Tired Feet and Breaking in Boots

This past couple of days has certainly been good for getting exercise in the form of country dancing! On Saturday, some friends and I went down to Borderline in Thousand Oaks, where we had a good time eating, drinking, hanging out, learning some new dances, and working up a sweat on the dance floor. I got a good mix of both line dancing and two-stepping in (it helps when you bring your own two-step partner along ;-) )

Me, Taryn, Amy, Tabitha. (Not pictured: Joe, who took the picture, and Mitch)

After I got home, though, I had a hard time sleeping that night, because my legs were sooooo sore and achy! It's a testament to how out of shape I am :-/ All day Sunday my legs were still aching, but they were better today, which was a good thing, considering I had to do a bit of walking around, shopping!

Saturday night at Borderline marked the second or third time I'd worn my new boots for some major dancing in a long period of time. So while they're definitely still in the "breaking in" stage, my feet, though tired at the end of the night, weren't hurting. I'm a big fan of the Ariat line-- good quality and great comfort. Only downside is that the shaft on them tends to be really wide, and since I have thin-to-average calves, they practically swim in them. Still, I love my boots-- from the deep oiled brown color to the pretty design to the scalloped top, and, of course, the comfortable fit!

Ariat Legend in Brown Oiled Rowdy

Today I went to Ventura to do some shopping, and stopped by Boot Barn to pick up another pair of boots: Durangos. The leather on these is much softer than on my Ariats, the foot is extremely comfortable, the shaft fits on my calves much better, and the square toe was narrower. And unlike the rubber sole of my Ariats, this one had a composite sole that was a little smoother, and hence easier to dance in without having to attach felt or some kind of cloth tape to the sole. Plus, it was a nice, neutral, tan color, which goes well with a lot of deeper-colored dresses I have, especially red.

Durango RD3478 in tan

Tonight, I got to break in my new boots with a two-step lesson sponsored by the UCSB country dance club.  The poor boots not only got some good use, but got stepped on a lot. Amazingly, you can't really make out the faint scuff marks that resulted. I guess that's the nice thing about a lighter color-- scuff marks don't show up as easily. As far as comfort goes, the sole of the Durangos don't have as much cushion as the Ariats. Plus, the heel is slightly higher, which gives rise to the usual high-heel-related leg/foot woes. That probably contributed to my having tired feet after less than 2 hours of active use.

Well, we'll see how they hold up on Friday!