Dressing up.

Yesterday, I tried on my favorite Nina heels. I'm going to a wedding next week, and I needed to be sure that the shoes were still comfortable. Here's the thing about my Nina heels. They are every bit of 4" heels but they are the most (and the only) comfortable pair of heels I have ever owned. I danced all day at my baby brother's bar mitzvah (oh my god that was six years ago) and only had to take them off because running in a circle to dance the horah was not a good choice for stilettos. In any case, I put the shoes on and walked around and my feet felt fine so hopefully they will be in good enough shape to support me next weekend.

Today, I wore my little heeled dress shoes. I dressed nicely for my oral exam that I had today and just figured that Vibrams were not exactly appropriate. To my pleasant surprise, my calves and feet did not complain at all. I know that the transition into wearing constricting heel-elevated shoes during the winter is going to be hard, but I'm a little optimistic that making my feet stronger all summer long is going to help, so long as I keep up their strength by being barefoot as often as possible in the house and continuing to run indoors.

In more related to running news, my calves have been very achy lately. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since today marks one month into my foot experiment and I would say that my feet and legs are still transitioning. Shoot, I meant to take pictures of my feet today so that I can see if their shape actually changes month to month. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. In any case, I have a new sub-hypothesis in this ongoing experiment. I think that part of the key of avoiding foot pain is forefoot striking when I walk. I went for about three weeks straight, concentrating on walking that way, and had no pain. Then there was the day that I walked in Converse and made my foot hurt. Ever since then, my calves have been too sore to walk with a forefoot strike, and my foot has had a dull persistent ache ever since. It has never crossed the threshold into actual pain, particularly not after I run (hint: forefoot striking), but it has been a constant ghostly reminder of what happens when I make mistakes. I'm going to continue to play around with the "right" way for me to walk and hopefully come to a consensus eventually.