I had a busy weekend on my feet, pretty much from the moment I awoke each morning. I started walking on the elliptical again last Thursday after little walking, and I was averaging about 12K in steps. That day I did 14,894.

Friday I went on the elliptical in the morning and a short shift that night: 27,528 steps. Saturday I had shifts for both jobs and I was basically hobbling to my front door at the end (no elliptical): 33,473 steps. Then Sunday I had a 7.5 hour shift & no time to exercise: 23,381 steps.

Yeah, I was still a bit sore last night and (fighting drowsiness), I started looking up info on foot massagers. I was thinking about the foot-bath massagers, but then saw the shiatsu massagers and wondered if I should get one.

The trouble with my feet that’s most debilitating is how it’s been traveling up the leg, and the TOP of the foot is so hard to take care of. My acupressure mat takes care of the bottom of my feet easily, but unless I want to use a ton of IcyHot on the tops or stay bent over with the hand massage gun trying to hit all those spots that need relief… it’s tricky. The idea of a massager I could just stick my feet into for 20-30 minutes and just read a book or chill felt like a good idea.

But yikes… the price wasn’t gonna be reachable for me. I am grinding my teeth at any dollar that comes from my bank account. Thanks to the Christmas shopping season, several models are on sale, but I can’t really justify the expense.

At least, not on paper. The trouble is, I like walking-heavy jobs, but my ability to work is going to be hampered if I can’t take care of my oh-so-vital feet. I am getting back on track with exercise today, but I’m not doing too much, and I’m waiting til I’m sure I can handle some without causing pain.

I wondered why it was so bad this time around while scrolling for info on massagers when I remembered something: my posture and tendency to over-extend my stride when I’m in a hurry (which I often am in my jobs) has likely led to this. After all, the pain was worse on days when I didn’t even touch that elliptical machine; it was strictly through work. And since I can’t wear my minimalist shoes at one job, perhaps that’s a part of it.

I’d explored this possibility of my walking stance creating pain before, but somehow it slipped my mind. I found an article ages ago that helped explain foot movements and what common problems occur. I just forgot how my stride length hurts me pretty badly. The tough part is I kept forgetting as I worked and had to forcefully remind myself to take shorter steps to get where I needed to go.

I’m going to have to learn how to practice this again and keep it in mind. I think i just got used to “keeping pace” with those I knew with much longer legs and it became a bad habit. But if I want to be healthy and well enough to work versus in pain and constantly having to stop exercise, I’d better take some precautions.

So, my handy acupressure mats for my feet are helping a bit. I put them next to my bed so as soon as I wake up (and my feet are throbbing from the day before) a short back and forth on those things helps limber them up enough that I’m not hobbling to the bathroom like someone 30 years older might. These aren’t the super-spiky ones you lay on or use as pillows, which are easier to find online. I bought these many years ago and they have interlocking plates. They’re multi-use and have a central raised area of knobs and bumps clearly meant to take care of the inner arch area of the foot. It was definitely something that took a few tries to get used to using, but once I relaxed, I could feel the pressure helping out.

I know a big part of my problem is my terrible posture, and that’s something I need to work on. As I walk around or stand around, I have started to feel more lower back pain developing. I tend to shift around to relieve it and it made me aware I need to learn how to re-discover my posture. It’s hard to figure out when you don’t even know what it’s supposed to feel like or look like, so it’s going to take some work. I’m just glad I thought of this on my day off, so I have an excuse to research and try it out. It’s just gonna be interesting trying to get it right.