Stacked Shoes

This morning's walk was 17 kms. 7 kms via the trails over the plain, to the turning point in Nebias, 10 kms back through the woods and past the castle. The return involving a sharp climb to well over 600 metres before the descent to the house at 500 metres.

I have two pairs of Columbia Trailmeister IV shoes on the go at the moment. I mentioned on December 30 2008 that I was keeping a record of the distance covered by one pair. At the time they had done 1,000 kms. Now that same pair have done more than 1,250 kms, which with my small strides means they have covered 1,562,500 steps.

It seems that two pairs would get me through VBW, but I shall be taking 3 pairs with me to cover contingencies.

Unfortunately, these shoes are not available in Europe, but, as mentioned previously, I managed to stock up with a couple of pairs while we were in USA over the period of Obama's election. I also intended to get another pair in New Zealand earlier this year. In fact I did buy a pair. When I was walking away from the shop I noticed that the receipt showed only half the price I had seen on the display. So I went back, thinking they had undercharged me. "Did you not see the sign saying 50% off?" said the man. I had not, but immediately ordered another 3 pairs.

Even though these had to come from the Columbia warehouse, I still got them for half price. Bearing in mind that these shoes are somewhat like a running shoe, with all the built in cushioning, but with a stronger sole and top, and yet they are substantially cheaper than a running shoe (since these became fashion items for kids), to get them at half price is a real bargain. And it means that, as well as the two pairs I have on the go right now, I also have 5 more untouched pairs stacked up. I shall probably get through at least two of those 5 pairs before the walk starts.