First training walk – we’re on the way

Yesterday was our first training walk. We walked about 19klms over part of the trail (Checkpoint 1 at Churchill National Park to Checkpoint 2 at Lysterfield Lake and back again). We started at about 8:30 in the morning and finished about lunch time. It started out cool but warmed up. Of our 12 team members and 1 support crew we started with five walkers and our support person Rod. There are some challenging hills in this part of the walk and it was a good chance to asses early fitness.

I was personally testing out my new runners and socks. They worked admirably without any additional aids (padding, blister bandages etc.). I could feel a pressure point under my big toe and right heel (a large lump the result of too many spinning hook kicks) but no sign of blistering. The shoes let you know you’re walking on rocky terrain but not uncomfortably. When going down some steep sections I could feel me feet being pushed forward, but there was enough room in the toebox for my big toe (going up a size in shoe has paid off). All in all a successful first trial of the shoes/socks.

Of greater concern was a bad case of chafing that I’ll have to work on and some joint stiffness that developed in the second half of the walk. I noticed the right knee and hip joint were getting a bit sore. Hopefully this is the body adjusting to the new shoes and using runners on gravel tracks (I’ve never worn runners on bush tracks before, always walking shoes). These next few training walks are going to be a voyage of discovery and experimentation for fixes as new problems pop up.

It was a great start to our training, with great scenery and great weather (not too hot, not too cold). I’m looking forward to the next one.