January 2009

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.
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Last night I visited the Active Feet store in Heathmont and bought a pair of runners. The sales folks there are great; the girl looking after me was a final year podiatry student and really knew her stuff. After walking on the treadmill and explaining the type of walk I needed we worked through different shoes to see which would give me the best posture and gait. The Brooks Adrenaline ASR’s, a trail running shoe. After walking around the store, she showed me a different way to lace the shoe up to reduce the amount of heel slip. I also bought a special pair of socks that are supposed to reduce the chance of blistering.

Tomorrow is our first team training walk. We’re covering 18lkms on the trail (Checkpoint 1 -> 2 and back again) over some mildly hilly terrain. Weather is due to be mild. I’m looking forward to it. It will be a good initial test of the new shoes.

Well it’s Jan 1, 2009. Time to start planning for the two big personal goals for the year; completing the OXFAM Trailwalk with the teams from Ultimate and passing my Black Belt Grading in June.
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