I think I’ve told you about how much I stand and walk at work. I sit down for no more than 45 minutes over the course of my 10.5 hour shift. Some nights I stand in one place for most of that; other nights I walk the whole night. In either case, I’m on my feet. Back in November, when I was working as a peer coach, I did walked all night, every night. One Sunday morning, my feet hurt so badly that I literally could not walk. I crawled from one sitting place to another until the naproxen kicked in.

I never knew feet could hurt that badly! The bones in the balls of my feet felt like shards grinding against each other with every movement. It was agony!

The very next shift I worked found me at the nurses’ office asking about shoes. The nurse on duty told me to get either: 1) hiking boots, 2) trail running shoes, or 3) cross-trainers. He said that the higher the model number, the better the support would be for me walking on concrete. He also told me to get at least two pairs and to alternate them. The air bubbles in the soles require about 24 hours of rest to get back to their original shape.

I had been wearing a single pair of regular running shoes. After a 50-hour work week, their soles were pancake flat! No wonder my feet hurt!

I took the nurse’s advice and bought two pairs of New Balance cross-trainers from Joe’s New Balance Outlet online. I got some really terrific shoes at a great price and they were narrow, too! I have a really hard time finding shoes that fit my narrow feet well and was ecstatic to find shoes that fit me on that site.

Six months passed and the shoes finally became so fatigued that they no longer provided the support I needed. Logic would say that since I was so happy with my purchases from Joe’s before, I would go back there again, right? Oh, please! I had to try something new.

I bought three pairs of Saucony shoes at a local store for about the same per pair cost as Joe’s. Walking around the store in the shoes, they were heavenly. They were not so heavenly after walking on concrete for several hours. Only one pair of them is really designed to hold up to that kind of wear. The other two pairs are really made more for running and they just don’t provide support for long hours.

So, I’ve learned my lesson.

Just like with anything else: use the right tools for the job. Running shoes are for running. Their spring provides just the support needed for a nice run; however, for hours of walking on concrete, they fall flat……really flat….painfully flat. Walking on stone calls for a firmer sole, like the one found on cross-trainers, trail runners and hiking boots.

Um, just like the nurse told me.