Shoes!

Feet.

Feet are great. Feet are tiny little things that support our whole body. I think feet often go unappreciated but feet really are fantastic things! So fantastic things need fantastic care, included fantastic shoes.

Most of us have feet, but every bodies feet are different. The way we walk, the way we strike the floor, the way our foot rolls when we run - there are endless variations on how every bodies feet work. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to make sure you choose the RIGHT shoes for your feet!

Unfortunately, I have developed posterior tibial tendinitis - 9 weeks out of a half marathon. Not good. Basically it's a swelling/inflamation of the tendon that goes from the foot around the inner ankle and up to the calf, quite close to the achilles tendon. As a result, after walking (or running) for an extended amount of time I get a really bad pain in my ankle that stops me from walking any further. So I am now confined to the bike for my cardio exercise for the next 6 weeks. Just hoping that's enough to prepare me for the half marathon July 7. This injury is a result of the WRONG shoes.

Currently, I wear Nike Free 4.0 v2

I was all so keen to jump on the nike free bandwagon, because they look nice and they come in so many different fun colours. But the reality is, appearance is not what you should be basing your choice on.

I'm not at all saying that Nike Frees are bad in general, but they are bad for me. For some people, these would be their shoe, but someone's shoe is not EVERYONE's shoe. If you have Nike Frees and they're working for you then that's great! But unfortunately they've lead to more downsides than benefits in my personal experience.

So now I'm going back to Asics, which is what I always wore up until I got my Nikes. But even though I know Asics makes shoes that are good for my feet, they make A LOT of different shoes, so I'm going to a shoe fitting specialist to find the perfect fit for me. It may take more time, and your options may be limited, but at the end of the day, it's better to be injury-free with not the ideal colour choice than stylish but injured. But that's not too say that the right pair physically won't be the right pair aesthetically! You might just fall in love with the pair that fits right too! At the end of the day, it's wise to go get your fit tested properly by a sports shoe specialist if you want to benefit yourself. Not too mention you'll probably end up saving money even if they pair you buy are a little more expensive - there probably won't be any physio visits, and you won't have to buy a new pair to replace the pair that's damaged you!

So the bottom line is - don't follow the trends, do what's best for YOU!

Danni

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