So I've been doing my MuTu core exercises and walking as much as I can - breaking in my new Xeros at the same time (really breaking in my feet to the Xeros rather than the other way around) and so that's all good news. I also got my Yoga Tune Up balls and started working through The Roll Model book by Jill Miller - hoping to one day finally be rid of hamstring pain and tightness.
And that's all well and good. But yesterday I had an event. One of my friends is moving off to another country so we went out for dinner. To a nice place - it even has a Michelin star. So I took this to mean it must be fancy and I should dress up. Ha. After having one of those tv-typical girl moments of going through my entire closet looking for something to wear, I realised I had a problem. See, I'm a casual kind of girl. I've been wearing hand-me-down maternity and nursing clothing for the better part of two years now. This wasn't a case of having a huge wardrobe full of suitable attire that I just wasn't in the mood for, as the tv situations usually portray. This was like, I have three pairs of pants that fit me. All of them are jeans, but one pair is black. So what can I wear with black jeans and coming down to one top that wasn't simply too casual. And then I needed footwear. My bright blue, worn and torn Vivobarefoot Evo Pures were clearly out... too casual, and too ratty. My newer pair in grey was still too casual. Obviously the Xero sandals and Fivefingers were out too. So much for barefoot shoes.
I had little choice in the matter. If I wanted to at least hit dress-casual, I had to go back to my old shoes. Heeled shoes. I haven't put on a heel more than about twice since I got my first Vivobarefoot shoes last year. And both of those times were near the beginning of this alignment journey and I still noticed that I felt my boots were too narrow. Fast forward past toe-spacers, barefoot shoes and barefoot living and intentionally trying to spread my feet and anti-heel to last night.
Just walking down the street from my house to the tram stop hurt my ankles, which are no longer accustomed to any weird imposed angle footwear. The front of my hips felt strained because I was no longer walking properly, but rather falling. I felt like I had to turn my foot outward to try to get the most width. It was not comfortable. The arch of my left foot is still unhappy and I think I'm going to grab a Yoga Tune Up ball and massage my feet again as soon as I get up from writing this. The experience really bought home to me how important this alignment journey really is. Heels are evil. Truly. And I think, like a smoker that has a cigarette years after quitting only to find it no longer holds any appeal anymore whatsoever, that I am officially done with heeled footwear. Even 'sensible' heels like my Docs.
Sadly, I came home to an update from a friend who's getting married this summer - that she was looking at shoes for the wedding party (including me) that 'only' had an inch-and-a-half heel. Gaaaaa! I was hoping I could pick my own shoes! She can dress me however she likes but surely my feet are my own to accommodate?! Noooo!
More determined than ever to switch to barefoots and all zero-drop footwear, I went onto the Vivobarefoot site last night for the first positive of this story: 25% discount on all footwear (not already discounted) if you order by Sunday!!! Free shipping over 100 euros and free returns (not that I really plan on returning anything, but still good to know). So, once that arrives, assuming they fit, I'll have suitable footwear for going out again. Yay! Now to talk to my bride friend about 'suitable footwear' for her wedding... maybe I can talk her into Barebottoms! Wouldn't that be cool?
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