January Blog A Day: #7 Shoes

I have a confession to make:  I don't really care about shoes.

I know, it's almost sacrilege for a woman to admit that.  I've just never had a thing for shoes.  I notice shoes that have a style I like and I think "Those are nice shoes," but I don't long for a separate closet for my shoes, as a former boss had.  I don't salivate over Jimmy Choos and wish I had hundreds of dollars to drop on a pair.

For me, shoes are mostly utilitarian.  That may go back to the foot pain I started to have from plantar fasciitis when I was in my late 20s.  It felt like a total ripoff, because that's usually a condition you get from running frequently or wearing really impractical shoes.  Apparently my arches needed more support than I had been giving them.  I went through a lot to try to get my foot to feel better, and after a year of various remedies (anti-inflammatory medication, exercises, physical therapy, cortisone shots, etc.), I finally had a procedure done on my foot that basically blasted the problem tissue, thereby reinjuring it, which allowed it to heal properly.  To my surprise, it worked.

Then, probably 6 months later, my other foot started to bother me.  I just didn't want to deal with it, so I didn't, and eventually, the pain went away.  I get some pain here and there from time to time.  When we got our Wii Fit and I started to do a lot of Free Step exercises, the pain came back.  So I stopped that and changed to using a recumbent bike instead, and that's been pretty successful.  Occasionally I get pain, and if I do a ton of walking, my feet are sore and tight the next day, but for the most part, they feel pretty good.

Shoes for me are about what looks appropriate with what I'm wearing and is going to be comfortable.  Those shoes they often put people in on What Not to Wear?  Ouch.  I know they say that they are comfortable, but long-term wearing of heels is not going to be something I'll ever be able to do.

Even when I was a teenager and college student and young woman, though, I was never that into shoes, which is probably good, all things considered.