Feet to gain, ounces to lose

I finally decided to get custom orthotics, and spent my lunch hour at Runner's High getting fitted for them. Adam, store co-owner, asked me questions about my experiences with insoles and running shoes; I made particular mention of my old ankle injury. He walked me through the fitting process, which involved a fitting machine that resembles an upside-down pin-art curio; it takes a contour reading of each foot and digitizes the information onto a computer. In addition, Adam took a look at my running gait to fine-tune the material composition of my new insoles. He explained that the pronation in my left foot starts early in the stance phase of my gait cycle. To correct this, he would have the outside heel of my left insole made softer than the surrounding support. This would delay the onset of pronation during the stance phase by minimizing the upward contact force on the outside of my foot. In turn, this would shorten the window of time my foot would have to turn inward before leaving the ground.

My new orthotics will be ready next week. They cost $150 for the pair, a great price considering prescribed ones can go for over $300. I'm eager to see to what extent they prevent or reduce the severity of future ITBS episodes.

In other news, the scale this morning read a rather interesting 166.6 pounds. Maybe this was because I wear "Beast" running shoes. The "diet break" over the weekend seems to have caused minimal disruption in my weight loss; in fact, it probably gave my metabolism a boost. It's amazing that after three months of will and discipline, I'm a mere 1.6 pounds (25 ounces!) away from my goal! I can hardly wait to start eating again to my full BMR with those extra 839 calories a day.