Loading...
X

Numb Legs

I’m trying to mentally pretend I’m going to go on the AIDSWalk Africa even if I can’t afford it. This means, of course, that I need to walk every day to get ready for it. I’ve walked at least a half hour every night since I first read about the AIDS walk. My feet started hurting during last night’s walk. This isn’t really surprising given how heavy I am and given how badly I pronate when I walk (I’m knock kneed and flat footed – yes, I realize I’m painting a very pretty picture here). Add to that very old tennis shoes and…hurting feet is a given.

So, today I went and bought new tennis shoes. I decided to not worry about cost and get a good pair. First, I went to a store where people actually know shoes and know how to fit you. The lady there recommended a pair of New Balance shoes with a heel stabilizer to keep me from walking on the inside of my foot too much. Plus, they come in double-e. Okay. I try them on and they feel pretty good, but I’m still a bit worried about metatarsal support. She recommends an insert. Hmmm. So now we have expensive shoes and an insert. Well, I said I wasn’t going to worry about money, right? And these are darn comfortable, right? I buy them.

I spent the evening walking around the house in them. My heel slips in the back – but it’s done that in almost every pair of tennis shoes that I’ve never bought. This is the curse of having a wide foot and a narrow heel.

Time for my evening walk – I decide to take the new tennis shoes outside knowing that this means I can’t return them. I walk. I think I’m walking faster than I normally do. I know I’m walking faster than I normally do. I’m feeling good! I decide to do a third lap around the school. Somewhere in the middle of the third lap, my feet go numb. They have that kind of “been sitting on them prickly feeling.” The feeling spreads up my legs. It’s all very interesting. I get home and soon after I stop walking they feel better. Could it just be because the shoes were making me walk in a way my legs and feet aren’t used to? The only time I’ve had that feeling before while moving around was towards the end of a 10K (uh, yeah – I was in much better shape then). I certainly didn’t walk anywhere near that tonight.

Leave Your Observation