Recovery Sandals

    Recovery sandals. Weird concept? Or practical piece of gear? I have actually been putting some thought into this, as well as researching the pros and cons. I spend a lot of time on my feet. A  LOT  of time. My job has me standing and walking on concrete for a goodly portion of my 8 hour day, then to get off work and cycle or run, is a bit brutal on my 52 year old legs. I know my job slows my recovery time, and may very well limit my ability to train as hard as I need to. I know that my job very likely contributes to some of my knee and foot aches. Sure, I wear comfortable-ish shoes to work, but at the end of the day my feet and legs are tired and achy. I don't know if there is any way around this, but I do think there are ways to lessen the impact. I have been trying to come up with both comfortable work shoes, and good recovery sandals for post run/cycle/work. My research into recovery sandals has led me back to an icon from my hippie chick youth: Birkenstocks. Funny how things can go full circle. But in my research, along side the usual suspects like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor, the name of that classic hippie sandal kept popping up. There were several extensive articles written by marathoner journalists who did test trials of the classic Arizona sandal, and the reports were glowing, to say the least. Last summer I was eyeballing sandals for work, since my work area is inclined to get rather warm in the heat of summer, but couldn't find any that I felt would have been comfortable for the standing and dashing about that I do. Why I never thought of Birkies I don't know. I was devoted to my first pair, back in the day, and rarely wore anything else. To this end, and for the sake of my feet, knees and legs, I do think that my next investment in gear will have to be a pair of Birkenstocks, because I know that recovery as well as just day to day maintenance and care of my body, is every bit as important as how hard I train. Hippie Chick, here I come.