As a teacher, I've been standing on a tile floor for 24 years. In the last two years I've begun having rather serious foot problems, and I've been experimenting with a variety of footwear and insoles. The single most important thing for me is that I must have a shoe with a strong arch support. Seriously, my arch support makes more difference to me than all the therapy exercises from my podiatrist. As long as I have that, I come home at the end of the day FINE -- I don't even remember that I have foot problems. Let me wear the same pair of shoes without my $15 insoles, and the pain begins by the end of first period -- and by the end of the school day I want nothing but to sit on the sofa for the rest of the day. No, no, make that I can do nothing but sit on the sofa for the rest of the day, and it seems that once I reach a certain point of no return, I'm "done for the day"; I'm just not going to get better that day. So, yes, that little 3/4 -1" of arch support makes all the difference in my day. It's not about cushioning, and it doesn't even cover the entirety of my foot bed. But I'm talking about work days when I'm standing on tile all day. When I'm home during the summer or on a weekend, I am usually barefoot (or occasionally in socks). On those days, my foot pain ranges from 0 - 1. Practically nothing. On days when I'm home but on my feet all day -- say, a day when I have a couple bushels of apples, and I'm making /canning applesauce -- my pain might reach a 2. After a long day of shopping and walking on tile/concrete floors, I am usually a 1-2 on the pain scale by the end of the day, which I deem acceptable. On the other hand, I can hike outside all day without any pain. Key point: Except for my bathrooms, I have no tile floors in my house. Though I would prefer tile floors in my kitchen, I currently have linoleum ... and in my future house I will have either linoleum or LVT. So, yes, I really do believe that that thin bit of vinyl makes a difference. As for flip-flops, details matter. The single BEST pair of shoes I have -- best in terms of my going through the day pain-free -- are a pair of Sketchers flip-flops. Obviously, this will vary depending from person to person, but that pair of sandals works well for me because the footbed "cradles" my foot, they have wide substantial straps, and they have a great arch support. (I only wish they weren't so very ugly.) You can find several brands of shoes specifically made for people with foot problems (I love my new red leather Jambu slip-ons), and you can find plenty of flip-flops or sandals -- though they're $90-120 a pair, and they're not as cute as the ones at the mall.

Me too!!! I've been increasingly sedentary the past 3 years, after recovering from a broken foot and the subsequent plantar fasciitis (not completely recovered from that) and haven't done much more than a long walk once a week recently; haven't been doing my weight training either which is so important to my posture and recovery from a neck injury and my fitness for my job. I have signed up for the Cap City Half on April 28. Still haven't quite found the motivation to start training, though! Maybe we can encourage each other? When I decided to train for a half to celebrate turning 50, I used the 14 week training program that was on the race's homepage -- designed by coach Jenny Hadfield. When I started I was already doing 4 miles 2-3 times per week. This training program worked beautifully -- at the end of the race I felt that I could go further -- for the cross training I went to the gym (it was mid-winter) and did either just the 20 minute machine circuit, or combined that with a short time on the elliptical, bike or rower. You can find that program here: https://www.jennyhadfield.com/training-plans/half-marathon/ She has plans to train to walk, walk/run, and various levels of running (ie beginner, intermediate, and advanced) - all free. ETA: I am an advocate of running laps on a local school's track when first starting while your body gets using to the impact stress. I had been running for over 30 years and never had joint issues, which I think is because I tended to do at least half if not more of my workouts on a track.

Vintage Bordeaux is an oldie but one I wouldn't be without VP is a very lovely cream/purple eyed daylily. That's all the images I have been able to track down right now . Vanishing Mist is a beauty Thanks for sharing your images Nancy6b and Lilykate. Probably is my favorite out of all these beauties. Shive .........Venetian Pools and Violet Saberwing are my fav's of yours. I just added Violet Saberwing in my gardens this past season ......so nice to see what I can possibly expect to view in my garden this year . Celeste ......I can't get over how different our Vatican City images are . Brad I really like your Vt Fondly Kin and Vintage Wine and wow those oranges are brilliant ! Hoosier_Nan ......Love Venus Flytrap and Vertical Horizon

On my way to a football game where the temp is in the 30s with 10-15mph winds. Wishing I had some warm pants but making due with my 30 y/o silk long underwear that is in dire need of replacement (cant find any that are similar and I love them!). I’m wearing them under jeans. I like that they are super thin so dont make my pants tight or bulky and they do keeo my legs warm. Are CuddleDuds thin? For certain occasions I’d actually prefer a lined pant rather than two layers. Will check out Lands End in case the Athleta pants dont work out. Ded, thanks for posting this topic. I hope you find something that works for you!