Final preparations for Big Alps Run - Shoes and Socks

In this, the second of my final preparation blog posts, I'll quickly talk about what I'm going to wear on my feet...

Shoes and socks aren't the most interesting thing in the world, but feet will be fairly important on the Big Alps Run! I expect looking after my feet to be one of the biggest challenges, and I've certainly learnt the hard way the consequences of not doing so, particularly on the Pennine Way when this happened:
Bad.
There will be some short road sections, but the vast majority of the run is off road, so I'll be wearing off road shoes. After spending a while running on the treadmill and trying a few pairs of shoes at Accelerate, I've chosen to wear New Balance 101s. These are called a minimalist trail shoe, they are really lightweight and don't have much cushioning to them but I'm told that this suits my feet, and they felt nice when I ran in them. 

New Balance have very generously agreed to give me four pairs of these, which is very nice of them. This means that I'll be able to wear a pair and carry a second pair, and when I meet my brother at halfway I'll switch to another two pairs. I hope 250 miles a pair should mean they stay in pretty good condition.

New Balance and Injinji - thank you very much!
Sock-wise, I will be wearing Injinji toe socks. If you're not familiar, these are socks with individual bits for your toes, like foot-gloves if you like. A few people I know have been running in them for a while but I've only just started using them. The idea is that you don't get blisters as your toes are not rubbing together. Having worn them at the Fellsman on Saturday without any blisters, I'd have to agree!

Injinji socks - the warmer ones
Injinji have supplied me with six pairs of socks, in a mixture of styles. Some are the thinner lightweight ones, and some the thicker Coolmax style. I've also got another few pairs which I'll take with me, and again re-stock at the halfway point.

So that's shoes and socks... Not interesting but important! I'll do a write up on the Fellsman over the next day or two, then the final final preparations blog will be on my navigation and maps, sometime next week. Till then, DONATIONS PLEASE!! www.justgiving.com/bigalpsrun

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