Friday, July 31, 2009

Runner's Feet

I have a confession to make. There is a pile of sandals in my closet that is going unworn. My feet have only seen the light of day in sandals once so far this summer. Normally, I am a lover of bare feet and cutesy sandals. Since I started logging more miles, however, being a runner and sandals have not gone hand in hand. About a year and a half ago, I struggled with Plantar Fasciitis. I had a little flare up this winter, but for the most part I have been able to keep it under control by changing my shoe wearing habits. Wearing running shoes with orthotics all of the time, in my mind, is a big reason why I have been able to stay pain free. I'm not about to risk foot pain again for the sake of cute shoes.

All this running shoe wearing has left me with Runner's Feet. It's not that they are all gnarly or anything, but they are Minnesota Winter White while my legs are Summer Runner Tan. Not a good look. On the plus side, the toe nail that fell off this Spring is fully regrown so all my nails are present and accounted for. With no marathon training this summer, I don't even have any black nails or blisters. Hopefully my feet aren't a total lost cause.

This weekend I'm going to have to expose my feet to non-family members, so I'm going to have to take some corrective action. We have an event on Saturday night that is going to require me to wear something other than shorts or jeans. I'll be donning a casual dress and, even though it is casual, I don't think that running shoes would be appreciated by the host. It's time to prepare for sandals. I'll be spending the next hour or so exfoliating and applying self tanner. Tomorrow will bring another round of self tanner and then some nail polish. Orange feet with tan legs will be an improvement over blindingly white feet with tan legs, but I'm guessing not a lot. As long as it just draws less attention to my feet until I can get some sun on them.

7 comments:

Londell said...

Funny the little things we think others will notice? I bet you will be just fine. Have a great time!

Mark said...

Sandy laughs at my tan lines! Have fun and I hope the sandals haven't rusted to bad..LOL!

Jean said...

That is so funny, and I have never thought of this. Of course, I have no sandals, either! :) Good stuff, Beth!

Helen said...

If I had shown you my feet today you would have felt so much better :)

Good to see you - sorry didn't get chance to talk much - I went to the lake for a bit but it felt so good I stood in there for ages! Fun run today - despite complaining about the cool weather all week it was perfect for running!

SteveQ said...

The tan line that bothers me is my heart rate monitor "bra strap" line. The white feet I can live with.

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Minnesota Winter White... lol. Love that! I have so many different tan lines from tri training now, not sure which is worse! :D

Sunshine said...

The pile of shoes on the closet floor... sigh.. me too!
Nice coping skills. Hope it was a worth-it event.