Happy Feet After Vasona Park

I met an amateur radio friend at Vasona Park this morning at 10:00 am and we walked from the Park entrance along the Los Gatos Creek Trail to Lark Avenue and back. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with 80 degree temperatures later in the day. I still have my cold, but my energy level is much better today. Still not 100% though.

After the walk, I drove over to Campbell and went to the Good Feet store. Given that I suspect a metatarsal arch problem, I wanted to see if they carried any arch supports. They did, but not what I expected. They did not carry the little pads; rather, they carried several different kinds of full orthotics.

I decided to see what that was all about and took a couple of foot tests. First they had me walk over a large paper and ink pad. As expected, there was a very large, deep dark spot where the metatarsal arch ought to be, particularly on my left foot. But my foot imprints also showed some weakening of the major arch, though not flat feet. The second test was a balance test. I stood straight up with my arms down and hands cupped in front of me. The salesman then pressed down in my cupped hands, and I rocked forward on to the balls of my feet. Then I repeated the same test, though with hands cupped behind my back. When he pressed down I rocked backwards on my heels. We then repeated the same test, though this time with me standing on a pair of orthotics. I didn't rock forward or backwards and I definitely seemed to have more stability on my feet.

Even more interesting, after walking around in them for a little bit, the slight pain in the ball of my right foot that was present after walking in Vasona Park disappeared.

Sold!

The best part about all of this is that our Flex plan covered the expense of the orthotics that I bought today. Woo hoo! Happy feet!