Mystery solved...I think

Got my skis out this weekend.

I think I finally found out what is wrong with my foot.

Dr. Holt told me last week that it was the fault of my cute colorful tennis shoes, which are curved on the inside of the toe bed and have an added ridge on the outside. Although he said he can imagine that the shoes were constructed this way for better side-to-side motion, but because I pronate, they added too much pressure to my big toe and the inner side of my foot, therefore causing an inflammation in that area and the whole upper part of my foot.

He added a little extra cushioning to the bottom of my orthotic in an effort to take the pressure off that part of my foot. I put faith in what he says because as physical therapist with a Ph.D in biomechanics, he cured my plantar fasciitis.

He looked at my tennis shoes and said, "Just looking at those shoes makes my feet hurt!" he said.

 He was also unhappy with my cute blue running shoes because they do not fit his test for a firm inner sole around the toe bed.

So it's goodbye colorful shoes and back to the old black and white.

Function trumps fashion.

In the meantime I need to get the inflammation down. He said to ice and to stretch my toes as much as possible. Play with my toes, as it were. Also I am taking some ibuprofen just to get me over the hump and obviously skipping tennis and running for a while. It is frustrating to get everything in order and then get hobbled by a toe.

Dr. Holt said he doesn't much like podiatrists, because they usually give shots that do not work (which is what happened the last time I went to one), but just to cover all bases (which I cannot run!) I am keeping an appointment with another podiatrist tomorrow.

But enough with the feet.

Some friends had asked me to go cross country skiing over the weekend, and since I hadn't done it in ages and wanted to try it again, I asked if that would be OK on my feet. He said it was probably OK since it did not involve pounding.

It was great to be outside after all this cold weather. It took a while for me to get my ski legs back and so I fell a few times, but it was on soft snow and I didn't mind.