My funky shoes have become my trademark, and rightly so.  I adore them.  Given my ‘druthers, I’d wear nothing else (well, nothing else on my feet, that is..).  They are just the greatest thing to have on your feet, though they won’t help you win any fashion points!

With the Frostbite, I’ve had to switch to something different when the temperatures are below 0°C to prevent frostbite from happening again, but I’m not happy about it.  This is the case at least until Vibram gets caught up with their world-wide back orders.  They do have winter shoes, but none in stock in my size anywhere in the world, apparently.

Everyone thinks you need all this cushioning and support for your feet.  The research now shows that the more you pay for your shoes, the more likely you are to be injured.  When you buy shoes – especially for exercise – the rule of thumb is, “the less the better” if you want strong feet, and if you want to avoid injury.

According to the Vibram site:

The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised.

That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception.

Want more information on getting the best shoes for your feet?  Check out this excellent article

Still not convinced?  Read this: Athletic Shoes & Supports: Facts & Myths

Want to risk trying the Vibram Five Finger shoes?  Get them here -but you’ll probably have to wait until Spring.  Sigh.

Happy Walking!

Darlene

Ok, so it’s a week since my Sunday Frostbite fiasco.  Winter walking will never be the same.

First of all, there seems to be some permanent damage – especially in the fourth toe on my left foot – the one that went gray.    Dead as a doornail, that one.  The rest are tingly at the tips, some are still a little tender, but not bad.  Yesterday I was able to wear my normal shoes without pain, though, so that was great.

Last night I visited some “new” friends – well, I was actually his Gr. 12 prom date, and haven’t seen him since… I found him on Facebook, connected with his brilliant wife – who seems to be my twin separated from me at birth – and she’s into Essential Oils.  Last night while we visited at their lovely country home, Sue offered to massage my feet with some Essential Oils (not many people have offered to massage my feet EVER, let alone after knowing me for fewer than 12 hours…).  This morning my toes felt irritated more than usual, which gives me hope that this oil mix/massage might be waking up some of those dead nerves.  We’ll see what happens over the next few days.

I saw the doctor on Friday and he made it clear that I must now be extremely cautious for the rest of my life as I am now 10x more likely to get frostbite again.  As someone who has freezing feet even at the height of summer, I felt somewhat doomed by that statement, and knew I had to re-think winter walking.

SO…

Today my most-generous-of-all-wonderful-husbands drove me down to Gord’s Running Store to check out some different options.  The problem is that Vibrams strengthen all the foot muscles and allow your feet to work the way they were designed to.  “Normal” running shoes don’t – they support everything to the point that the muscles in your feet atrophy, and no longer work the way they were designed to work.  By switching between the two you end up living in a place where you go from body-builder to wheelchair-bound and back again – at least as far as your feet are concerned.  WAAAAY too much work!

I explained my dilemma to the incredibly helpful saleswoman, and told her I don’t want to spend six weeks during the peak training season re-strengthening my feet when the snow goes and the temperature warms up, and I can be back in my Vibrams.

She directed me to Biom Shoes.  You have to sacrifice your first born to afford them (Simon’s a good kid, he won’t mind…) but they apparently encourage natural motion in your foot and they keep the foot muscles strong. Not everyone believes they achieve that, but my options are limited at this point in time.

Knowing that the real key is keeping my feet warm at all times, I bought the shoe two sizes too big after trying them on with double socks – one very thick hiking sock and a standard fitness sock – and insoles, because I’m also going to be investing in thermal insoles.

While I was there I got two pairs of Injinji Outdoor socks made with micro-fine Merino wool to make sure my toes don’t rub together and get lesions that get infected without me knowing it (when your toes are numb, you don’t know there’s a problem…) and also to keep my feet warm, as Merino wool is “excellent at regulating body temperature, especially when worn against the skin. The wool provides some warmth, without overheating the wearer. It draws moisture (sweat) away from the skin, a phenomenon known as wicking. The fabric is slightly moisture repellent (keratin fibers are hydrophobic at one end and hydrophillic at the other), allowing the user to avoid the feeling of wetness” (according to Wikipedia)  And, of course, I can wear these in cooler Spring/Autumn temperatures in my Vibrams and still keep my tootsies warm.

Finally I got some ice-grips.  A few close calls made me realize that adding a numb head to numb toes would make walking impossible (though I’m sure many of you think the head’s already numb…) so I decided to not take any chances.

And there went the second child – thanks, Tina!  LOL!

So now I have cool gear on my feet to keep the toes toasty, I’m all set to go!   I’m breaking in the new shoes over this weekend, and I’ll do an easy 1 hour on Monday to test them out.

Wish me luck!

Darlene

(PS – who was it who said that walking is a very inexpensive sport?)

(PS – and never fear! I’ll be back in my beloved Vibrams once the temperatures are above 10˚C!)

(PPS – Oh, and just kidding there about exchanging my kids for cool gear.   The kids are here and safe…)

I was so proud of myself for getting out for my 3 hour walk yesterday in spite of the -19°C/-2°F temperatures. I bundled up, set up my technology, and headed down what was actually a beautiful pathway with fresh snow that sparkled in the sun.

As usual, my toes got pretty cold when I started out, but I knew that once I hit training speed, they’d warm up and be fine. Or, so I thought. Yesterday was a “ladder” walk, a kind of Interval walk where you jump around into different heart rate zones, several of which are quite slow. At times my feet felt fine. Other times, my toes were quite cold, but not painfully so.

On the way home, however, I began to feel quite uncomfortable and about 1km from home, when I should have been in HR Zone 2 (HR in the mid-90′s) I just kept it up in HR Zone 5 (HR in the mid 130′s) because my right foot felt numb, and both feet were feeling uncomfortable.

I got home and found a hot meal waiting for me, so I peeled off my shoes and snow gear, and sat down to eat. My feet began to thaw over lunch, but my toes were still numb. After lunch and a cup of tea I finally got my socks off – and realized how wet they were. I looked at my feet and discovered 3 toes were an odd grey-colour, and all my toes were bright red. One was swollen. My feet, however, were very warm.

It was then I realized I had frostbite.

Thankfully it wasn’t really serious frostbite, but I quickly did some research to treat my feet to make sure I didn’t damage them further.

Following instructions to continue to keep them warm and dry, I had a quick, not-too-warm shower, put on clean Injinji socks to keep the toes separated, wrapped those in fuzzy warm socks, and then slipped on my hut booties. Feet were toasty, but as the toes began to heal, the pain started. By dinner time I could no longer walk – it felt like a 200lb someone was standing on my bare toes with work boots on. There was no place to “put” my feet. No place brought release – raised, down, with weight on them, without weight. The only relief came from walking so I walked around the dining room table for about 40 minutes trying to cope with the pain. I have no idea what serious frostbite feels like, but if this is mild, I never want to find out.

Finally at about 6:30 I took some ibuprofen and crawled into bed. It was after 7:00 before I could tolerate covers.

This morning I’m still in quite a bit of pain, but it’s tolerable. I don’t walk too well, but at least it’s not excruciating when I just sit. Toes feel like they’re soaking in “too hot” water.

The real dilemma is, where do I go from here? Looks like new VFF’s won’t be ready before March (!!). I don’t have any shoes to walk in other than my regular day shoes which will get totally wrecked in the snow and salt outside. Do I pay $160 for shoes that will “do me” until the VFF’s are back in stock?  I do have my Sketcher‘s (which I stopped wearing almost right away because they “re-activated” an ankle issue I used to have), but with the lack of feedback from the thick soles and the rocking soles on sheer ice, I’m liable to end up in the hospital with a concussion wearing those.

ARGH.

Well, one thing is for sure – no walking this week! I’m not sure what I’ll do with all that extra time…

Darlene