Whips n' Wails n' Dragons' Tails...

THATS what hurricanes are made of!

Have you ever heard an entire building clang like a bell? It's a pretty formidable sound, let me tell you! I had a smidge of trouble going to sleep last night, not the least due to the fact that I had forgotten, since last year's hurricane season, just how much these metal buildings creak and groan in the wind. Then, along about 4 a.m., not all that long after I finall found Mr. Sandman, this ungodly clanging/banging noise starts in. Naturally I have to peek out the door to make sure it isn't my precious Echo being hurled against the fence or something. Luckily, it was nothing that bad. Unluckily, it was the partially-complete metal building a few dozen yards distant buckling and slapping against its girders like a giant gong. Though I tried valiantly to reassure myself that none of those metal pieces was about to peel away and come slicing through our overhead door like a giant machete, my adrenaline centers just weren't buying it, so after another hour of lying in bed, trying to convince myself that I wasn't having a panic attack, I got up and came into the office, just to put some distance between myself and the nerve-wracking noise. At least we never lost power (just like last year), so I was able to continue viewing satellite photos and progress reports all the way through. It was amazing, the speed with which Wilma swept across Florida, and it was very cool to see the interaction of Wilma with the leading edge of our friend the superstrong cold front that has actually managed to make the warehouse sleepable without a fan (I know this for certain; I just got up from a nap to try to catch up on the last two days' wacky & inadequate sleep schedule). The building is still creakier than a grumpy old man (I'm actually surprised that the wind hasn't died down more -- as of an hour ago it was still sustained at 30 MPH w/gusts to 40 at SRQ), but that fact doesn't bother me so much now that I know Wilma is marching off into the distance.

Wow, that was some run-on paragraph. On a completely different note...

Here I am, staring down the barrel of another vacation, and I haven't even had time to THINK about scrapping any photos from the last one (all the more ironic because part of it was a scrapbooking retreat). I think I've been so unproductive because I've not been in any mood to organize my time. I think if I were to set aside specific blocks of time for things like eBay store maintenance, scrapbooking, and the like (I already have specific blocks set aside for making the rounds of the local used bookstores) I'd probably get more done all the way around. Perhaps once I've returned from Georgia I'll be able to try this out and see how it works. I still don't know if Jeff is going with me, but then I haven't started packing yet either. I suppose once he has to help me fit a new pack to my back & sees me cramming it with stuff, he'll be more inclined to make his call.

Ah well, that's all the news that's fit to print this week. Aren't you glad I had something to write about besides my feet (which, by the way, I've slowly been learning to appease, and so am having much less pain from these days)?

Foot pain update

Although it's probably a boring subject for most folks to read about, I did want to give an update here about how my feet are doing. I received a phone call from Ron in response to my last post (Jeff's Dad who, I could've sworn Jeff said was an exercise physiologist, but apparently I was mistaken...he's not awake right now or I would pester him to find out. Neither here nor there, however, since he was just as helpful as I could have hoped...), and he pointed me back to the web to look up information on plantar fasciitis, also commonly known as heel spurs. Firstly, I never would have thought this my problem; even when reading through much of the information, I didn't see what my problem could have to do with heel spurs; my pain was primarily in the arch area. Then I saw this line: "The classic sign of plantar fasciitis (which is often called a "heel spur" because it's easier to pronounce) is heel pain with the first few steps in the morning." WHOOPS! I've been having that pain for months now (nearly as long as I've been working out), but haven't thought anything of it, since a. it goes away after my first few dozen steps in the morning and b. didn't seem to have anything to do with this latest development of arch pain. Sure enough, though, when I take the time to stretch my calf muscles before hopping out of bed, I have almost no pain at all on my first few steps.

So...I tried taping my foot to gain some relief (and hopefully be able to wear shoes with arch support in them again), but that changed my gait so much that it caused other aches and pains that I'm pretty sure shouldn't be there. I suppose there's a good chance that since I'm only following diagrams and instructions that I'm taping incorrectly, but it has made me consider other solutions. My Mom had complained of heel spurs a few years back, and at the recommendation of a mutual friend, tried out some commercially available heel cups that seem to have worked for her. Part of me wants to try these, as our feet do have a similar shape, but the fact that we can't both wear the same brands of shoes (i.e. our feet are not similar enough that shoes made on the same last are comfortable for both of us) makes me wonder if I'll be wasting my money. At this point, though, I suppose it'll be something of a matter of trial-and-error to find what works for me. So I'll probably be stopping at the store to nab some heel cups today. Even though they won't get me back into my beloved Birkis, at least they might give me a modicum of comfort while working out. It would also be nice to be able to comfortably wear some supportive athletic shoes this weekend while helping Mom move. I don't suppose I'll be making it to the gym this weekend, but I don't doubt that I'll do more work running up and down stairs than I ever would at the gym, so, I guess I'll go for muscle work this weekend over cardio. Goodness knows I'm not getting much strength training in anywhere else.

I suppose I've rambled enough for now about this oh-so-gripping topic. I'll try to pick a more engaging one (at least, to more people beyond just me) for my next entry :)

Warning! Falling Arches Ahead!

Today I have come here to whine a bit, but also to ask for help. You see, I have always had extremely high arches. I've also always been very proud of this fact. Why proud? Well, as you probably know, pride isn't always well-placed. And given that my high arches are probably just due to a chance combinations of lucky genes (my father had fallen arches all his life, so I must've gotten them from Mom) and the fact that my mother let me run around barefoot a lot as a kid, I really have nothing to be "proud" of; it's not like I worked for them or anything.

But all my misplaced pride aside, I've always been glad I had high arches, as I saw what pain my father's flat feet had caused him all his life. Lately, though, I've been having mysterious foot pain, and even some leg pain too. For a couple of weeks now, I've just chalked it up to the fact that I've been pushing myself harder and harder on the treadmill when I work out. But that doesn't explain why I've had even more pain on the days that I don't work out. This afternoon, as I was lying about sweating at the end of my afternoon nap, I had a brainwave. "Your arches are falling, dummy!"

What? No! This can't be! So I dragged out a pair of Birkenstocks that I haven't worn for several months, but that have plenty of wear on them. There was my teltale pattern of lots of wear front, rear, and outside, but the entire arch looks almost untouched. Then I put them next to the Birkis I've been wearing for the last 6 months or so...the entire footbed is black from wear. Crap! On a stick, even! This can't be happening to me. Now, don't get me wrong; I haven't lost my arches completely (next thing I did was the footprint test, and I still have quite a bit of arch left) but those of you who know Birkenstocks know that you have to have a very high arch to wear them comfortably and, well, mine are now causing me pain. Wah! It's more my left foot than my right, but it's still very distressing to me that this is happening at all. Bitch. Moan. Whine.

So I went to the internet, my trusty companion, and found some foot exercises I can do to try to re-strengthen my feet's muscles and try to regain some of my arch. My other thought, though, is, should I lay off the treadmill until I lose more weight? Could this be what's depleting my arch-ness? Any exercise physiologists out there (*ahem* Ron *cough*) who would like to chime in on this?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta go mourn my arches...*snif*