These Boots Were Made For Walking

Columbia Laman Peak OmniTech Hiking Boots

Today I took my new pair of boots (see image) for a walk. I think they enjoyed it. On the other hand, I arrived home tired and exhausted after my 12.6 kms walk.

The good news: I am more than happy with my new footwear. The bad news: I am overweight and unfit and need to engage in more exercise on a regular basis if I am to make the most of my future travels.

This is not the first time I have written about the issue of fitness and travel, and probably won’t be the last. I, like presumably every other traveller, want to get the most out of my travel experiences. To do this I need to reach and maintain a reasonable level of fitness. There is no joy to be had in huffing and puffing up and down monuments, through museum galleries, or down city streets bathed in sweat and pausing for extended rest stops every 30 minutes or so.

Google map of my 12.6 km walking route

The image on the right outlines today’s walking route – which according to Google maps is a total distance of 12.6 kms (7.8 miles). That’s the most I have walking in one day since my stay in New York City last summer.

My new Laman Peak boots are made by Columbia. I settled on these because they fit well, look and feel good, and if they are anywhere near as good as my previous Ocanto Peak boots, again made by Columbia, I will have no cause for complaint.

Unfortunately, when I went looking for another pair of Ocanto Peak’s to replace the pair I have worn almost everyday for the past 18 months, I was told by the salesperson that Columbia had discontinued their manufacture. After a long search over a period of several weeks, I settled on the Laman Peak’s and today took them for a work out. Like I said, the boots did well, but I struggled, not due to the boots, but due to several factors including weight, level of fitness, and my age.

Having good footwear is essential if I am going to get out and exercise more, and continue my ‘training for travel’ regime. There is a lot I want to see of the world yet, and like it or not, walking is probably the best way of working out that suits my current lifestyle.



These Boots Are (Not) Made For Walking

~ Yesterday afternoon I went for a long walk, and in the process discovered just how incredibly unfit I am.

I walked down Military Road to Cambridge Terrace, then down to the Esplanade, before walking back along the beach path and up Semaphore Road to home. I mapped the route on Google Maps today and found the total distance is eight kilometres/5 miles (click image to view route full size).

By the end of my walk I was tired and sweaty, and almost limping. In fact, my calf muscles are still aching today.

It occurred to me last night (in what had to be the understatement of the day), that I am not as young as I used to be. In fact, when I go travelling again next year I will be pretty much exactly two years older than I was last year. Then, I was a mere lad of 59. Next March when I set off, I will be 61, and as far as the government is concerned – a Senior Citizen. Not an old aged pensioner, mind you – just a Senior. I still have some years to go before I officially become an OAP – not that I’m in a hurry to reach that landmark.

However, just as I wanted to improve my overall fitness levels before I travelled in 2008, so too do I want to improve my ability to walk reasonable distances before I again set off next year. Given that I spend far too long sitting in front of a computer, and given too, that the amount of physical activity I undertake each day is quite frankly minimal, I have a lot of work to do before the end of March 2010.

Ok, ok, it’s time to be brutally honest. I currently weigh around 105 kilograms, which translates to around 231 pounds! For a person of my age, that is clearly too much, and whether I travel or not, I have to try and reduce my weight by at least 10 kilograms (22 pounds). It’s a big ask, as they say, and I don’t know if I am going to be able to achieve it, but I have to do something, otherwise I know I will be struggling next year.

The obvious reason I write about this today is because if I am going to enjoy the travel experience as much as possible, I have to be reasonably fit and healthy to do so. Yes, I could take a tour and spend 80 percent of my time sitting on a bus taking in the sites, but if you have read more than one entry on The Compleat Traveller, you will gather that I am not the type of person to engage in that form of travel.

The good news is that down here in the Southern Hemisphere spring is just around the corner, and the long hot days of summer are on the way. This means I can look forward to six months of fine hot weather, and lots of walks along the beach, and even the occasional dip in the ocean. If I have some success in the area of weight reduction and increased fitness – I’ll report back via these pages. Wish me luck.