I wrote a post while on the bus on Monday. I’d even added a picture and clicked “Publish”, then I panicked. Why was it not where I had expected it to be? Well, I think that was me rather than technology. In my panic, I copied the text, and it sat on the clipboard on my phone. I figured I’d come back to it later, but without thinking copied a URL to send to a friend and that was it. The whole post was gone. I tried a few times over the week to rewrite it but I kept getting interrupted or not having the motivation. So let’s try again.
When I was a kid, I’d go shopping for new shoes with my Mum, certainly when I was really little it was the same shoe shop every time. For a few years, I’d go each time to try on new shoes in different styles and colours but I nearly always ended up back at the same shoes just in a new size. They were these black patent leather Mary Jane style shoes (when my mum got a box of baby stuff out when I was expected my eldest, one of theses pairs of shoes were in the box too). I think as I grew up I’d either go for the novelty of having different shoes for school or gong with what was almost cool (or I thought might make me a bit cooler this school year). One year it was Mary Jane style shoes with a heel. Another it was boots. (Not quite DMs as they didn’t fit the budget or the dress code but were something close to it).
Now I’m grown up and for the last 11 years since I finished my ‘proper’ job and took maternity leave to have my eldest child, I have lived in trainers. I had flip flops and knock off crocs for pottering around the garden but my trainers were my go to for just about every thing. Occasionally I’d get some smarter shoes for a special event or occasion but they were nearly always worm for that event then put away and forgotten about.
Since moving to Denmark, I’ve found buying new shoes even harder. I think some if me and some is just the inconsistency of sizes (which I’m sure I’ve had in the UK too – just look at the inconsistency of clothing sizes!). My ‘old’ shoes were getting worse and last Sunday it was the final straw. I’d been trying to drag it out a bit. Two-three weeks ago I’d been to the big sports store in Herlev and kept finding that what I thought was my size was too small so I’d try the next size up and they’d be huge or I’d change style and even that bigger size would be too small or like a boat! I couldn’t keep dragging it out and hoping I could hold on until we visit the UK this summer (either it might be easier to find the shoes or might find something nicer in my budget).
I voiced this irritation to my friend who is a marathon runner. She suggested that I try and get better shoes that did what I needed them to rather than just being colourful or at the bottom of my budget.
So on Monday, I went to the sports shop that I walk/cycle past most day. It’s a sport shop and see all the trainers on the wall, and I know they do gait analyse because we stop and dance in front of their camera (the TV/camera is often left on and if you stand at the right point on the pavement you can see your feet lol). They are also an osteopath so if anyone could help me find the right size then they’d be the ones. I popped in after taking R to børnehave and while they couldn’t see me right away they did have an appointment if I could come back a few hours later. That worked for me.
The guy I spoke to was really helpful. He assessed my feet and asked if I had any problems or injuries to be aware of before we then went into a different room to measure my feet. There was a plate of sorts (think of like a fancy Wii Fit board but like doormat size). It has cameras and sensors to take a scan of your feet. It works out things like the size of your feet, the width of your feet and things like your instep and arch. In my case, one foot is slightly bigger than the other – also how I have a high instep and high arches and wider than average feet (which also explains why shoes were always so hard to find! 2 or 3 pairs ago I had to always wear with specific thinner socks than my normal ones because they were tight (clearly past me didn’t know I had wide feet!)
So, back to the new shoes, they were definitely all my budget gone, but if they did what I needed them to do, then they will be worth every penny! I wear my trainers to work and easily smash my 10k steps on work days by distance covered around the building and then collecting R from børnehave on those days that I don’t mind spending a little more if the shoes fit well and look after my feet.
Add in that I enjoy getting out and exploring the city a bit more by foot there’s then another good reason proper shoes are needed. J and I talked about convincing Grandpa to do part of the Greensand Ridge Walk when we’re back in the UK. (The whole thing is 62km – each stage is about 8-12km so not impossible just needs some commitment lol). Dad (Grandpa) and I did one of the legs/stages when I was maybe 11-13 years old I think. We had often talked about going back and doing the rest but having the time was often the challenge. I’ve been trying to find some longer walks like this that I can do around Copenhagen but I haven’t been able to find them (or at least not with English instructions or covering the area I need – maybe i need to write my own book of walks… can’t be hard right? And would come in handy at my job – could have printouts of each route or something like that).
Anyway, new shoes started my week, I’ve already covered around 80k steps in them and I’ve not even had them a whole week yet! They are one of the few pairs of shoes that I’ve bought and have been able to wear without getting blisters or achy feet after wearing them so must be on a win.
This really doesn’t have anything to do with knitting, I mean maybe it does in the sense that I might need to adjust my sock knitting but at least it helps I’m sure. High insteps, high arches – maybe I need more stitches or something like that. But hopefully proper comfortable shoes will allow me to wear my hand knitted socks without feeling like they are squashing into my feet.
Now I’ve written this and added the picture, I’m going to hit publish and go back to my knitting. I have a scrappy bit of paper with a target of how many rows I need to knit to make sure the current project is finished by a deadline. I think my goal was 30 rows for today and I’m currently on 9 rows since I put in a progress marker instead of winging it….
