Hiking

[Catrin]

Had FUN breaking in my new hiking boots Still in a bit of sticker shock - but they weren't any more expensive than my olympic lifting shoes that I use for my competition KB training - the actual competition stuff is on hold but not training in the actual lifts

Seriously, I am glad that I didn't allow the price to cause me to choose another boot. I didn't feel like they actually needed "breaking in", what had to happen was MY becoming accustomed to hiking in boots. I felt far more stable, especially on gravel, and they felt just awesome climbing steep inclines with roots and rock outcroppings. I really felt the latter made them come into their own. I did need to take a brief break or two to rest my knee, but it was fine and didn't even swell. In the end my route that was SUPPOSED to be 3 miles, actually is just under 4 miles. So my longest hike since the injury and in brand new boots. My cranky foot was much better in the boots, which was the entire point. That route has far more gravel and pavement than I like, and I think the tenderness was from that.

Here is a shot from my "Boot Break-in Hike". Sorry for the size, no matter how small I resize it the Forum won't allow me to post it, and I can't figure out how to resize it on the Google Photos page. Pretty much a perfect afternoon, though more sun would have been nice! NEXT time, I think it is time to start hitting my old MTB trails that I love to hike. This wasn't a difficult trail as I didn't want to break the boots in on a trail where I couldn't get back to my car relatively quickly if my knee started complaining.