Pre-walk and prep.

The warm up walks. A set of walks designed to wake up dormant muscles, build a bit of stamina, and generally do a systems check.
First few under my belt and the Saloman Cosmic 4d GTX's have already caused long term damage to my big toe nails. Not a great start.
I'd bought a size 10 and then upped them to a size 10.5 but the pain persists. I'm now going to have to appeal to Snow+Rocks kinder nature to see if I can change them again for a size 11. No mean feat considering I am WAY passed the 28 days money back/exchange time, and they've been worn outside across fields for 20+ miles.

Brooks GTS 11th Edition

To give my feet a break I've invested in a pair of new runners - Brooks GTS 11th edition. I did have my beady eye on a pair of Nike Pegasus. Alas they don't do wide fitting for my apparently paddle like feet.

So far so good in conclusion. I'm glad the niggles are being found now instead of later.
Other good news - Darren (my brother) has decided, along with his good wife Claire, to walk with and assist me on the first few days. This is great news and I'm very glad of the company.
Other news - my time off has not been completely signed off yet but my awesome team lead and manager have verbally agreed and are helping me sort out the details.
Now I just need a ruck sack and it's contents... And a tent.... And some maps... And hmmm, I best get my finger out!