Tag: shoes

I achieved a great level of carnage with my newest white shoes

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

Back in June, I mentioned that I got a fresh pair of comfortable white shoes. This is how they look today:

Brooks Revel Max

I gave up trying to maintain the white color after about 10 days. I bought another pair (Adidas Terrex) with the intent of keeping these white, while doing the dirty things with the others, which have plastic and easy to clean top. However, the white shoes simply refused to stay white and the original color didn’t come back after washing. So rather than fighting a lost battle, I switched the pairs and did all the walks, hikes, and football with these, and kept the others for cleaner occasions. This above is the result.

The breathable mesh is significantly damaged. The sole shows signs of ungluing. The insides are still fine.

Overall, I had a good summer with these. I used them well outside of their intended purpose (running on asphalt). They were comfortable, the sole had good grip. My feet didn’t hurt, I didn’t slip, I could kick the ball. Two things I didn’t like:

  • Stepping on a fruit, like a plum or a cherry, which are very abundant in Sofia, would result in the fruit sticking to the bottom. I’ve not experienced this level of stuff gluing to the sole in years.
  • They were white. The ideal color for this model is poop-brown. I tried washing and cleaning with foam with no luck. If we ignore how they look and that I managed to destroy them in less than 3 months, pretty good shoes.

I will probably keep using them as football shoes until my toes drill a hole.

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.

💔