My friends and colleagues wear fancy shoes and heeled boots with ease. They tower over me when we walk side by side. Okay, I guess that would happen anyhow, but never mind that. My point is that while they have closets full of fancy, colorful, high-heeled shoes and boots, I have a closet of running shoes (my current pair and a retired pair for walking) and a couple of ugly, flat, “comfortable” shoes.
A couple of years ago, my podiatrist told me “as you get older” the Achilles tendon shortens. I was *only* 37 years old then. He said that the tendon is further shortened in women who wear shoes with heels because the high heel acts to keep the tendon in a shorted position all of the time. By my wearing shoes with a heel, modest as mine were, problems in my ankles and legs were being caused during my running. My choices were give up running or give up the heel. So now I wear only those comfortable shoes that are anything but fashionable and I happily run.
As for my boots…I tried to wear them yesterday. I put them on in the morning and by the time I was at work my ankles ached. When I was on the mill for my lunchtime run, my ankles really hurt. So when I returned to my office, I pulled them off and just hid my feet under my desk hoping that none of my high-heeled colleagues would come by to talk with me. Today, I am back in my brown Merrell Jungle Mocs and my ankles are recovering from my day of attempted fashion. I envy those who can pull off the high heeled thing, but then again they envy me for being able to run as I do.