The Courier’s health reporter, Marjory Inglis, is one of those taking part in this year’s Monster Bike and Hike to raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. After making the decision to enter, now it’s down to the nitty-gritty of preparation starting with selecting the correct footwear.
Discussing “hardcore” with a man less than half my age is probably something I’ll never do again. Twenty-four-year-old Andrew Mays has already convinced me, hardcore is not for me.
Lest the reader be in any doubt, we were talking hiking boots.
Hardcore is for people heading for snowy summits, way too over the top for fairweather strollers. After over two hours trying on boots and trying to curl my toes comfortably, the young salesman in a city centre outdoor clothing store impressed upon me the importance of getting the right fit and choosing boots appropriate for purpose. Andrew classes boots for seasonal suitability. A “two seasons” boot doesn’t have hefty cuffs up round the ankles.
“Four seasons boots are hardcore winter mountaineering boots with crampons and everything,” said Andrew.
We’ve decided that for The Monster, a three seasons boot will suffice.
“A three seasons boot essentially feels like a tall trainer when you put it on,” said Andrew. “It’s stiffened in such a way as to give you better traction on slippery slopes. It will take a lot of punishment in poor conditions.”
More likely, I’ll be the one that will be taking a lot of punishment in poor conditions.
I’ve a different idea of why we’ll be calling it a three seasons boot not that it’s suitable for use in three seasons of the year but more likely that I’ll experience three seasons in one day of The Monster.
We can but hope for glorious weather to grace the spectacular scenery we’ll be passing through en route to our goal of raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to support the charity that supports those with cancer and their friends and families but, let’s get real, we’re talking the Highlands in April we could get everything from spring showers and scorching sunshine to snow underfoot. Hopefully my three seasons boot will cope.
Continued…
You might wonder why it took more than two hours to choose a boot. Let me tell you it wasn’t like choosing a car when I go in to the show room and announce “I want a red one.” No, no. Young Andrew, who plans to take part in The Monster with a team of workmates, wouldn’t stand for that. Pretty shoes must not be the measure for selection.
“If you are doing the Bike and Hike your boots will be on your feet for many miles and they have to be comfortable all the way through,” said Andrew. “I don’t believe in blisters. If you are getting blisters, it’s because there’s a problem with the fit of the boot or the type of socks you are wearing.”
Andrew made selling socks sound like science. He once wore a particular pair for nine days consecutively without washing, to test the manufacturers “anti-microbial” claims. His experiment bore out the boast. “After nine days on my feet, they didn’t smell,” he insists.
Once you’ve worn a pair of soft, close-fitting merino wool socks with anti-microbial properties, you don’t want to wear anything else. You probably won’t want to buy a fresh pair for every day of the week though I could have purchased 35 pairs of my usual, cheap chain store, black cotton socks for the price I paid for just one pair of merino marvels!
Andrew’s top tip for Monster wannabes and any other walker seeking comfort is to wear close-fitting socks better too small than too big. Socks that slide down and crumple and wrinkle on your foot will cause blisters.
Top tip during the event is if the socks get sweaty, roll them inside out and hang them off your back pack for a couple of hours while you wear a spare pair. The socks will air out, lose all the moisture and be fresh and sniff free, ready to go back on your tootsies.
Size is everything, and so … back to the boots. I’ve been 5ft 2in and a size 5 shoe since I was 12. I haven’t been measured for shoes since I was the age to be led by the hand across the street and my shoes were round-toed brown leather with a T-bar fastening.Old ageAndrew brought out that once familiar metal footprint with the sliding measure. Like most people one foot was half a size larger than the other. That’s not a problem but the young salesman told me he once had a customer with a whole size and a half difference between feet, who had to buy two pairs of boots to get the right fit for each foot. But I, who have bought size five for decades, was measuring up to a size six. Young Andrew looked a bit uncomfortable, then obviously decided there was no easy way to break the news and he should just spit it out. Old age was catching up with me.
“Basically, the reason why feet get bigger over time is the arch will drop and begin to spread out a little bit,” said Andrew. “Feet were designed to walk on beaches not hard pavements.”
As advised, I wore my boots around the house for a couple of hours every night to break them in and make sure they were the right fit for me before I started training outdoors. The shop where Andrew works has a 60-day returns policy, so that customers can try their footwear and be truly satisfied with the fit or take their boots back.
“My longest boot fit with anyone was seven months,” said Andrew. “The guy kept coming back and we tried everything. At the end of the day he left very happy. I would like to think everyone who deals with me gets a near perfect fit over time.”For more information on the The Monster Bike and Hike challenge visit www.maggiescentres.org. To sponsor Marjory and donate to the charity go to www.justgiving.com/Marjory-Inglis. You can also find the Maggie’s Dundee Centre at www.facebook.com/maggiesdundee.Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user chany14.