I cannot believe it, but, yes, it has been one whole year since I began this journey. I think you will see that the differences in my feet are quite noticeable. Without further adieu, the pictorial evidence:

Before 2/27/10

One Year 2/27/11

In picture one, you can see that my left foot is noticeably less thick just below the toes than my right foot. Also, the second toe on my left foot is very far away from my big toe, which is due to the inside sesmoid bone having been removed years ago. One year later, the left foot is not only noticeably thicker, the second toe is not nearly so far away from the big toe. Awesome improvement for me 🙂

Here’s the money shot:

Before 2.27.10

One Year 2/27/11

Holy crow! Are those even the same feet, Batman? YES, yes they are the VERY SAME FEET!!! I cannot believe it myself in looking at the pictures. Of note, the left ankle still looks a little unfortunate, but not nearly so everted (I think) as before. The ankle bone looks to be more toward the center, and, overall, the ankle looks stronger and more able to provide support upward.

THE FEET!

One Year 2/27/11

The first picture was from 2/27/10, and just look at the splaying of the toes on the left foot. Now, compare the 2010 splay to the 2011 splay – WOW! It has really been reduced.  I cannot begin to describe how good it feels to know that my feet are not without hope. The thickness of the left ankle has improved s has the definition of the muscles coming off of the foot and up into my shin. I’m not sure of the names of those particular muscles/tendons at present, but that is part of what is helping to realign my foot, I’m sure.

So, I’ve made a lot of improvement, but the journey is not over as I am still unable to commit to a full-time barefoot life due to continued weakness in my posterior tibial tendon. My next steps are (and I have already started the ones with a *):

*1. introduce the VFFs into my daily life for 2-3 hours each day with increased duration in shoes over time

*2. workout in VFFs as my body permits (i.e. I will not workout in VFFs if my tendon is still sore in order to help decrease the chance of inflammation. Sore is okay, but inflammation stalls workouts.)

*3. ease back into running using VFFs and a treadmill (currently walking 2 min, running one min, walking 1-2 min, running one min, walking until reach 10 min)

4. running outside in VFFs on softer surfaces such as grass or gravel using the alternating running/walking method

Here’s to freeing your feet! CHEERS!