Second helpings

After two and a half days of shuffling around inside in stockinged feet to protect my blistered heels, it was with a mixture of trepidation and anticipation that I gingerly stepped into my New Balance 748s and headed down to the supermarket this afternoon. In the end, any fears I had of collapsing in a sprawling heap outside the gate proved unfounded, and I made it there and back safely with only a slight feeling of discomfort in my right foot. In fact I felt so good that I turned around and competed the same journey again, making a total of 6km for the day, and leaving me just 600m short of the magical 600km mark.

Despite the unfortunate outcome, I really enjoyed Saturday's walk (apart from the last couple of kilometers, that is), and intend to repeat it this weekend in my New Balance 748s. Any of those scones left, Stephanie?

Distance walked today: 6km
Total distance walked since blog began: 599.4km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 42

Problem-solving

Well, on Thursday I confirmed the last of the outstanding accommodation bookings. Actually I cheated and got Keiko to phone the last three places, all traditional Japanese inns uncontactable by email or through any of the accommodation booking websites I'd used to book the other places. But anyway, that's out of the way now, so I can concentrate on other things, like shoes.

Right now I have two huge blisters on my feet, one on the back of each heel (right down the bottom). I felt fine during yesterday's walk until I reached my sister's house at around the 20km mark, and in fact I'd starting composing in my head a post about how pleased I was with the performance of my new Rockport Summit's Edge shoes on the Port Hills, where the terrain varied from tar seal, to rock, to mud (with the odd bit of ice), to dust. But as soon as I set out on the final leg of my journey my feet felt uncomfortable, and walking the last couple of kilometers home was actually quite painful.

I realized pretty soon after I bought them that the Rockports weren't the right size. I tried to convince myself that I'd fixed this problem by inserting the insoles from my old New Balance 748s, and that they'd feel better after a bit of use. If not, I'd try something else, I thought, like wearing two pairs of socks. But now I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that they're just not going to work. With just over a month to go before we hit Japan, I don't want to look around for another pair of shoes and risk going through the same process again, so what I think I'll end up doing is buying another pair of 748s and coating them with something to make them as waterproof as possible (the lack of waterproofing being the only drawback I experienced with my old 748s). At least I know they won't give me too many blisters, and that they'll last 530 km (just!).

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 593.4km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 44

Thanks for the scones, Stephanie

Great weather. Wonderful views. Tired, sweaty, blistered.

Distance walked today: 25.4km
Distance walked yesterday: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 593.4km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 45

Laces locked

I'm still not entirely happy with my new Rockport Summit's Edge walking shoes. I solved the blister problem (I think) by putting the insoles from my old New Balance 748s inside the Rockports, but when I walked to the supermarket on Tuesday and again today I still felt they were a bit lose around the ankle. When I got down to the supermarket today I tried "lock-lacing" them (a method I've used to good effect in the past on my running shoes), and they felt a lot better on the way home. I'll know for sure whether I've fixed the problem or not on the weekend when I plan to wear them on a long walk with my backpack on.

Distance walked today: 3km
Distance walked the day before yesterday: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 565km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 47

A thought

Old New Balance insoles + new Rockport shoes = no more blisters (hopefully)

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 559km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 50

Fathers' Day stroll

Yesterday's walk left me with a couple of blisters on the balls of my feet, so this morning I slapped on some Scholl Blister Clear Gel Plasters before heading off to my sister's for a Fathers' Day lunch. Also, I left my new Rockports at home and instead wore my trusty old New Balance 748s. In the end, the blisters didn't bother me at all. Hopefully if I continue swapping between the New Balances and Rockports my feet will get used to the latter and blisters won't be a problem in the future.

The days are definitely getting warmer. I'm going to have to be more and more careful about keeping the sun off my face and neck. The mornings are still a bit chilly though, so I'm getting used to stopping after half an hour or so and removing a layer of clothing, which is a bit of a pain when you've got a backpack on.

Distance walked today: 12.4km
Total distance walked since blog began: 556km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 51

Summit's edge

Another weekend, another walk up to the Sign of the Kiwi. This time Keiko took the car half way up and we walked the most pleasant stretch (from the Sign of the Takahe to the top) together. She took this photo of me on the way down.

I should have done more, but I had on my new Rockport Summit's Edge shoes and so didn't want to overdo it. They felt good. Plus they're waterproof.

Well, I've cracked 530km, which is about the distance we'll be covering in Japan. Except we'll be doing it in 23 days rather than four and a half months. Kind of puts things in perspective.

Distance walked today: 16.2km
Distance walked yesterday: 7.2km
Distance walked Wednesday: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 543.6km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 52