Breaking In

I got new hiking shoes earlier this week and they needed some breaking in. In my dreams I would have done some hard-core hiking but in reality, with a blister forming quickly into the walk, I made it only half way up the mountain.

By the way, note to self: always drink coffee before leaving the house.

Maybe I was off to a rough start from the beginning. I had to get to work by 1pm so I felt like I didn't have too much free time this morning. I made it to the base around 8:15am (great time to go, by the way. No one's out yet so there's plenty of parking.) and it was still a pretty site to see. I know it's the same picture I've shown before--it's the same thing I see everyday--but I still love it.

The blister forming on my foot didn't help energize me. Is it just me or is this site incredibly daunting, and more so than last weekend?

I didn't make it up very high. Thirty minutes uphill was about all I could do and still maintain a blister that would be healed by next weekend. Sure, I could have struggled to the top, but then I would have likely ended up with a blister reminiscent of my dad's Appalachian Trail blister. No thanks. I made it high enough to go, oh pretty, but then I headed back down.

I'm not sure how next weekend will go. I'll probably look for a trail that's relatively level (compared to the intense incline to the summit) to continue breaking in my shoes. They're pretty awesome, so I hope they don't take too long. I have summits to reach.