try here for starters...

Simon - some regular basic stretching exercises for your leg muscles may also help. If necessary, consult a chartered physiotherapist with sports injury experience (worked for me)

Hi Simon . I'm also a trainers man myself . As seasoned runner but also hike I've always stuck to Adidas trainers . As previous logs state the modern running shoe soon dries out in the wet . I would put your legs down to ramping up the mileage too quickly .

Thanks for all the replies.
I think I will try the shoes next time as I wear them far more often and I'll also try not to increase too much in one go. Onward and upward,

Simon. The shoes and the boots seem OK from the pictures. Perhaps doing the boots up tightly has put pressure on your achilles tendons, so experiment with the laces looser from the start and see if this better suits you. If the footwear has never given you blisters then you may never get any - and lucky you! It may be the move up from walking 6-8 miles to longer distances and more often is causing the pain. Building up distance gradually and walking regularly should do it for you. The equivalent pain for me at the same stage was my knees, but these initial problems will go away. Tell us how you get on.

Being a runner at heart, I've always been a trainers man - fact I don't even own a pair of boots. I'm also not concerned about wet feet, water goes in and back out again (but quicker out of trainers)!

Your problem could be either, but one thing I find with trainers and running, is that if I ever change the model of sho,e I have to run the new shoes in very slowly (as in low mileage) to avoid injury. My feet have to adapt to the new shape/form of a different trainer, and invariably the tiny difference in running style. Which I may not feel but is obviously there.

Personally I wouldn't keep changing boot models, stick to one model, build mileage up slowly and you will probably "bed in" to the boots.
Matt.

Hi Simon,
As Peter say's, problem as old as hill's, and i too struggle with high neck boots, so i use the "Mid Style", which just cover's the ankle, also with a soft midsole, light, flexible, leather, are very comfortable.
I wear "Thorlo sock's" 2pr, a Liner & Double loop outer, and tighten the boots fully, with outer sock over top of boot.
This works great for me, no blister's,water ingress, unless wade stream or very deep puddle's, even after 25, 50, 100ml, walk's.
At the moment useing "Scarpa Terra GTX" light leather high boots, so don't use top lace hole's, and are very comfortable.
Hope this help's and does'nt confuse,different thought's etc, in the end it's what suit's you!!
Thorlo sock's, and various make's Mid soft sole boot's, all available on web-sites, take your pick!!
Best of luck.

Hi Simon

The question of which footwear is best is as old as the hills... and almost as old as me...

I struggle with high necked boots, especially on tarmac. They cause discomfort in my Tendo Achilles, and they seem to increase intrinsic foot cramps

I think the problem (for me) is worse if I fasten the top lace hole, or even the top two... Somehow I need my ankles to flex more whilst walking.

I also used to run marathons and sometimes greater distances, and if good road shoes are suitable for running a marathon, then the design must be part of the story. You don't see many folks running 26 miles in boots... ;). I understand that boots 'protect' the ankle, but from what I'm not sure. As far as keeping the feet dry, hmm, I'm not to sure about this either. Water goes in over the top and its in there for the duration. At least with low cut shoe styles, you can empty the shoe by flexing the knee. I'd rather keep my socks dry, but some terrain just makes this high on impossible.

The other question concerns your increase in mileage. Did you say you increased from 11 miles to 17 miles... Perhaps your increase should be less than this?

It could be a combination of tightening the laces (to stop movement), which may have restricted your ankle movement, and your increase in mileage.

Fell runners dance about in Walshes or Innov8s, and mostly they manage OK over some quite big distances.

I guess its the Boots versus Running Shoes debate. If you are troubled with higher mileages with boots, why not try the Dartmoors over the longer distances? or perhaps plump for something from here...

I have recently started to try and get to grips with walking further - moving up from walking on holiday for 6-8 miles to seeing if I could walk regularly and a bit further.

I have been gradually building my distances (though I am still not going very far). My best before yesterday was around 11.5 miles - mainly on the road and walking in a pair of GriSport walking shoes - they're pretty rigid and have a Vibram sole and I've been fine with them.

Yesterday I tried to go further and because it's very wet around here and I wanted to start the walk by crossing some fields, I wore my Saloman hiking boots - these are also very rigid, but you can step in anything and my feet stay dry.

But yesterday I hit problems. I tightened my boots after about 10 miles because my feet were moving around and I was worried about blisters. After about 13 miles I was getting shooting pains down the back of my legs and I only managed to finish the walk (about 17.5 miles - mostly on tarmac) by undoing the laces completely and walking with them undone.
Now I'm not sure how much was the distance and how much was my legs.

There seems to be much discussion about boots vs shoes vs trainers..

These are the Salomans I was wearing - http://www.campmor.com/salomon-discovery-gtx-men-39-s-hiking-boot.shtml
and these are the shoes I have and I've used before - http://www.grisport.co.uk/walking-boots/dartmoor-gri-sports.html

As ever - any help appreciated as feeling a little discouraged.

Simon