Shortly before the last NAC, I noticed an odd sensation in my smaller toes on the left foot that felt like a thread had wrapped around the individual toes and pulled too tight each time I took a step. The sensation always vanished after I'd done a few minutes of footwork so I shrugged it off and decided to replace my almost worn out shoes at the NAC.

One pair of Leon Paul Blades later, the pain was WORSE. I put on the Blades and walked around in them and they felt confortable but after a few practices and one competition, I noticed two bumps on the bottom of my foot.

One trip to a foot specialist later, I purchased an ortho insert for about $50 and a pair of five toe shoes (to try to resolve a little problem with pinched nerves in the small toes that I suspect is probably related to having inherited my paternal grandmother's feet).

I've also purchased an Adidas Dartangan III, which somehow I managed to buy a half size too small and I'm buying another pair, used and a half size larger, from another fencer who did the same thing.

While the DIII works well enough for certain types of floor, I really miss being closer to the floor and thus, after some consideration, I purchase ANOTHER pair of shoes from WalMart that are almost, but not quite, what I wanted.

Back to the internet, I found another pair of shoes from one of my preferred fencing vendors that is a bottom-of-the-line and the one I probably should have purchased rather than the Blades and I sent off for that one.

And then....

You see a pattern here?

If this goes on, I will soon be the Imelda Marcos of fencing.

I own ONE pair of dress shoes -- penny loafers -- and 5-6 pairs of running/aerobic/all-purpose shoes and now.... 6 pairs of fencing shoes.

Why is it so darn difficult to find a pair of shoes that fit well, keep me close to the floor, and aren't either so tight that they pinch my toes or so wide that my foot jams into the front each time it lands?

Yesterday, I bought some silly little "pump pouches" that I hope might might the Blades wearable and a set of diabetic socks that have a smooth seam. [Because my toes were bleeding in line with the seam on the sock.]

And while I'm asking questions, does anyone know how to EDIT a post once it's posted? I'm about to hit POST NOW and I just know I'm going to find spelling and grammatical errors once I do so.