Sadness and Shoes in Everyday Ramblings

“My” beloved track. I once had an interview with a young man for a stockbroker job that was comprised almost exclusively of talking on the phone and he had a terrible stutter. We didn’t talk about the stutter during the interview but it was painful for me to hear him struggle and I kept thinking it had to be extremely difficult for him. The memory has stayed with me for over 20 years.

I wonder sometimes with the running if I am not like that guy with the stutter.

…that I am totally unsuited for it and yet I want so much to do it fluidly and well.

After rain overnight we had unexpected clearing this morning and so after I did my shopping and some chores I went over to do a timed run. It was more effortful today, or that is how I perceived it because I was tired and had gone to the gym last night. But my time and distance were on par with what they had been. And my average heart rate when I do these short two and a half mile workouts keeps dropping.

So something is happening in terms of fitness.

Kes knows the woman that runs their local running store and I have had a heck of a time getting shoes that are wide enough for my bunion but still comfortable and allow my feet to breathe and not get too hot or this aching in the ball of the foot I have been getting lately with the last two pairs of running shoes I have purchased.

I can wear them for kicking around but I needed something else to keep doing these runs. Achy feet are no fun. My doctor says she can give me a referral to a podiatrist but I have been seeing rather too many doctors lately.

So we went to the running store before we left for the beach. The owner was like no one I have ever met before. She was like a drill sergeant! She was literally barking out orders to me. Walk there, do this, roll up your pants so I can see your knees, what do you mean the doctors didn’t say anything about your feet??? The first question she asked was “Why do you want to run when you are already so active?”

That surprised me because I had heard that she was a bit of a fanatical runner and that when healing from an injury she went on a bike ride with Most Honorable and their highly competitive neighbor, a male pediatrician and she was barking orders at them and bemoaning the fact that she couldn’t run.

She looked at me like I was nuts when I mentioned my inner pony. Me thinks she may have a personal relationship with The Furies.

But apparently my gait, knee alignment and wear pattern all passed muster and she sold me a pair of supportive shoes that accommodate my bunion and a pair of insoles. I have never used insoles before.

They help! They are supposed to take some of the strike force out of the ball of the foot. I did notice that on the way back from the gym last night my feet really did want to ache. But were barely there.

I wonder that no one has recommended them before.

It all is yet another minor (in the grand scheme of things) thing to accept as an indignity of aging. That even strong, for someone my age and activity level, my feet need help.

I dropped off my completed ballot today for the midterms.

With the horrible news this week of the pipe bombs and the profoundly disturbing shooting at the synagogue today I feel we have to be actively trying to change things. Giving into despair is no longer an option.

At least for us that have some measure of mental health.

It is so sad and my heart aches for us all. Like with the Sandy Hook shooting how can a reasonably healthy person hear this news and not cry?

It is raining here now, I can hear it as I type.

Last updated October 28, 2018