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To some people, shoes are fashion. To others, shoes are just about the structure and function. It seems that there is very little crossover between the two, unfortunately. You know those squishy, cool, bouncy-looking brand-name shoes that are all the rage right now? Yeah…they are terrible in function and structure. And you know those weird 5-toe webbed shoes and the whole “minimalist” and barefoot rage with flat, giant, weirdly ovular leather shoes? They…look weird to a lot of people.
I’ve been both people but I am happy to say that I’ve switched over to the right side (hint: it’s function!). My last name is pronounced “shoe”, so shoes have always been something fun for me and I’ve always had a lot of cool-ish shoes. I used to change the laces in all my shoes constantly, I had tons of Converse and when I started in my undergrad program we had to wear Nikes, so I got a bunch of cool ones. Around the time that I started wearing these for like 12 hours on my feet for football pre-season, I got plantar fasciitis.
It affected me for a little over a year. It got in the way of my schooling though, because a big part of it was clinical hours where I was on my feet a lot. So I just felt terrible all the time and it affected my confidence. About a year later though, I became obsessed with rehab and I filled my instagram feed with people I wanted to be like — physical therapists, strength coaches, mobility gurus — but they were smart, innovative, knowledgeable, relatable, some positive forces I desperately needed to be around. I started learning…
