Category: Physical Fitness

Replacing Those Beloved Hiking, Running and Walking Shoes

Don’t you just hate it when you have to toss a pair of shoes you adore? You know, the ones you worked to break in, mold to your feet, and put some memorable miles on?

That’s what I’m going through right now. Giving up beloved hiking, road and trail shoes that have seen too many miles, too many trails, and too much asphalt and rocks to provide the support and comfort I need.

 

Out with the old—

It started by my having to say goodbye to the KEEN hiking boots I purchased in the summer of 2013 to hike part of the Kalalau trail on Hawaii’s island of Kauai, listed as one of the top 10 most dangerous hikes in the United States. Even though I wasn’t a big hiker at the time, I put this on my bucket list, for several reasons.

 

 

1) I wanted to get an up-close and personal look at the lush, dramatic Na Pali Coast, which is only accessible on foot or from a boat. I got tired of seeing it from Steven Spielberg’s aerial shots in all of the Jurassic Park movies. I wanted to walk where the T-Rex roamed.

2) I wanted to relive my childhood and take my husband and sons back into a Hawaii valley to get up close to some towering cliffs, experience the thrill of diving into a Hawaii waterfall pool, and swim behind a cascading waterfall. (Even though a lot of people paddle around directly under the falls, you really want to avoid doing that. Rocks from above can dislodge and crash into the water. And all of that gushing water can really pound your head.)

3) I really wanted to see if I had what it takes to make that kind of trek. Although we only went in and back 5 miles, (rather than the full 11 miles in and the 11 miles out), the return trip was grueling.

 

My hiking boots did me well on the Kalalau Trail! Crossed streams four times and got me safely (and comfortably) up and back. (At least the feet were comfortable. My knees ended up being an entirely different story on the grueling hike back out.) The boots have since carried me around the White Mountains of Arizona and the 9,000-foot mountain forty-five minutes north of our home here in Tucson, Arizona.

But I’m five years older, and in the last couple of years I’ve gained weight, which has caused my feet to fatten up and widen (a nasty side-effect of both gaining weight and growing old). Plus I have a left big toe injury that now makes those shoes too tight and miserable. Darn. I really love those shoes! (I love them and the memories I had wearing them so much that I’m going to use them as nostalgia décor in our mountain cabin!)

 

Bring on the New Hiking Shoes—

So, last summer I went hunting for some new hiking boots and bought a new pair of KEEN’s. More flexible, wider toe box and a half-size larger, so my feet can spread out and swell without being bound up in the boot, and screaming at me by day’s end.

And now those are eking to the end of their life too. Hiking the hard trails around here, the Cascades, and the Olympic Peninsula has worn them out. (In the last year I’ve become an enthusiastic hiker.) I need some boots that’ll go the distance for me on my upcoming pilgrimage.

 

Darn! So I went down to REI again and bought yet another new pair of KEEN boots. (I wanted another pair of last year’s model, but REI no longer carried them. The nice sales guy did some research and directed me to KEEN’s website to purchase the old model, if I want.) But I picked up a pair of the new model from him and am about to break those in. (They’re still lounging in the box.)

 

The same thing happened to my hot pink Altra trail shoes. My avid hiker son warned me the special nubby soles would get torn down tramping around on asphalt with them, but they were SO comfortable I couldn’t help myself. They got replaced by a brand new pair of Altra hot pinkies several months ago, and I’ve worn those once. (The old ones are now garden shoes.)

 

And the Altra road shoes I bought last month have already taken a beating. Daily road or treadmill mileage to prepare for the pilgrimage have worn down the toe treads so much I think I might need to replace those earlier than expected. It probably hasn’t helped those shoes that I’ve walked on both blacktop and gravel with them. Different surfaces require different treads.

 

Needing to make a decision—

The pilgrimage has a combination of surfaces, so I need to plan accordingly. But it’s going to be a tough call. I want to take two pairs of shoes—one hiking and one trail—but that means a lot of extra bulk and weight in my backpack that I can’t afford.

 

Breaking them in properly (and saving your feet)—

When breaking new shoes in, tread carefully (pun intended). You shouldn’t just thrust your foot in, lace them up and put in the same kind of daily mileage you did on your broken-in pair. It’s like getting used to contacts. The first day you have them in your eyeballs a couple of hours and then the next day work up one hour more. You continue doing that until you’ve reached your eight hours a day or more limit.

 

Same with shoes.

 

Insole savvy—

And one of the REI sales guys gave me a good tip. When breaking in your new shoes, he said to remove your insoles from your old pair and put them in the new shoes. Evidently it helps your foot accommodate better. I’m going to give it a go with the new Keens and let you know how it works.

 

And by the way, another way to breathe new life into your old shoes is by buying new, cushier insoles to put in them. That could give your shoes some additional mileage and your feet the relief they need until you can swing for (or find) that new pair!

 

Share your story!

Have any good hiking or walking shoes stories? I’d love to hear them! Just drop a comment on the “Leave a comment” page to share them with us.

 

More on the Kalalau Trail—

The Kalalau Trail is currently closed due to flood damage, with reports that it will be closed for at least a year, but you can read more about the famous, breathtaking trail here.

 

Find some great Kalalau Trail maps and trail info here.

 

NEXT WEEK: Keeping your precious feet in shape for going the extra mile on that trail or path!

 

Until then,

Have fun breaking in those shoes!

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Kalalau Trail picture by kalalautrail.com

Hammock Napping for Recovery

In order to pace myself in my recovery from surgery, Free-for-All-Fridays will again be on hiatus this week!

(Although I won’t be indulging in hammock napping like this lucky person. Ours has worn out. All that’s left is the stand. But what a great way to spend a summer day!)

Make it a memorable weekend, whatever you’re doing!

Blessings,

Andrea

Post-surgery Recovery Exercise

I recoiled at the doctor’s post-surgery prescription: no strenuous activity for a couple of weeks.

Just how was I, with the hard-charging brain of a competitive athlete, supposed to follow that? But I knew I had to in order to give myself—and my gums and mouth—the best chance at healing. (You wouldn’t think that area of your body would care too much about how fast your blood was flowing, but it does.)

And I was concerned about how all of this down time would affect our training to walk a pilgrimage at the end of this year. At my age the exponential exercise curve takes a pretty steep, speedy drop after even one or two days without exercise.

So I did a lot of lying around and sleeping the first couple of days, which wasn’t too difficult because of the pain meds I was on. They make you sleepy, and that’s a good thing for healing. And I meandered out to the couch once-in-a-while to watch television (my beloved had himself set up at a standing work table in the living room to work with one eye and watch the World Cup Soccer games with the other. (He a former All-American level player.)

I colored in my coloring book and read a lot. The coloring was so relaxing and appealing to my artsy side that I colored for hours. I read several books—paperback, hardcover, Kindle books and magazines. (I whittled down my magazine pile significantly!) For the most part, exercise meant padding from my bedroom to the living room, kitchen and family room. I wasn’t to bend over or exert myself. (It was pretty nice not having to clean the house or do the dishes for a couple of weeks!)

Then I ventured outside to sit in the sun one morning. (You don’t want to be sitting in the June sun in Tucson past 9:00 or 10:00 AM.) The sun warming up my bones as I rocked back and forth in my patio rocking chair felt glorious. I knew it would help the healing.

When I felt a little stronger and was done with my heavy pain meds (three to four days post-surgery), I padded down the driveway (we have a longish driveway) to the mailbox and back. Then I started joining my husband for a stroll—a very slow stroll because our geriatric black lab requires S-L-O-W)—down to the cul de sac corner and back home. Since there’s a hill on the way back, I needed to pay attention to how much my heart rate elevated. I creeped up the short hill.

Then the cul de sac progressed to down to the corner, and then up another hill and around a different cul de sac with my bundle-of-energy Shetland sheepdog. She didn’t like my S-L-O-W pace, but she tolerated me. I think she knew I was sick because she’d been banished from our bedroom and from napping on our bed with me. I just couldn’t take a chance of her pouncing on my chest and plastering her signature kisses on my face. The sad look in her eyes at the banishment was hard to take.

I added a dip in the pool after my short, s-l-o-w walks and then progressed to doing light “running” and sliding (like side skipping) in the pool, being careful not to raise my heart rate too much.

But, sure enough, as soon as I started feeling a lot better and more energetic, I ramped it all up too much, crashed the day after. (I don’t always take my own advice.) I rested the next day and then struggled back. Then the day I got my stitches removed, I was so happy with the good news the doctor gave me, that I went to the gym and worked out for a couple of hours. That included about 3 miles on the treadmill and some light machine weights. Then I tooled around town to do some errands. I wasn’t in a rush, but it was a hot day, and I was out and about for almost seven hours.

 

And guess what happened? Yup. Crashed again.

 

So I’m easing back into it once more. Everyday has become a “wait and see how I feel and what I can do” kind of day. My husband and I are walking what’s known as The Loop here in Tucson, a beautiful pathway along a seasonal river. We walk just part of it and have increased our round-trip mileage to 5.2 miles. We even tested our new Gore-Tex rain jackets in the monsoon rain.

But I’m not back to doing that kind of mileage everyday, which I need to be doing to train properly for our pilgrimage. And 5.2 miles is far below what we’ll have to walk on a daily basis when we get there, even though we’re planning to take once-a-week Sabbath days.

I can’t worry about that, though. God knows where I need to be, and He’ll direct me. (I just need to pay attention.) And if we have to cut down on our daily mileage while on pilgrimage, then that’s what we need to do. And be joyful in the cutting back! There will be something to learn in long days and short.

Until then, I need to continue to pace myself, and pay attention to how I’m feeling from one day to next. Then decide if I can push myself a little more one day, or lighten the load.

For now I need to continually remind myself that I’m still in recovery, and plan accordingly.

The bonus is that in the process, I’m also learning much about pacing life so I can enjoy it more.

I think that’s a pretty good tradeoff!

 

 Question: How have you had to change your exercise program due to surgery or injury? And how did it go for you?

 

NEXT WEEK: The most important part of anyone’s walking training—your feet!

 

Until then,

pay attention to your pace!

Blessings,

 Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Pre-Surgery Preparation: Prayer and Meditation

I’m having surgery tomorrow morning. Early. Check in time is 6:45 AM, with surgery scheduled for 7:00. I’m not looking forward to it, but who ever really looks forward to having surgery. I’m worried. Okay, more than a little anxious about the pain, since the type of surgery I’m having is rumored to be excruciating.

In an effort to keep my teeth decay-free during this horrid two and a half years of wearing braces, I’ve overzealously brushed and flossed and managed to severely damage the gums around my bottom four front teeth. Because of the gum recession, the bone density of the roots on two of the teeth has already decreased to such a dangerously low point that I am at risk of losing the teeth. Ugh!

 

Surgery preparations—

Of course there is a mile-long list of things I must do and must not do prior to the procedure. Like: stop all anti-inflammatory meds (like Advil, ibuprofen, etc.) four days prior to surgery so my blood clotting capability isn’t affected; and no concentrated caffeine drinks, like Red Bull. (No problem there.) No strenuous exercise 24 hours before surgery (I should have asked him to define “strenuous.”) And stop food and water intake six hours before.

 

 The process—

He’ll be carving out tissue from the roof of my mouth and making new gum out of it to cover up the exposed roots. To enhance healing, he’ll be drawing my blood and mixing the platelets and stem cells with tissue and applying that to the wound. I won’t be able to apply ice packs anywhere near the surgery site (ice is always my pain treatment go-to) because any pressure to the surgical site can undo the delicate tissue. So much for the hoped-for ice.

Recovery time is six weeks, with the first several days off-limits to chewing, sucking liquids through a straw, (the vacuum can undo the sutures and tissue), or tooth brushing in that area. (I don’t think I’m going to attempt to brush any tooth in my mouth those first several days!) Room temperature liquids and swishing with water will be the norm.

Along with a lot of pain.

And that’s what I’m preparing the most for.

 

Meditating for mental (and physical) success—

The last thing I want to do is go into the morning exhausted and mentally overwhelmed. So I needed to spend today (the day before surgery) in mental and spiritual preparation for this three-hour, anesthesia-blessed procedure. I’m laying low, resting, doing some last-minute tidying up around the house so I can recover in a clean, dust-free environment.

And I’m spending a lot of time praying.

I’m asking God to prepare my body and mind for this, and to respond well, and joyfully. After all, my concern led to questioning the condition of my teeth, and two dentists recommending the best oral surgeon in town, a guy who uses the latest and greatest procedures to maximize success. And I managed to get this done before being surprised—like when my two front teeth might have ended up in a crisp apple I had just ripped into.

I’m thanking God for going ahead of me to prepare the procedure room, every last bit of equipment and the doctor and his assistant for the surgery. I’m requesting that God guides the doctor’s hands, and the assistant’s. I’m praying the procedure will go better than expected, and faster, with accelerated healing.

 

I’m also doing a lot of deep breathing exercise because that has the potential to decrease my stress and agitation and improve my immune system. (It’s the breathing in yoga exercises that makes that activity so successful health-wise.) Adding some light stretching will help, since I’ll be stuck in that chair for so long.

 

And I’m playing some of my favorite praise and worship songs, both high energy and low, to remind myself of God’s presence and promises and to increase my sense of awareness and presence—the state of mind and body posture one assumes when facing intimidating or stressful circumstances.

 

Overall goal—

In a nutshell, I’m focusing. And I’ll be leaning into the recovery. Resting as much as I need, or my body dictates. Setting aside other distractions. Maintaining a sense of peace and quiet amidst lots (or as much as possible) of smiles and laughter, even if they have to be internal. Doing a lot of general reading, which is a favorite activity I never have enough time for. I’m really looking forward to that!

And I’ll be spending a lot of time with my dogs, gazing into their eyes. Studies have shown that people holding gazes with their dogs showed increases in different hormones, like oxytocin, which is a feel-good hormone. Letting them give you pooch smooches also helps, but I won’t be able to allow them to do that. Too much risk to the graft.

 

It’s not going to be easy, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to describe it as fun. But if everything goes according to plan, it won’t have to be as scary or painful or disrupting emotionally, physically or spiritually as it could be.

 

Reader request—

I would appreciate your prayers. At this point, I’m planning to be away from the blog for two weeks, so please check back around July 9 for the next Mediation Mondays installment.

 

Until then, thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, and be thinking about how you can lighten your mental and physical load through planned and structured meditation!

 

Blessings,

Andrea

May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).

Photo Copyright Desiring God

Mind and Body Walking

Have you been able to start your walking program, do some re-arranging in your walking schedule to optimize weather and traffic and reduce injury risk?

Have you been able to set up a program and stay with the plan, or does it need some adjusting or a different time allotment?

As for me, I’ve taken my walking program “on the road” as I’ve been trying to attend to my walking program while I’ve been out of town and vacationing.

I’ve been enjoying the weather in the Northwest since last Wednesday, and the walking has been glorious! I’ve strolled in sunshine and rain, padded through a college campus and zoo, and enjoyed late sunset walks around the lake just a block from our vacation house.

 

Total engagement!

All of my senses have been engaged as I’ve encountered Canada geese of all sizes, night-prowling raccoons, nut-hunting squirrels, neighborhood dogs taking their owners for a walk and friendly residents. The vibrant spring flowers and verdant trees are a feast for my eyes. The aroma of fragrant flowers, trees and freshly cut grass lift my spirits.

I wish everyday could be like this. I’m determined to somehow make that dream a reality when I return home. My brain and body will thank me as I see to their health!

We’ll be leaving this gorgeous part of the country next this week, but I’ll be on hiatus for at least two weeks as I undergo extensive oral surgery next week. Although full recovery is six weeks, I hope to be up and writing again within two, so check in again the second week of July. (I may be back earlier.)

Until then, happy walking and exercising in fresh, healthful air!

Blessings,

Andrea