Shoes Can Hurt More Than Your Feet

Walk x 2 - 13.6 miles, Run x 2 - 11 miles, Cycle x 3 - 60 miles, Rest days x 2

10 days ago I boldly entitled a post 'New Beginning'. As you can see from the statistics since then there has been some steady activity but the weakest part has been running, which was not the plan at all.

So why the low mileage? The simple answer is foot pain and the ripping up of pound notes.

I decided it was not only time for some new shoes but that I ought to get my gait analysed again as it has been some time since I had been last done and things might have changed. Such was the case:  the video showed my right ankle out of alignment, which was corrected by some arch support shoes.

On the treadmill these felt comfortable and on the first short run everything was fine. The second run was a bit longer and again they felt fine but a couple of hours after I stopped there was a developing pain inside the left heel (i.e. the foot that did not have the problem), just below the ankle. I hobbled around for a bit but the following day it was gone. I though it was just a fluke, and went for my next run as if nothing had happened. Yet again the pain came after I had stopped but this time it lasted longer. 

Oh dear! Those shoes will now find themselves thrown into a dark corner, where I can't see them and won't be reminded that expensive trainers are not necessarily the best trainers.  I would have been much better off going to a restaurant and blowing the money on fine dining.

It is one of the risks with running shoes - you can never really tell if they are going to work until you have run some miles. No matter how much care you take in the shop some shoes just do not suit your feet. There is nothing that can be done - it is sunk cost.

the last time this happened there was a strange coincidence. I was in the shop buying a replacement when a man came in asking for the exact model that had caused me some problem, in my size - so I gave him my barely used pair. That probably won't happen this time.

P.S. Today's picture is of a kingfisher I saw on my walk. After gloomy thoughts about wasting money it quite cheering.