Walk a mile in my shoes… well this Is what I have to do, in order to wear in my new hiking boots. But in fact, it’s walking many many miles!
If there has been one thing throughout this whole challenge of climbing a mountain that has been drummed into my brain, it’s “WEAR IN YOUR BOOTS”. Although I’ve know about this challenge for more than a year, it did take me up until 2 months before the climb date to buy them- nothing like leaving it to the last minute. But since getting them, I have tried my darndest to get them on at every possible moment.
Some say it’s a good idea to wear your boots to the shops, to the doctor, around the house, and basically at every chance you have. I opted for walking in them, as I think it’s better to resemble the activity I actually do in them, which is wearing them consistently for a considerable amount of time.
In saying this, I did embarrass my friend immensely the other week by “practicing wearing my gear” and wearing all my hiking get up into the centre of Melbourne to Exlibath St for some adventure store shopping. I then proceeded to wear my boots and get up to the DFO outlet where we did more adventure store shopping. At least I was wearing them in right? And because I was wearing them, I was able to get some new walking socks which felt 10x better in my boots and made them fit a lot better.
My first walk with my boots left me with a head full of dread. The boots were rubbing, they felt extremely loose and my toes were kinda numb. This was just one hour into my walk. Perhaps my 60% of rush puchase at Kathmandu was a bit fo a mistake.
Gotta get back on the horse right! So the next day I was at it again, with some different socks this time and a different way of doing the laces. After a talk with my housemate, who is quite the outdoors expert, we had worked out I was maybe doing the boots up too tight and I need to embrace the looseness and make sure they fit comfortably and I walk well. Still not 100% on them and feeling pretty annoyed at myself for just buying the boots so quickly.
Third day and this time with both inner socks and my new wool fitted socks from the adventure store. A world of difference!! The boots are much more snug, the inner socks protect my feet from rubbing, the wool socks are cushy and supportive and hold my foot in place nicely. I’m getting more comfortable with wearing the boots a bit looser and adjusting my stride accordingly.
I am starting to understand why they say to practice wearing the gear and to wear things in. Good advice everyone. More practice walks and gear testing to come!!
I will be taking on my biggest Adventure yet, Climbing Kilimanjaro for Alzheimer’s Australia NSW! I will Climb Kilimanjaro in honour of my Grandpa who passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2008. I was in Africa when I found out and I said at the time I would one day do this for him, in his memory! We are raising money for Alzheimer’s Australia NSW to raise awareness and the necessary funds for prevention of the disease that affects so many. Dementia is the third leading cause of death in Australia, after heart disease and stroke. We must prevent and find a cure as it’s not a normal part of aging, and does affect 100,000’s of Australians.
Help me reach my $10.000 target by donating to my online fundraising page:
http://my.artezpacific.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=357503&Lang=en-CA
KILI COUNTDOWN – 33 Days to go
Lovelly Travels 