[phr]

I spent this spring and summer walking about an hour a day, first in Vibram Five-fingers. I have a funny twist in my step on the left side which wore holes in a couple toes in the first 30 miles, so I switched to cheap Wal-Mart sneakers (it's hard to find ones with no arch-support), and eventually flip-flops. Once I got used to the flip-flops, I started taking them off on a smooth asphalt road that climbs a gentle hill near my house. I keep an eye out for obvious dirty spots, and figure several hours of Eastern Washington summer sun probably kills most of the really nasty stuff. Once my feet toughened up a bit, I added another stretch of asphalt that's quite a bit rougher.

My feet feel better than they have in years, and I now seem to have arches! Both feet were pretty flat, but I now have a nice arch on the right side, and some on the left.