothing sounds better right now than being pulled apart from head to toe. I won’t let it stop me from running, though; just from Pilates! And any ab work that involves twisting.

My 2 mile run is July 4, and I may sign up for the Derby Days 5k  in late May as a walk/run, so I persevere!

The foot saga continues…

When you know your business, it really shows, eh?

My insurance won’t let the chiropractor/sports dude fix my foot. It has to go through my PCP.  She sent me to a Rehab/Phys Therapy place for orthotics, and the lady THERE rocked my socks! She heard all about my foot: where, when, how much. She asked lots of clarifying questions. She looked at my bare feet standing and watched me walk. That was apparently interesting, and led her to ask if those tennies were the ones I run in (which they were). So she had me put them back on and jog on the treadmill, while sharing her wisdom with the college student she’s training or some such. The conclusion?

My GOOD foot has a pronation, not too bad, but definitely there. My BAD foot, which has no such thing, is compensating with a funky step. Unfortunately, while the bad foot is actually good, it has a lousy ANKLE. LOL! All this time we’ve been looking for what is wrong with the foot, when actually it’s under a weak and unstable ankle. That is why the faster I go, the worse it gets, because it becomes more and more unstable. It also explains why going counterclockwise on the track is many times more painful more quickly than going clockwise: that ankle takes the support of my whole body on the curves, and it’s not up to it.

You can probably tell I found all this utterly fascinating. She made plaster casts of my feet, and some place in New York is going to make me some custom inserts for my running shoes. Then I’ll take them to the one shoe store in the area that personally fits your running shoes based on your gait, and buy the best ones for my pronation. And in the meantime, I’m supposed to ask Coach for exercises to strengthen and stabilize my ankle.

I just might get to run in a 5k yet! Ever the optimist…

‘Tis the Season

Yes, I did walk my dog Sunday. 🙂

And I even changed out of these adorable flips to do it, too. I love flip flop season. It expands my shoe wardrobe exponentially. Flip flops fit regardless of my clothing size. I can afford a WIDE range of colors and styles, because I rarely pay more than $6 or 7 for a pair. (Those Sunday pinks were more, though!) I can indulge my cute shoe soul without offending my frugal sensibilities. Besides, I think I have cute toes. 😉

Here is my entire flip wardrobe.