Running Package: On Your Mark...

A Pedicure for the Weary Runner

Cambridge's Wet Paint Nail Spa might look equal parts Pottery Barn Teen catalog and Jennifer Weiner book cover. But plop down in a comfy pastel armchair and accept a flowered mug of tea, and it's clear that owner Michelle Phoenix is serious about feet. An avowed nonathlete ("I'd literally rather die than run one block"), Phoenix nonetheless sympathized with her quick-footed clients' unique concerns.

After consulting a local podiatrist, she launched the "Fit Feet" pedicure, an hour-and-45-minute treatment that's both diagnostic and indulgent. Phoenix and staff inspect customers' toes for traces of athlete's foot, clip nails to avoid ingrowns, paint heels with a callus-softening solution, and finish with formaldehyde-free nail polish. The workup costs just $66. - BRIGID SWEENEY

141 Huron Ave., Cambridge, 617-868-0620, wetpaintnailspa.com. 

If you don't have two hours—or $66—to spare, click here for quick tips on treating your feet right.

WE WERE BORN TO RUN

So believes Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman, who studies how humans evolved into gifted sprinters 2 million years ago, as our grunting forebears shifted from gathering to hunting. "To be a hunter, you had to be a runner," he says. "People think running a marathon is a superhuman feat. But the fact is, it's part of our evolutionary legacy." G.L.