Battle of the Inserts.

I have terrible feet. Completely terrible. And I have been battling them for years. The latest issue is actually my knees, which I am told is because of my feet. I have flat feet and plantar fasciitis, which I believe is a pretty common combo, but it's also a double blow. Because of my flat feet, shoes with high arch supports are highly uncomfortable for me. They give me blisters in my arches. I don't know if it's common knowledge, but it's a terrible place to have blisters. There's not really a way to walk ... in any shoe... without stepping on the arch of your foot. So I have found my savior, my Nike Free running shoes. I have never had blisters from them, I haven't had any heel pain, I haven't worn holes in the back like shoes in the past, etc etc. They have been wonderful... so I thought. My heel pain was gone, but I had a new pain, and it wasn't just an annoying pain, it was an ice/heat/advil/by a knee brace/rest/rub/sit on the couch pain. Nothing worked to make it go away, so I finally went to the doctor. Turns out my knees are aligned and fine, but I am possibly missing some cartilage underneath my kneecap. For the record, there's not much you can do for that. I also found out that it's probably being caused by my terrible feet and "terrible shoes" (says a few PTs and runner friends I spoke with). I was told I needed shoes with good arch support (Wahh!!) to help correct it.

Let me just start this by saying I AM GETTING NEW SHOES THIS WEEK! I am going to The Running Center to get fitted (or whatever they call it).

In the mean time, I have been trying to figure out a temporary solution. I was given arch support inserts back during the heel pain days, so I have been slowly trying to put those in my shoes. As I said before, it is painful to wear them too long, and I get blisters in my arches, so it has been a slow process. I've gone on a few walks with them, but it feels like I'm walking on tennis balls, so I haven't dared run with them in. It's beginning to feel like more of a golf ball now, so I guess I'm making progress. My Nike Frees are very lightweight, so as expected, the sole is paper thin. They have virtually no cushion, so I decided to try another trick today. When I bought the shoes, I was talked into buying some really expensive, really cushy inserts as well. I thought, hey, they don't have huge arches, but they would provide a lot of cushion.... maybe I should run in these today!!!! I only had a 3 mile run scheduled, so even if it sucked, it wouldn't be that far to go in them.

Boy, was I wrong!!! My knees felt completely fine through the entire run (Hoorayyy!!!!! I can't remember the last time I said that!) BUT I GOT BLISTERS IN MY ARCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOO!! I'm still not sure how this happened, because they really don't have a lot of arch in them, but regardless, I'm back at square one.  I have also realized that it's much harder to run through blister pain that my awful awful knee pain. I am hoping that the new shoes help the knee situation, but I have a bad feeling I'm in for some blisters in the process.