TN50 #73, Tyler’s Nightmare, 23 May 2022
Hi Team,
Happy Monday and welcome to The Next 50 #73. I have been wanting to write this one for a few months and decided that #73 would be best since Tyler was born 73. Tyler’s my good friend and cousin that I grew up with in Winchester, VA. For years Tyler made it his mission to let me know how ugly my feet are and how they give him bad dreams. I, in turn, made it my mission to send him pix of my feet or toes from time to time, I also reminded him regularly that as a Soldier, my feet paid the bills! My feet are not ugly and I take care of them better than most, we’ll get to my new favorite foot care device once I finish sharing my favorite toe pix that I sent Tyler back in 2013.
Pix 1: Best Ever Tyler’s Nightmare pix that I texted him back in the fall of 2013, this is after dropping something very pointy and very heavy on my big toe.
Pix 2: And here’s the follow up Christmas 2013 pix I texted Tyler, I had never had a nail completely fall off from trauma before, usually the new nail would push the old one off.
I called this pix “Scream” based on the old Edvard Munch painting.
Ok, enough… love ya Tyler!
Pix 3: The other reason I’m talking about my feet is because I’m a runner now! Here’s the amazing why! As I have picked up the miles, I have had to find a solution for this.
As you can see, I have hallux valgus deformity, more commonly called a bunion on my R foot. This is from jamming my Fred Flintstone feet into Army issued boots and other shoes that didn’t have a well-designed toe box for a few decades, I have since found shoes designed for Fred Flintstone and me! As I began picking up the mileage my R foot was not happy while running or after. It basically hurt or was achy most of the time across my forefoot. I remembered reading (audibling) about a similar issue in Mark Cucuzzella, M.D. ‘s book Run For Your Life.
Pix 4: Mark talked about a toe spacer that helped with alignment, so I started snooping around Amazon and …
Problem Solved!
This little silicone spacer provides enough alignment to my big toe to allow for pain free training! Will it work for the 1000 plus miles I’ll be running throughout the Human Performance Project? Let’s just say I’m keeping my toes straight and my fingers crossed (man I crack myself up). There are lots of options at every price point. Search “Toe Spacer” on: Amazon, Google, DuckDuckGo, etcetera. There are even 5 toe versions like these.
My motivation for this entry is threefold.
- To remind all of you that there might be an amazing and cheap solution to whatever is holding you back or making your progress painful and achy. Get curious!
- That you should check out toe spacers if you have a bunion/alignment issue like I have, it might be a game changer for you too.
- To remind my cousin Tyler of these pictures and see if he still has bad dreams
It’s great to find a solution, that only costs a few bucks, to what might seem like a show stopper issue. What’s your show stopper issue? Let me know, it might be one I or someone close has already figured out!
As always, please let me know any thoughts or comments you have on this and share the post with your team or anyone who has a strong stomach and might find it useful.
Have a good one, Alex
Murph Count 2022: 51
PS: Want to know more about the American Extreme – Human Performance Project? Just ask!!!
PS: 2 Recent Podcasts Featuring… Me:
Short: FILLING THE STOREHOUSE https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xODMxY2E4Yy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/ZDExYjU3N2MtYWMwYy00NTA4LTlkN2QtMzNmOTkzMTM5ZjYw?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwid-oDXjtP3AhWkHDQIHZkLCJEQjrkEegQIAhAF&ep=6
Long: BEHIND THE SHIELD
