I Know What I Know!

My friend, Jeanette, use to teach a Silver Sneakers class, an exercise class specifically designed for the over 50 crowd. She would pass on interesting information on occasion, good stuff for all of us, regardless of age. Most of it I would incorporate into my daily routine, except when she sent an article about how wearing flip-flops are not good for any of us. What!? Those are my favorite shoes, staples really, and actually my only footwear since moving to Florida. There was no way I was giving these up!

I don’t wear those cheap, yet cute flip-flops, big on fashion, but low on arch support. I wear fairly expensive ones, with strong arch support technology, therefore I knew my footwear was exempt from the problems they were talking about here.

This particular article talked about how your toes have to grip the flip-flop in order to keep it on your foot, which in turn messes with your gait. So, I paid attention to how I walked with my flip-flops on, almost walking into a pole with such focus!  I discerned no such toe gripping. That must plague the casual wearer only. I am an expert, having mastered walking in flip-flops with relaxed toes and normal gait. I’ve got this!

Having had knee issues for most of my life, I have altered my gait in order to compensate for the pain. Since having my knees replaced, I noticed that my shorter stride has become a habit. One that surely has not been reinforced by my incessant flip-flop wearing. Nevertheless, perhaps I should try a different sandal to see if I can elongate that stride, and eliminate some bad walking habits that could be causing me other issues. If nothing else, it’s a good excuse to buy a new pair of shoes.

I bought a pair of Tevas that strap on.  A small step up from the more convenient slide on flip-flop, yet still leaving my feet exposed to the Florida sun. Would you believe, the first thing I noticed was that my toes were not gripping my shoe! What?! How could that be? I never noticed my toes gripping before, but I could obviously feel a difference. My feet were relaxed. Is that the right word? Yes, they felt relaxed and because my shoes were strapped on, rather than gripped on, I was able to stretch out my stride. Who knew?!

I’m not here to do a promo for Teva. I have other issues with those strappy sandals, but my point is this…what other things are out there that we know we know, that we really don’t know? When you’re absolutely sure you know, super sleuth it. Do your own experiments and research, so that when you swear you know what you know…you really do know. Am I getting rid of my flip-flops? What, are you crazy?