New Shoes! Happy feet?

My podiatrist recommended a particular brand of shoes to help with my plantar fasciitis.  He also formed insoles for me, but they are not working out too well. I still ache a lot!

My husband called around for me today until he found a store that had the shoes in my size.  I put them on and they have enough arch support and I don't have to wear the insoles.  They are super cushy inside, which gives me happy feet.

She also told me some good toe stretches to do before I get out of bed in the morning, and sold me on a special compression sock that is supposed to help.  For $25 for one sock, it better!  So far tonight my foot hurts less than it has, but we'll see how it all works out.  The foot without the special sock is hurting almost as much as the other one does, so I think I might need one for each foot. Maybe my feet are just tired, though, as we did another 3 mile walk today, and then did laundry and shoe shopping.

The shoes recommended are Brooks Ariel.  Kind of pricey, but if they help my foot heal, they'll be well worth it.  The sock is made by Feetures!  

I was happy with this shoe store, because the shoes were the same price as on Zappos.com or Brooks' own site.  Often shoes cost more locally.  The owner seemed very knowledgeable, which made it worth the extra cost of the sales tax I ended up paying, and the drive down there.

The Long Road Home

Have I mentioned that we have a lovely little wooded area just about a quarter mile from our apartment?  Hardly anyone ever goes in there except bicycles on weekends.  The trails are build with interesting curves and jumps for bikes, along with markers about how difficult each trail is. That's helpful for walking.

A bicycle waits near the trail.  If you look ahead you can see that the center of
the trail is a long skinny "balance beam" made of railroad ties.  

Yesterday, we ended up on the "road"  through the outskirts of the forest.  It has two ruts instead of one!  Someone mows the trails, or we would be walking through chest-high prairie grass in the hilly areas.

This entire experience makes me think of the pioneers who crossed through the Midwest on their way to Oregon, California, Utah and Wyoming.  I wondered how a child could get lost on flat land, which is recorded as happening.  First let me say that the plains are not flat land.  They are full of rolling hills and shallow valleys.  When the grass is chest-high on adults, it would be over the heads of children.  This is not a nicely mowed lawn.Yet still there is no shade for adults--and, for the pioneers, no one to mow the trail.

Photo from Chatfield's Prairie Restoration Project

I think the mothers must have looked forward to the occasional shaded area near a river or creek, while at the same time dreading the increasing dangers for their children.  Creeks and rivers and trees to wander in, shadows to hide them, wild animals...all must have been scary for those who came from cities to try to make a new life for themselves.

We find areas where deer have lain; the grass is temporarily matted down in large areas, yet there is very little sign of entry.  A child could easily wander through grass and be lost.

On the bright side, there are many beautiful grasses, trees, wildflowers, moss, ferns, mushrooms...birds singing, signs of other small animals but I probably talk too much and scare them away.  We saw actual deer once, though.

Anyway, back to yesterday...we found ourselves at the end of this forest road, and it came out on a paved road, so we decided to walk a little way and figure out where we were and where it went.  Next time I'll just come home and use the internet maps!  We had walked 1.3 miles, according to my pedometer, and by the time we were done, we had walked 3.2 miles!  That means we walked 1.9 miles along a paved road.

A close-up view of part of the woods. Courtesy maps.google.com. 

I walked enough later to make up 4.75 miles for the whole day!  That's only 600 steps short of the 10,000 steps recommended by whomever recommends those things.  How do people really walk that far on an average day?

The nice thing is that I can do it!  I was tired, and we did a 10-minute yoga session to stretch out after our little hike, but I did it!  And I only hurt a little bit today.

We took it easy today, though, only a quick 1.2 miles around in the mall.  If that sounds to you like it's not easy--because don't you hate it when someone walks an "easy" walk and it sounds like it would kill you--don't chastise yourself.  You can only start where you are.  When we moved here a year ago it was hard for me to walk the quarter mile to work.  And look at me now!  Climbing around on bike trails and taking the long road home!

We shouldn't base our opinion of ourselves on others' opinions, but....

When you get two compliments in a couple of weeks, you know you're making progress. One of my TOPS ladies commented that I am getting a nice waistline.

Today a friend of mine complimented me on a new outfit and then said "You're getting slimmer."  I laughed and said I really like this outfit now!

Yikes! A BIG regain!

Alas, the scale showed a 3 pound gain overnight!  In one night! How can this be?  It's not just my scale either. The scale at TOPS showed the same gain.  What a tragedy--and a mystery.

The only way I can explain it is that I have been having a big fibro flare this week.  This means I have a lot of inflammation, and that means extra weight in the tissues. Still, I apparently swelled up overnight! 

The sad thing is, it's all my own fault.  I have been eating more sugar than usual, which always causes a problem.  I made a special dessert for some dinner guests, and I've been snacking on the leftovers all week.  Maybe it was worth it, just once in a while.  Or so I thought, until I started feeling the pain. And then the scale revealed the truth. It wasn't worth it.  

Did you notice a little change over there on the right?

I finished up the word COMMITMENT!  Hurray!

This links back to an earlier post. 

I haven't posted a lot lately because I've been exhausted ever since our trip, but I did keep walking and managed to complete both the N and the T.  I am proud of myself for keeping that commitment.

No luck on the job front yet, but I've been too tired to go to work anyway.  When the time is right, it will all work out.

Hurrah! I finally lost ten pounds! Also the TOP hatS won our team contest!

40 Miles! And an E!

We took a trip to Utah to see some of our family. While traveling, I wore a pedometer every day.  In five days we walked 20 miles.  Add it to what I had before, and one mile when we got home, and I reached my 40 mile goal! I also got to fill in an E and part of the next N.

In Utah we hiked up a very steep mountain.  "About 40 minutes each way," my son said.  Well, after about an hour, we were about halfway, and I decided I could go no more.

Near the beginning of the hike, J and K walk along. 

I think this is going uphill.
I wouldn't swear to anything.

One of the steep parts. I think this is looking
downhill. It's hard to see how steep it really was.

My husband wouldn't leave me behind, when I stopped to rest, so it was up to my son and his girlfriend to finish the hike. Off they went, and we made our way downhill, very slowly, taking pictures as we went.  Near the bottom we found a little stream, and I sat right down and put my feet in it. It was very cold, and several dips in it took the swelling right out of my feet.  We were still sitting there when the younger two came down. 

Cute little flower along the path. The spiky leaves belong to it.

Same type of flowers, I think. The lighting is different.

More little flowers along the path.

My calves hurt for three days, but it was worth it--not just for the view, but for the experience.  I caught myself saying "I'm sorry," and "I'm such a wuss." I felt bad for letting J down on the hike, and for making him feel bad that it was so hard for me.

View of Salt Lake City from above.

Wait a minute!  I went more than halfway up a very steep mountain.  I challenged myself and tried something very difficult. I did not finish, but I did way more than start.  And that in itself is an achievement.  So, J, I am so glad I went!  Maybe next year I can go to the top.

Number of steps when I started coming down the path.

Number of steps back at the car.  It looks as though I went
 about 2200 steps each way--probably about a mile.

We also walked around at our library, for a total of about 5 miles that day.  

I am playing with Photoshop while I relax at
home after our vacation.