Fit 4 Thursday

If you guys read Monday's Report, then you know that my Pink Lady's (Nike Air Pegasus 29) died over the weekend, and if you follow me on Instagram (@SewHalfCrazy) then you'll know that I bought new Blue Devils (Brooks Ravenna 6)

I'm gonna talk about shoes, and how important they are.

So when I started getting back into running, I just used the shoes I had at the time. Ryka something or others, and they were fine, for a while. Then my shins started hurting. 

Lord knows I wasn't running so much that I should have shin splints, so I went to my local running store, which happens to be named "The Running Store," and talked to the folks there. 

My shoes were a neutral shoe, which is fine, but I overpronate. So they recommended some inserts to add some stability to my shoes, and it helped. No more shin pain. 

Then I started running more, and still wearing the Ryka's for everything fitness related. No bueno. The shoes died pretty quickly and I was surprised. 

So after talking to some folks, and realizing that they have different shoes for different gym activities, I quickly realized I needed running shoes and gym shoes. 

I bought another neutral shoe, but moved over my insoles. Things were fine, until the center crash pad broke. I then admitted that I needed a stability shoe, and things improved until my bunions started giving me more problems. 

Before I continue, when a shoe says it's a stability shoe it's for people who don't roll their feet correctly while running, or overpronate. It's not their fault either, they're just built that way. The stability part of  the shoe helps roll the foot the correct way. 

How cushioned a shoe is up to the runner. Do you like running on a cloud or do you like something more firm. I used to like the cloud, but I'm finding that I like a slightly firmer cushion. I can feel what's going on with my feet better. 

I went to a podiatrist after my bunions started aching more, and found out that my genetics suck. I have Morton's toe (my 2nd toe is longer than my big toe on both feet) and my bunions are in pretty bad shape. The saving grace is that they rarely hurt or give me problems, and that the types of shoes I was wearing were aggravating them. It wasn't just my running shoes either.  

Normal flip-flops are not in my shoe closet anymore. I wear some fancy orthotic flip-flops. They actually help. Don't laugh at my flip-flops, but I have no arches, to speak of. After the doc told me what was going on with my feet, he dropped the S-word on me. Surgery. 

Surgery on both of my feet, I told him that was a no-go. I had goals to achieve and not to mention 3 kids - 2 of them not in school yet.  He told me that surgery was going to be in my future. The bunion joints weren't going to heal themselves or get better. I was already at 12 degrees between my big toe and 2nd toe, the normal is 8 degrees. He was a little shocked that I had so little pain, but he did tell me that when I hit 14 degrees, I should reconsider the surgery. I'm doing everything I can to forestall my fate. 

The doc did suggest wider shoes to accommodate the bunions and wrote me a prescription for wider shoes, which is  how I ended up with the next pair of shoes. They were size 11 wides. So many choices for shoes at that size. Not. 

Enter a new problem - I don't have wide feet. I have wide bunions, but the rest of my foot is not wide. I lost my first toenail with the wide shoes. My foot travelled so much in the shoes, and that was uncomfortable, so when they died I went back to my running store.  

I talked to the sales guy about my bunion problems. He suggested moving from a full leather upper to a partial leather upper or no leather upper, because the leather upper moving over my bunion aggravates that joint and causes the shoe to wear faster at the bunion, which is why the last 3 pairs of shoes were wearing out faster than they should've. 

He also mentioned that Nike has a smaller shoe box than other companies, and that would help with my mostly skinny feet. He wasn't wrong, the Nike's felt great, but died after ~165 miles, which was the one misgiving I had about going back to Nike. They just don't seem to last as long as some of the other brands.

So now, I'm on my 7th pair of running shoes in about 3 years of running (technically its 4 years, but there was a running hiatus when I was pregnant with Baby Girl). Enter the newest shoes, Brooks Ravenna 6 aka Blue Devils. The shoes feel good so far, but there are only 5.5 miles on them, but those miles felt good and my feet and shins felt fine after each run.

I'm also pretty specific when it comes to shoes for my feet. Stability, size 11, wide toe box, moderate cushioning, partial leather upper or a mesh upper. 

It's frustrating that it took a while to get to know my feet so well, but I guess that's just how things go. You don't really know how your body performs until you abuse it a bit. My first half training was eye-opening. My 2nd and 3rd half training were even more enlightening, and now training for my 4th - well I'm feeling pretty good about the status of my feet and the shoes I'm putting on them. 

It boils down to paying attention to what's going on during your runs, and after them. What makes the feet feel better and how do things hurt when they do hurt? Treating the pain, but also dealing with the source of the pain. Everyone is different, and going to need different things. Take advice with a grain of salt, because the only opinion that matters is yours and how your feet feel in the shoes you wear and what you put them both through.