I'm going to come back to shoes (and socks) and distance. I have walked many miles and I have been repeatedly surprised (I'm a slow learner) to find that a lot of problems with shoes (and socks) don't show up until I've walk 15-20 kilometers a day for several days. Shoes that feel comfortable and broken in for short distances, daily tasks, or just one long walk often fail the long walk everyday test.
I 100% agree with this!! A couple of years ago, I fancied myself a pretty "big walker," because I walked everywhere around town and never drove and rarely took the bus. Actually (don't laugh!), I was only walking about 5-10km at a time, and rarely several days in a row at 10km. I hated running shoes (have ever since I was a kid), so I wore mostly Teva sandals, sometimes random other shoes, sometimes heels (yah i know! 10km seaside trails in 2.5-inch wedge heels! Been there done that.
I really had a mental block against sportswear as everyday wear.
) So when I first starting considering walking the Camino, I thought: Tevas for sure! They are always the best for me. I NEVER have trouble in Tevas!
Then last summer, as part of my prep to increase my mileage to do the Camino this spring, I started walking an average of 10km every day (most daily walks around 10km, but sometimes double that, and some days off). Uh huh... Those other shoes just didn't cut it!! I had ZERO problems doing 5km per day, with the occasional 10km thrown in; but double those numbers, and I had knee pain, hip pain, blisters, muscle cramps, etc etc etc.
I had to break down and get proper running shoes with proper pronation support and the works. I even bought them in the recommended size 9, when I had always worn size 8-8.5 in the past. Guess what? All the problems disappeared within a couple days! Proper shoes were the key.
I maintained my daily mileage in 2015, and since 2016 have increased it to average about 15km per day. Still no issues, until the foam in my shoes starts breaking down... then the problems start cropping up again, but: new pair and I'm good to go.
That's another thing I learned: replace shoes the minute they start to crap out.
I plan to average about 15km per day on the Camino, so I'm happily hitting my goal now.
All this is a longwinded way of saying I AGREE:
distance + frequency can change everything!!!!!
I'll add:
so does proper support and sizing.