The North Face Hedgehog Guide*
I honestly never thought I’d own a pair of walking shoes. I’ve always found my good old Converse to treat me well on long walks (even up to 10 miles) but I do realise that it’s better to wear something on your feet that will treat them well in the long run. My main thing against walking shoes has always been that they don’t look very pretty. I’d much prefer a pair of shoes to go with my skirts and dresses because I hardly ever wear jeans or trousers.
However, I think I did a pretty good job in finding a pair that don’t look too bad. I went for The North Face Hedgehog Guide* in grey and yellow but you can also get them in black and pink. I’ve heard of The North Face over the years and after a bit of research I decided they were a good brand to go with. As this style looks good compared to many of the others out there they can be worn with walking gear or a normal outfit. The main reason for finally getting hold of a pair of walking shoes was because of the 47 mile charity walk.
I did a few practice walks in these shoes and the first thing I noticed was how light they felt in comparison to my other shoes. When I did the real walk I wore a pair of walking socks with the shoes and changed them at every other stop. I think I had about 4 sock changes in total and applied talcum powder to my feet each time. We went across many different terrains along the Norfolk coast and the shoes supported my foot and ankle across all of these. When it got to the final 7 miles of the walk I started to realise that the inside bit of the shoe lace was rubbing the top of my foot. The bit at the front near the beginning of the lace (sorry if that doesn’t make much sense). I managed to make it to the end and survive without any real blisters. My feet were in a lot of pain, obviously, but these shoes did an amazing job at looking after my feet. I honestly thought I’d end up with blisters and bruisers all over them but only had a tiny one where the shoe lace rubbed towards the end. My other worry during the walk was that I’d end up with wet feet, there’s nothing worse than wet socks! Luckily these shoes kept my feet dry and the rubber outsole ensured a good grip across the different trails we went on.
I’m glad to finally own a pair of walking shoes. I now have the option to be extra safe when it snows in winter or even to take up hiking. It’s a bit of a thing now I think, but I’d actually like to try and get into hiking as I really enjoy going for long walks but I’d never do a 47 mile one again!
Do you own any walking shoes? If you’re thinking of getting some then I recommend these North Face ones, especially for first time buyers. They do an all round good job and even kept my feet healthy and safe on that 47 mile walk – you can’t really ask for much more testing than that!
xx