Breaking in New Sandals

 

This is an annual ordeal.  Every single year, I have to buy and break in a new pair of shoes – actually, sport sandals – since I wear them out and wear them down in this heat.  My feet are extremely sensitive to abrasion, and always have been.  And I do not wear socks in this climate, so my feet get ripped up when breaking in a new pair.  I always carry a roll of athletic tape in my backpack to patch up wounds on my feet while on the march. 

I always go with sandals from The North Face, a great company, and until this year they had one model that I bought for three straight years, which broke in more easily since the contact points with my feet were identical.  Well, they discontinued this model, and I had to pick a new one.  It is wonderfully cushioned and soft on the footbed, but the ankle and toe straps are different, thus harsh. 

For many years, I had made the mistake of trying to break in new sandals in the Hot Season – not good.  Then I wised up and started breaking them in during the Cool Season.  But, in recent years, our Cool Season has experienced the bane of toxic PM2.5 air pollution, which makes marching hazardous and less regular. 

My sandals wear down from hard use, but also from my sweat in this humidity.  By the time one year of use comes round at the Hot Season, they smell.  And when the Rainy Season hits us in around June, and I stomp through tropical puddles, their wet smell is intolerable and cannot be disguised.  So, I have to semi-retire them annually. 

Slowly, painfully, I’m breaking in the new pair for short jaunts, while still wearing the old for long hard marches.  This is a cycle I’ve come to live with.  But I always carry a roll of tape. 

-Zenwind. 

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