Trainers, Gaiters and Glue (plus some sand!)

After being given the Inov8 315 trail running shoes I intend to use for the race, I wasn’t too heartbroken at having to cut chunks out of them and glue lumps of Velcro onto them. I spot tested Araldite, Bostik and Atwell seam sealant, gluing half inch squares of Velcro onto a bit of open space on the heels of the shoes. The Bostik was a mess and took ages to stick, needing to be held down for nearly 5 minutes. The Araldite set almost immediately and the Atwell was a happy medium. The following day I tried to pull the squares off. The araldite was like rock, but as soon as I tugged on a corner of the Velcro that was not submerged completely; it came off with ease. The other two put up more of a fight and the Bostik took the surface off the leather effect upper and the Atwell stripped the rubber surface, but not the faux leather. I opted to use Bostik for bonding the Velcro to the shoes and use a ridge of Araldite to prevent the Velcro edges from peeling up.

I put the shoes, Velcro, glue and gaiters to the test at Ban-Ban Sands, what would be a beautiful spot, had the locals not used it as a perpetual tip. Chris was kind enough to accompany me and act as photographer to try and get some shots for potential sponsors and, of course, this blog! I completed a series of short hill-reps and a few circuits of a small plain. Chris took some good shots and I was suitably feeling the effects of the sand draining my legs. I felt a bit weak at this point, so thought I’d redeem myself by asking Chris to drive back to the road and following ‘on the hoof’. It was less than a km, but was heavy going and I felt like I was going backwards. The key take away from this is that I will have to manage my expectations on any legs of the race that are over loose sand, also I need to train for long periods to get used to it. Hill-reps on the dunes will not necessarily be representative of what I want to achieve on the race, I fully intend to walk up all steep hills, but it will develop the muscles needed.

On returning to the flat I had a look at the Velcro seals and the Araldine had cracked in the obvious places either side of the fore-foot bend. Cracks are fine, but these will need to be monitored and spare adhesive will need to be included in the emergency pack for the race.