5 miles on my new boots

The boys and I were planning on taking a 6 mile hike today at the Fort Worth Nature Preserve. We had a nice hike planned out. However, we really didn't have the time for it today. There were a number of chores around the house that needed doing, and Alex had a bit of homework remaining. We decided that in the future we would do better planning to make sure we could take our hikes.

So, after the chores I decided I wanted to take a walk/hike just in the area to see how my new boots work. I could not get either of my two boys to walk with me. Oliver wanted to stay home to finish reading "The Outsiders", he was at a good part in the story. Reading for pleasure is something new for him, so I didn't mind. Alex would have gone with me, but he had to help Ingemar fix the leaf sucker. So, I set out on my own.

During this walk I decided to try out a gps tracking app on my iPhone. I had read that these sort of apps ran down the battery, or were not accurate. As a comparison, I also used my SonyEricsson phone that has GPS and a built in tracking system.

I set out in the neighborhood and had a nice walk along the creek. Most of the time I was walking on a sidewalk, but this is still ok for the boot break in process. I was a bit concerned with my boots, because the right side of my foot started aching after the first mile. I stopped to retie, and even removed my orthopedic device. After a bit more walking, I found that if I slightly rotated my foot toward the arch side, that the pain went away. The only consequence is that I had a slight rubbing on my big toe. I do think with an insert and some more breaking in I will be set.

I was comparing the iPhone and the SonyEricsson during the walk, and found as time went on, the difference in the distances the two measures became larger. The iPhone had me at 5 miles after 1:18 minutes. I know this is not true, since it takes me at least 20 minutes to walk a mile. The SonyEricsson was much more accurate. Unfortunately, I only had 1/4 battery when I started, and so after 4.8 miles it turned off. That is too bad, because it made a nice path to show where I walked, and I think I would have had an opportunity to save it. Oh well, next time I will take only the SonyEricsson, and I will have it fully charged.

I figure I walked at least the 5 miles that I wanted.