“Change can be good” or so they say. “They” being the upper management of my company and the mother company. I’ve been done resisting for quite sometime. I am just hoping that the changes will settle into something that we can call the new improved way we do things.
On another note, I have changed my shoes three times today, and three times yesterday. It is time for a something to change besides my shoes. As I sat in the waiting room of the podiatry department at Kaiser, I hoped for a change to my feet challenges. I am tired of the ongoing experimentation where one problem is solved and other is born. That has how it has seemed since I came out of my boot therapy.
While the discomfort has varied and is never enough to stop me from running, it is a sign of an ongoing issue. In the process of experimentation, I have tried many different insoles alone and in various combinations. From the cuboid area to the ball of the foot, and from the ball of the foot to the heel the discomfort has shifted around my foot like a corn kernels in a hot pot.
My appointment wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, or hoping. I have yet to discover if this was a good or bad thing. Basically, the doctor and I talked for a bit. She watched me walk down the hall and back a couple of times.
After examining how my bare feet move with walking, the doctor told me to try my old custom orthotics (with an addition that I will discuss in a minute). I had quit using these orthotics after they began feeling like they were flattening out. They just didn’t seem to be as supportive as before. I had queried the sales representative on how many miles until the orthotics needed replacing. They had taken me through the training for 4 marathons already. The rep told me that he recommended that I have my feet rescanned for a new fit because “feet change”. At that time I decided to try over the counter (OTC) insoles. I wasn’t anxious to fork over another $250 for a new pair. It seemed to work…until now.
apparently supposed to do. The doctor mentioned the term “Metatarsalgia” and, noting the callused area adjacent to my great toe, indicated that bunion formation was also a sign of this. So, I now have a new experiment to try to utilize to tackle my foot issues. I sure hope that it works.
The more time that my doctor spent with me, the less of a lunch break she would be getting. By the time she saw me, most of the clinic staff had left the building. She didn’t seem to be concerned. She went on to discuss my running shoes.
After I mentioned that either my foot was flattening out and therefore taking up more space in the shoe, or the shoe had yet another change. After a big sigh, she began to express her frustrations with shoe companies making changes to perfectly good shoes. When I told her that I wore Brooks shoes, she told me that she thought that Brooks were generally too heavy and stiff. She also mentioned that she is biased since her feet dislike them.
I already had plenty of information to digest, and I wasn’t writing things down as I usually like to do. My doctor is also a runner. She told me that she actually prefers to run in men’s shoes. She says that they are built a little wider with better support. She said that I should at least try on a pair in the near future since my feet would benefit from a little more room. Referring back to the blister scar on my foot she also said avoid seems, and go for the mesh.
Her final instructions were to go ahead and ramp up the mileage. She said that this is the only way that I will know if we have a solution or not.
Well, I have a lot to digest and some more experimentation to do. I’ll begin with returning my old custom orthotics (and the rock-like metatarsal supports) to my shoes. Hopefully, it won’t take my feet as long to get used to them as it did initially. I’ll try to keep in mind that change can be good.