Birkenstock Curacao By Birki

Did I swear that I will never buy Birkenstock? Yes, I did. Back in February when I was tortured by plantar fasciitis, I wrote: "If I were given two options, walking happily in a pair of bulky Birkenstock or sitting in a wheelchair in a pair of Blahnik, I would jump to the second without blinking my eyes. In fact, I don't believe I would ever walk "happily" in that chunk of ultra ugliness. " Hmmm, we were told "never say never", and there is a, if not quite a few, reason(s) for that.

First of all, those Birkenstock babies are white hot this summer. You basically cannot shun from them if you follow fashion bloggers and Instagramers. But, that's not the reason that I got mine. I simply didn't see Birkenstock fit into my fashion style.

It is my Central Europe trip that changed my mind. I brought two pairs of sneakers on the trip, Converse and New balance. No heels. I'm a minimalist when it comes to packing and travelling. Dragging along 8 pairs of shoes or 10 handbags would drive me nuts. Two pairs of sneakers and two Longchamp nylon bags (in medium and large, respectively) were more than enough. One would imagine that sneakers are good enough for extensive walking, right? No, not for those with foot injury. I had long thought that I was over plantar fasciitis since it had not bother me for quite a while, not even after my half marathon race. The bloody truth is: it is still there, like a monster lurking in the darkness and waiting for its time. In the last a couple of days of my two-week trip, my injured left foot started to hurt, and the condition only got worse with time, given that I didn't bring any treatment with me. The condition worsened after I ran a 5k race in mid June.

So now I need a pair of supporting footwear to deal with this damned PF again.

Birkenstock is made for this purpose. The famous cork footbed contours to your foot and supports the arch exactly where it is needed. After biting my fingers for two weeks, I finally decided to get a relatively sleek style -- Curacao by Birki. Unlike the more classic Arizona, Curacao features elastic stripes with no buckles, very much in line with my minimalist taste. Honestly, when I received the shoes from Zappos, they didn't look that enticing in the box. But as I put them on, my feet fell in love immediately. Plus, Curacao looks way better than those boots I got in winter. I can make it work in my casual lookbook. Most importantly, my left foot needs it. If you are suffering from PF, maybe your foot needs it too. And, it's unisex. :)

Here is how they look on me. Click for large pictures.

你是我的小呀小苹果。。。

Tee: Zara
Denim skirt: Abercrombie & Fitch (also seen in this post)
Sunglasses: Karen Walker Super Duper Strength in black
Sandals: Birkenstock Curacao by Birki in black stretch cork (also available in rainbow stripes)

More on Plantar Fasciitis

Due to positive feedback, it may be a good idea for me to cover a little more on this topic.

First of all, PF may happen to anyone, not just runners. Anyone who's overstretched or overused his/her foot is subject to this foot injury. It happens a lot among the overweight population due to extra burden on the foot arch. Also, PF occurs a lot to people who have to stand or walk a lot on daily basis, such as nurses, cashiers and sales associates. And in my case, I'm not really a runner. It so happened that I stepped on a loose tile and overstretched my arch on my first run on the road in years! A split-second unlucky incident, and I had to use months to get out of it. Life is unpredictable. :)

At the bottom of the foot, we have this fibrous tissue called plantar fascia. When the muscles that support the arch are overstretched or overused, the arch tends to collapse and the gravity draws it downward, which in turn stretches plantar fascia. Unlike tendon, fascia has no elasticity, hence it gets torn and damaged. In short, PF is the structure damage of the overstretched fascia.

Typical early symptoms include discomfort in the foot, especially pain at the bottom of the foot, after standing, walking or running. Most people have the pain in the middle of the foot or towards the heel. But in my case, the pain was the worst on the ball, as the ball of my foot sank into the gap as the incident happened. The pain may go away after rest. But if the arch is overused constantly, the pain grows more severe and may not go away easily. As running is an intense exercise that involves many parts of your foot and leg, a tight ankle, a sore calf, a couple of numb toes, or even a minor cramp in the foot may indicate weak foot muscle or lack of ankle mobility, which may also increase the possibility of developing PF due to overcompensation of your foot muscles. Don't ignore these signals.

When I looked back, I realized that I had weak foot muscles in all these years. I do not stand in lines unless I have to, as my foot may hurt if I stand too long. That's why I've never been to a Hermes sample sale. I had this early symptom since elementary school, but I never took it seriously. As I grew up and adopted a more active life style, this condition gradually went away. -- Maybe I should try a Hermes sample sale? --But, as most people, I always work out my big muscle groups and have totally forgotten those little ones that hold the foot arch in shape.

To prevent PF, you'd better strengthen your foot muscles and improve ankle mobility. Now that I've tasted the bitterness of PF, I always do the following stretches after each workout, being it running, cycling, or weight lifting. They are also helpful in PF recovery. (Photo credit: here.) 

Footwear is also important. I always like soft ballet flats and I've been working out in 4mm drop minimalist sneakers for over a year. Apparently they are not good for PF recovery. I need solid arch support from hard shoes and traditional sneakers. These days I run in my good old Asics Gel Cumulus. So glad that I didn't trash it last year. This video explains what kind of shoes you should wear. As I mentioned before, Superfeet insoles also offer nice arch support. 

Finally, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of rest I rested two weeks after the injury and the symptoms were gone. So I hit the road again, but after two miles, my foot hurt so much that I could barely walk. I took a cab home -- always bring $20 with you when you are on the road; you never know when and how you will need it. I didn't step on a treadmill until another four weeks later. Even now, I do not run every day. I only had one long run over the weekend. During the week, I only had cross training such as cycling, swimming and weight lifting. I plan to rest my foot for months in the second half of the year. Absolutely no speed work until after my long rest. My advice is: Rest. When you resume training, start with relatively short distance on treadmills. Run slowly. Don't run long distance or hit the road until your foot is used to the workload. Rest and stretch between long runs.  

Hope this helps. Happy running!

Plantar Fasciitis Product Review

My left foot is improving remarkably. I ran 12.5 miles last Saturday on the road without being bothered by plantar fasciitis (PF). Besides traditional R.I.C.E (rest, ice, compression, elevation), I've tried quite a few treatments, including some products easily available to general public. So here is my review of these products.

Before I move into the product review. I have to say icing is especially important. After each and every run, I sandwiched my foot with two ice packs, one on top and one on bottom, fastened with a rubber band. I could feel a pulsing burning sensation in the nerve running all the way up to my hip, which diminished gradually as the icing progressed. If you have PF, icing your injured foot immediately after injury and along recovery is the most cost-efficient and effective treatment.

With proper icing, you may also consider using these products to expedite your recovery. Click on the links below to see where I bought mine.

Massage ball. PF is caused by structural breakdown of plantar fascia, the thick fibrous band that supports the arch of the foot, due to overstretch or over training. Massaging helps a lot in recovery. I started massaging my foot with a golf ball whenever possible. That soreness vanished in a couple of days and I upgraded to a more professional foot massage ball. My foot felt a huge relief after each use. Strongly recommended.

Night splint. Night splint is another good treatment to your injured foot. It helps to keep your arch in the right position in bed. I experimented sleeping with and without my night splint. As you may know, PF is most severe in the morning. If I slept without it I would wake up with a stiff ankle and a sting in the heel. Wearing a night splint significantly reduced the morning symptom. Strongly recommended.

Superfeet insoles. I learned about this from a youtube video on PF. It turned out to be very helpful. I put it into my everyday boots, and walking immediately became pain free. It is sold both on Amazon and Zappos, but I got mine from a Paragon local store. The reason is Superfeet has different insoles that give you different level of support. You have to try them in your own shoes to see which one works for your foot. Recommended.

Compression sock. This is the most expensive gear I got for my PF problem. I won't say it's useless. In fact I may use it in my race to help my arch stay in shape. That said, it's not very comfortable if you wear it for a long time, say overnight. It is so tight that it cut blood circulation. I won't endorse it without any reservation.

Sport tape. Sport tape may be the first aid you will get if you see a podiatrist for PF. You can easily get a tape from a drug store and tape it yourself by following instructions on youtube. It worked as a compression sock in the first a couple of weeks, holding your foot arch in shape without cutting circulation. As your foot condition improves, you may want to rip off the tape and train your foot gradually to get used to walking and running again. Still, I find it useful in the early stage of recovery. So I recommend it.

Foot rocker. This toy helps to relieve PF by increasing ankle mobility. Not as direct a cure to PF, but definitely works in the long run. Recommended.

BTW here is the best video I've seen in this topic. Check it out if you want to learn more!

NYC Half Marathon next Sunday! Run, Forrest, Run!

Photo credit: http://www.regency-clinic.co.uk/