Regalia: Heel insoles

I’m not going to lie, I kind of have a WebMD addiction. The tiniest pain or ailment, and I’m looking it up on the symptom checker and self-diagnosing. I’m assuming my doctor’s hate this. So it was no surprise a few weeks ago when I diagnosed myself with an Achilles heel strain, and came up with a recovery regiment consisting of ice and massage, that I had hit the nail a bit too far from the head.

A few days ago I finally gave into the reoccurring pain, and took myself back to that little chunk of heaven, Road Runner’s Sports. Ah, the smell of rubber soles and moisture wicking sports bras.

After less than five minutes of analysis, I was told that no, I have not strained, hurt or ruptured my Achilles tendon.  I’m just running incorrectly and it’s hurting my lower Soleus muscle (pretty much my calf muscle). Luckily, I was speaking to a storeowner and he had no interest in making commission. He instructed me to take the original insoles that came with my shoes (I bought specialized ones to wear instead) and cut the heels off. Then place the cut up heels under my new insoles in my running shoes. If that doesn’t work, come back. I walked away with a sly smile attempting to imply “you sure do seem cocky about this little magic trick, but you’ll see, I’ll be back.”

Well folks, it worked. The pain is gone. Better yet, since I’m running on my toes more, my calves actually look better! I swear, they’re growing, and I'm a sucker for a big calve muscle. So the Running Regalia feature today is heel insoles. You can buy them, or just cut them out of some old insoles. If you decide to go the cheap route, make sure to use insoles that didn’t get much running action, otherwise they’ll be too worn down. If that doesn’t work, come back and talk to me.