Artemisia, you need to check out three things. Your problems are NOT
the result of poor quality shoes (yours are top quality) or the SPD
system in itself.
FIND NEW SHOES. I believe your shoes do not fit. They should feel
comfortable, period. You describe obviously ill-fitting shoes. Bad
fitting shoes can press nerves and blood vessels and cause all sorts
of problems consistent with your pain.
LOOSEN YOUR SHOES. You may be tightening them too tight. Even with
well-fitting shoes, if they are too tight, you can compress nerves and
blood vessels causing pain, numbness and long term problems.
ADJUST YOUR CLEATS so that they are directly under the balls of your
feet, more or less (maybe a tiny bit forward, maybe a tiny bit
rearward). The bottoms of your shoes have two slots. In those slots
are little nuts that your cleat bolts screw into. If you loosen your
cleat bolts, you can slide them lengthwise along those slots. Every
SPD shoe has these slots because they need to be adjustable.
Unfortunately, you might have injured your feet already by waiting too
long, and rest of the injured areas might be needed. In the mean
time, after you have done the above corrections, you might have to
treat your feet as if they are injured:
Rest as much as possible. Reduce time pedaling, or take more frequent
breaks.
Ice them down after use to ease pain and reduce injury inflamation.
Use an over the counter medicine such as ibuprophen or naproxen as
directed on the package.
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