Walking the Walk

On my way home last Friday, I happened to run in to my chiropractor friend, Dr. Eric. I told him about my new running shoes and about my half-marathon training. The next day, Saturday, his office was scheduled to bring in an orthopodist (I'm not sure if I've actually called her job the right thing)--someone who studies feet and can correct foot pressure and stride. And by fixing the feet, other pains in the knees, hips and back can disappear. She was going to be doing free foot scans and analyses, so I got signed up.


At the appointment on Saturday, Lisa (the foot lady) had me first stand on a mat that checked how I stood on my feet and where the pressure points were. Here's the scan:

Makes it pretty clear that:
a-I have ridiculously high arches
b-I pretty much stand on my heels (and yes, my left heel hurts every now and then. at least I know why)
c-I don't use my toes to stand--they're nowhere on this scan


So, this first picture gave her a pretty good idea that I have some messed up feet (and lots of areas for possible pain).


Then Lisa did the second scan--a dynamic scan. I walked towards the mat and had to make sure to get my full right foot on the mat as I walked; and then repeated it with my left foot on the mat.


And from that, I got this lovely:

The yellow lines show how I walked. Ideally, the line would be straight from the heel to the toes, and rolling off the big toe. My feet are not so ideal--the line zigzags all over both feet. My right foot stride started at my heel and rolled in a little bit, then went all the way out to the outside of my foot. The left is a little more "correct" since at least on my heel the line is fairly straight.


Lisa recommended that I get shoe inserts and start using them right away--otherwise I could get bunions. I'm not entirely sure what that would do to my feet, but they sound awful. The only problem is with many commercial brands is that there are very few that could get close to my arches. But, at $200/pair for custom orthotics, I'll try out the cheaper ones for awhile.