Left, Left, Left, Right, Left.

Okay, who am I kidding.  I don't march anywhere.

I do walk though.  I can drive but don't due to a ridiculously short temper.  Also, the majority of places I need to go are either walking distance or train-able from my home.  A car would be a waste of money.

I walk to work most mornings and it takes about 15 or 20 minutes - which is undoubtedly too far to walk in heels.  I have a system in place where there are a few pairs of shoes under my desk and I change into office appropriate shoes when I get to work.  I'm sure it isn't the case for everyone, but I consider these to be office appropriate (Ellie, these are from New Look and you need them..you really do!):

A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from a nice chap called Adam.  He works for a company called Fitness Footwear and they were running a promotion called "Shoes for Reviews".  Basically, they were offering free shoes from a selection on their site in return for a review on my blog.

I accepted their very kind offer and within a few days, these little lovelies turned up:

These are the North Face Hedgehog GTX XCR hiking shoes in Foil Grey and Popsicle pink.  I didn't even know that Posicle Pink was a real colour, but I'm very pleased it is.  These come in a few different colours and there are men's ones too.

The North Face is a well established brand, making all sorts of hiking-skiing-outdoorsy type garb that generally I speaking I've heard of but never had cause to wear because I'm not a hiking-skiing-outdoorsy type gal.  I'm a townie.  I like shops, museums, galleries, the theatre.  Not tents, not mud and especially not snow.

Still, the fact of the matter is, I'd never really considered having proper walking shoes.  Silly if you consider that I walk for at least 40 minutes - 2 hours every day (depending on my lunch plans!).

I almost always walk to work in trainers and the last pair I bought looked quite nice, but were cheap.  I guess they'd be described more as "fashion" trainers than something that was going to take care of my feet.  They offered no proper support and I'm almost convinced that they were what brought the calf-pain issue to a head.  I chose them purely because they were black because black trainers tend not to scream "I'm wearing a suit with trainers, don't I look like I've fallen right out of the movie Working Girl".  It also helps me look less ridiculous if I'm wearing black opaque tights that day because black tights + white trainers = not hot. 

These are a few different shades of grey and seem to look fine with both fleshtoned and black tights so thats a plus. I absolutely love the pink detailing as it does add more of a feminine touch to them.

These are, apparently, "proportioned for the female athlete". A female athlete I'm not, but I am a woman who appreciates comfortable walking shoes.

These have Gore-Tex. For any die-hard Seinfeld fans reading tell me how I could resist anything with Gore-Tex?  I couldn't.  Wasn't going to happen.  I, like George, want to keep saying it.  Not being entirely sure what Gore-Tex was I looked it up and its a waterproof/breathable material. This makes them extremely good for walking to work in the winter.  They're also kind of spikey on the bottom which I think will help when it gets slippery and should help avoiding more of these situations.

I've been testing these for the last week and they are very comfortable.  They haven't exacerbated the pain I had in my legs, which I think must mean that they're offering the right sort of support for my feet/legs for the kind of walking that I'm doing.  I wear these with tights most days and they have needed a bit of stretching/wearing in as they were slightly snug to begin with.  I think if they were something you were going to wear with thicker socks it may be a benefit to go up a size if you know your feet are at the bigger end of your size.

I think Adam represented the company extremely well and was very friendly in all our correspondence.  The shoes arrived within 48 hours of us agreeing everything and so if the customer service is the same for a paying customer (which I'm sure it is!) this is a company that is a pleasure to deal with.

Overall, I'm very pleased with these shoes.  The fact that they were free is a very serious bonus, but I can honestly say that when I come to buy my next pair of shoes for my commute this is exactly the type of thing I'll go for.

If you're in the market for running, walking, hiking shoes etc - definitely check these guys out: http://www.fitnessfootwear.com

Comments

[Daniel Hoffmann-Gill]

HURRAH!

We have the shoes post! I must say, much prefer the ones on the top to the sneakers that follow obviously but a high heels post never goes amiss with me and they are very sexy shoes.

Ellie, buy some now!

x

[Beth]

DHG - Its nice to meet a man who appreciates good shoes, Eva-Jane is a lucky lady!

[ellie]

Fuck. I'm going to have to practice walking all over again.

Hey, Beth. You want to meet me to go to DHG's performance of Poles Apart on 28 November?

[Daniel Hoffmann-Gill]

I think you should Beth, I think you should!

[Roses]

I tend to wear walking boots and walking trainers for exactly those reasons. They are comfy. I would rather be comfortable than trendy.

Having said that, I've just spent a hideous amount of money on shoes and boots recently cause they are fab! And damn they look sexy. I just don't walk very far or very fast in them.

xxx

[Beth]

Ellie & DHG - I'd love to! It'd be fab to meet you both after reading and commenting for a while. Faces to names and all that! Ellie, I'll email you and we'll figure it all out. How exciting!

Roses - Distance and speed is overrated. Its all about the look honey. There is nothing sexier than a pair of heels. Just nothing.