Yoga decision, Feet, and tennis balls

So, I'm pretty sure I've decided not to take the class, to work on getting Yoga Today to work or just come up with my own practice. Then in the fall I can sign up through the county again if I want (since, I don't know if I'll stick with swimming after the triathlon, and if I do I'd likely drop to once a week anyway, which would free up some time in the week.

So, I have issues with my feet. One of them is that my feet are really big for a woman (I wear a size 12, which is a 10.5 mens) so finding shoes has always been an issue. Sneakers aren't so bad, i could always just wear men's sneakers if I had to but when buying running sneakers I haven't had any problems getting those. Really, its the cute, girly, can wear to work or out on a date shoes that I've struggled with. This lead me to many years of wearing cheap Old Navy men's flip flops or shoes from Payless which were sometimes cute but never really comfortable, or shoving my feet into shoes that were too small. When I moved to VA I was introduced to Nordstrom Rack by a shoe-ista friend of mine. Nice, cute shoes (heels even!!) up to a size 13. HEAVEN!

Now, I also have relatively high arches. Again, sneakers usually take care of this problem but casual shoes, even in the right size, still aren't all that supportive. And, I like to walk around bare footed. There is some research that walking around barefoot is the best for your feet, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason my foot problems only started developing now that I'm older is that as a kid I spent most of the summer not wearing shoes. But, I digress. I had seen a doctor about my feet cramping when I was in Rochester, and she told me I had Plantar Fasciitis so I knew about that anyway.

Last summer, we took our annual trip to Atlantic City. I'm not a gambler, so I tend to just wander around the boardwalk with whoever happens to be my baby-sitter for the evening. I made a huge mistake though, and wore a (really cute) pair of mary jane style maroon patent heels to walk around the boadrwalk. The shoe itself was pretty comfy, but the heel was too skinny, and kept getting stuck between the boards, on top of the fact that I was walking, A LOT. The next day I noticed my feet were hurting, but figured it just happened because the of the shoes and that it would go away. My right foot got better, my left one didn't. A month went by and there was still a spot on the ball of my foot under my big toe that was killing me. I had already switched to wearing only flats, got some over the counter inserts for them, tried walking around barefoot as much as possible (even on my walks on my lunch break), only wore my good teva flip flops instead of the cheap plastic ones. The only time I wore heels was during dance class (Joe and I were taking ballroom lessons and private lessons to prepare for the wedding). Eventually it got to the point where I knew I had to see a podiatrist, but I was afraid she was going to tell me I had to wear a cast or a boot or couldn't wear my wedding shoes, and so I put it off until after we got back from our honeymoon (middle of November). Actually, wearing sneakers around Mexico and doing yoga almost ever morning really seemed to help.

So, off to the podiatrist I go. She was great (Dr. Theresa Fahy in Vienna, VA). She understood that I wanted to wear cute shoes sometimes and that I didn't need to give them up completely. However, until my foot heeled I would. The x-ray showed nothing broken. She gave me some anti-inflamitories, a cortisone shot into my metatarsals , and told me to wear stiff soled shoes or sneakers (like cross trainers rather than running sneakers) all the time. So, I bought a pair of Danskos which my mom (a nurse) always swore by. Eventually, my foot did start feeling better, and I started wearing other shoes again. Whenever my feet start to hurt, I wear the Danskos for a day or two and that usually helps. Also, she showed me some feet stretches to work on the plantar fasciitis, and yoga tends to stretch it out as well.

One thing she told me to do was to keep a tennis ball at my desk at work and at home, and to roll my foot over it daily. I kinda kept forgetting to go out and get tennis balls to do this, but finally (a half a year later) I did! Let me tell you it just feels GREAT! It's like a do-it-yourself foot massage!

I found another great article on that goes over it a little bit, as well as some other uses for the tennis ball that I'm going to try out. Its very related to the Foam Roller concept that I learned about in pilates, as well as an old trick my mom always used on our calf muscles: a rolling pin. Its why massage works on releasing sore muscles, also.