Category: Random

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

~ Veselin ~ 14 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?
View all responses

Good job to whoever came up with this writing prompt! I have two candidates.

  • Buying my first computer. I knew I wanted one ever since I was 7, so I began saving my pocket cash. The world changed—communism fell, the world moved from 8086 to the 8088XT, 286, 386, 486, and eventually the Pentium. By the time I finished high school, I had saved just enough for about half a computer. With a little help from my family, I finally managed to buy one. I met all kinds of characters along the way, wrote two books that never saw the light of day, and worked part-time jobs. Learned Basic and math. It felt almost like a journey out of The Lord of the Rings, culminating in that moment when I disposed of my savings at the mountain of Doom to get a shiny new K5 computer—only to realize I didn’t know how to use it.
  • Overcoming panic attacks. That one took more than 8 years and involved the Sermon, two therapists, many books, a deep research on the subject of thinking errors, and some bad luck. I could also write a book about it but it would be grossly incompetent. Maybe a blog post one day. Also, with panic attacks, there’s no guarantee they’re gone for good.

I’m now after 10k steps/day average over the course of a year and climbing Vihren in 2025.

Nike Wildhorse 8 for Walking

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

I walked about 3000 kilometers over the last 12 months. Walking is my exercise+meditation combo, and I plan to keep doing it. My goal is 10K steps/day. I also do some mild weekly hikes, that have recently started reaching the 20K step mark.

When I started walking daily, I used regular Sketchers shoes with memory foam. These were very convenient for driving and hanging out in Starbucks but turned out to be unsustainable for longer walks. Switching away was a tough choice. However, my wife, who is chasing a similar walking goal as me, started having the same type of pain I had. So we decided to try new shoes.

What I got was the Nike Wildhorse 8. I didn’t know these are running shoes when I bought them. I guess most people who buy these shoes don’t run and walk instead. So I walked in mine until they started breaking. Here is my experience from walking about 2000 km with them.

Nike Wilhorse 8, the old and the new.

Walking

  • They’re very comfortable in most seasons, except the coldest days of the winter
  • The slightest drops of rain go through and reach your sock, which I find pleasant
  • They keep your feet cold and dry from sweat
  • The sole has no visible signs of wear after no less than 2k km.
  • The pain in my feet fully disappeared in about 3 weeks of use, and started coming back after ~10 months, perhaps due to insole damage
  • The visible damage on the shoes after a 11 months of chasing steps every day is minimal
  • Sufficiently comfortable for driving and shopping, no sacrifices over the Sketchers

Hiking

The shoes are light and the sole bends a lot. This has some pros and cons for my use:

  • On a road like the one on the photo above, I would avoid the stones. The traditional hiking boots have hard soles and you can step wherever you like
  • They’re light and you don’t need to think about them
  • Okay on gravel
  • Slippery on snow, don’t ask why I did snow hiking with them. It’s very easy for the snow to get in and then it hurts

Verdict

I didn’t use these shoes for their intended purpose. Can’t run yet. But they’re great for walking and easy hikes. I’m happy with my purchase and got a new pair.

❤️

Update 03/2025

The second pair of shoes broke after about 3 months of 10k/day use (the other 2-3 since I bought them I wore winter shoes). The first signs of insole damage was visible after less than a month and they started hurting not long after. I don’t know why the first pair lasted much longer. My use didn’t change.

💔