Sole Searching

As a runner, I think a lot about taking care of my feet. After all, they are what carry us through the woods and must be protected, pampered and taken care of at all times. I personally use a lot of different products to make sure that my feet will carry me for (hopefully) a long time. I use second skin to pretape known hot spots on my heels. Injinji toe socks prevent blisters on my toes. Ankle braces support, well, my ankles (which are part of the foot area, in this runner's opinion). Post-race I use Biofreeze to treat any bruises and Gold Bond cream to massage my feet. Phew, that's a lot of product!

Before and during the SweetH2O 50k, the top of my foot was hurting pretty bad. It actually forced me to stop some training runs. I was fearing I had every runner's nightmare: a stress fracture.

After SweetH2O, I laid off running for bit to see if that would help. It didn't. It was during this admittedly frustrating time, that I was approached by representatives of the company Sof-Sole, who, I promise you, don't have a sixth sense (or do they?). I have worked in sponsorship and marketing my whole professional career, so I was very skeptical at first. Would I have to blog about the product, if they sent me samples? The answer was a clear "no." They just wanted me to try it. So I thought, "What the heck. Send them!"

The answer to my problems.

They sent me some insoles and at first they were laying around my house as I was trying not to run too much. But eventually I tried them. And, WOW, did they feel amazing. The Sof-Sole Athletes were sooooo comfortable. Not only that, but they also deflected a lot of the impact when I would step on rocks, roots or similar. They're pretty much a trail runner's deam. But the very best thing was that the top of my foot completely stopped hurting since I've started wearing them! No more thoughts about stress fractures.

I've taken them onto all kinds of terrain now and all types of runs (short and long) and I have no idea how I ever ran without them. They simply are amazing! I would highly recommend you try them out (remember, I'm not getting paid for this nor do I have to write an endorsement. I actually feel this way). If you're wondering where you can find the Sof-Soles, check out Sof-Sole's retail locator.

My next post will be about soul searching not sole searching (yes, I can spell!).