Progressing into week 9 of working towards this years Paras’10 in Catterick, training is often combined with ways to be more effective, faster and/or stronger.
So this weeks blog is brought to you by my good old mate pain…without who there is no gain as they say. However, with the right tools one can go further and harder. These tools to me often are, loading my Bergen more efficiently. Lace up boots wisely. Eat & drink right and wear the right socks.
Up till now I was wearing normal Falke trekking socks and thicker socks when hauling a loaded bergen. These worked all right for the feet, still having my pinky toe destroyed with multilayered blisters once I reached the 10-12 km point. Thicker socks lessened this problem but hotspots remained.
Via twitter I came across Skins compression socks, sized trough the largest bit of the calf muscle instead of normal shoe size these socks offer compression on the lower leg as well as provide with little bits and pieces to prevent chafing and enhance shock absorption.
Thursday I took them out for a 4 km run in pants/boots and Bergen (time 00:31:46), I always 
get a bit of pain the first kilometre in the shins. This run was no exception, although it got better a lot quicker.
Even if placebo…I’m a believer in Skins socks
when in doubt...push forward 