I am not one of those types of women that need to have lots of shoes. In fact, not counting my slippers, I have a total of two pairs of shoes. My tennis-shoes and my summer sandals. They are all I need, so why have more?
But… I did need a new pair of shoes. I have been wearing my main shoes for over 4 years now, and they were falling apart. (Got my $15 worth out of those, huh? 
) So on Saturday we went to Payless Shoes to get me (and the girls) some new shoes.
I have the pink and white ones...
Now I wear a weird size. 6 1/2 wide… And there are not many shoes in that size to choose from, so you basically have to take what you can get. There were only a couple of pairs to choose from, so I grabbed a pair of white and pink Champion Stride Fitness shoes and sat down to try them on. They fit fine, and didn’t feel tight at all. I will admit that I didn’t walk around in them, as I should have, but (to be honest) I never walk around in the store with the new shoes. If they fit, I buy them and go on my merry way. I’ve never had a problem with it before, either.
Yesterday I wore the shoes for the first time, and I was in for a surprise…
They have rounded soles...
Looks like I unwittingly bought myself some toning shoes. They have “instability soles” on them. They make the shoes unstable, so that your leg muscles have to work more when you walk. Supposedly, this helps to tone your leg muscles… Anyway, the soles have these round bump things on the bottom… I have to say, it feels WEIRD. It was totally trippy to walk on them, and they made my feet feel wobbly. I will admit that by the end of my work shift, I was starting to get used to it, and I am hoping that after a while I won’t be able to notice it anymore.
BUT… OMWord, did my feet ever hurt by the end of the day. Of course, part of that may be because they are new shoes and are not yet broken in, but still! I couldn’t wait to kick those things off when I got home!
Then today I wore them while I did my 5-mile walk, and OMWORD, my feet are hurting again AND my calves are feeling it too. I’m not too worried about the calves. When you work muscles in a new way, they hurt for a few days. No big deal… But I really, really hope that my feet get used to these weird shoes and stop aching whenever I wear my shoes.
And, for now at least, I will be paying close attention to the bottoms of any new shoes from now on! 
Filed under: No Pain No Gain, On Program
