Can You With Trail Glove 7 Around Lavaux?
Yesterday I tried an experiment which could have been a silly one. I tried to do the Lavaux hike from Puidoux to Vevey with Trail Glove 7 shoes. They are barefoot minimalist shoes so I could have regretted it. I didn’t but mainly because of the preparation before hand.
The Preparation
I have worn through one pair of Trail Glove 7 shoes before switching to the pair that I am using now. In that time I have walked at least 800 kilometres with one pair and an unknown amount with the second pair. The second pair is starting to show signs of wear. I think the left heel is about to fail.
The key difference between barefoot shoes and normal shoes is that barefoot shoes do not offer much padding for the heel. Every time your heel hits the ground it hits with more force than it would with normal shoes.
With the Vapor Glove seven, trail glove 6 and meindl barefoot shoes I find that the padding is not enough for my normal walks so I wear them very little, especially when walking my usual walking routes.
The Walk
Yesterday my shoes felt fine for almost the entire walk. They felt fine when going downhill and they felt fine when going uphill. They also felt fine in terms of temperature despite the snow. I think this is due to walking fast enough not to feel uncomfortable with the temperature.
It’s near the end of the walk that I could feel that my left heel was starting to hurt. It wasn’t excruciating pain. I was simply aware that my body was getting tired. You would expect this. It’s hundreds of meters of climbing and descending as well as a reasonable walking distance.
It’s 11.3km of walking with 447 meters of climbing and 636 meters of descending over three hours of moving time and three and a half hours overall.
And Finally
The advantage of barefoot shoes, once you get used to walking with them is that they are light and malleable. You have a more direct contact with the ground. I tried them because I started to find cheap shoes uncomfortable, and wanted to try something new.
I knew that this walk would be on tarmac and concrete so I wasn’t worried about deep muddy puddles and more. I still had spare socks in case. I switched to these shoes because I was curious and stuck with them because I find them comfortable.
