We did it. Oh man, what a run 20 miles in the ice and snow Alright, so remember a couple days ago. I said this about the a6 glide ride really enjoying the shoe It is firm though And I think it's gonna open up a little bit when I as I put more mom I'm guessing after like 50 miles the midsole should start to just be a little more nimble And frankly that before I run in this which I don't know when I'll run in it next But I'm just gonna work the midsole a little bit usually just like with my hands Just kind of break it down a little bit because the midsole is a little it's intense But it feels it's a heavy shoe, but it's feeling poppy and I poppy snappy So the shoes were just feeling a little stiff a little rigid So therefore what I did last night I put the shoes on the heater all night long right down there Actually here in the kitchen and just to again warm that that warm the midsole up a little bit So it's a little more nimble sure enough the shoes did really really well Today in the ice and snow and in addition I put spenco So you guys know how much I love spenco just a little extra added cushion and I don't know I enjoyed the 20 miles today in the ace's glide ride much more so than two days ago So so far so good But I think I'm gonna in this Houston marathon training block which I'm gonna get you the details about here in a little bit And just like that. It's nine hours later hope from the last clip I filmed so the days march on quickly Sometimes you know how it is out there. All right, let's move move these innovate mud claws over to the rack Put up the ace's glide rides I think I already mentioned today two hour plus run and then some that is for sure solid day out on the ice and snow I did not fall so that's a good thing and It was close a couple times and I was trying to find this gentleman's name. So today's topic about marathon volume I'm gonna do my best to connect it to all of you because I realize like I talk a lot I share as much of my experience with all of you as possible But at the end of the day, I want to help you so that is the goal of tonight's vlog talking here in the studio But I realize that we're all at different ability levels Okay, it's I so crazy the you know people that are have been running for three months Literally are just just getting into the sport and some people who have been running for 40 plus years 50 plus years So there's a lot of diversity out there with respect to experience in this incredible sport and so the Topic for the vlog today is a direct shout out to someone on Strava. I could not find the comment again It was from a run about three days ago. He basically asked in the comments on Strava, Seth I hope you make a vlog about your training block the specific details about your training block leading into Houston So here you go. I'm gonna communicate as I'm gonna lay it all out for you my volume my workouts that I plan to do and There we go. Okay, so quick review October 20th Amsterdam Marathon feels like a lifetime ago. I can't even believe Yeah, what is today? It's been it was basically five weeks ago It feels like months and months ago, but October 20th Amsterdam Marathon November 3rd or 4th New York City Marathon Okay, back to back there and then the world mountain running championships and then I took a week off Okay, and I'm not even back. I think tomorrow will be seven days back Maybe six days back into running and I fully realize that I am not It's fully recovered from those two marathons. I don't care what I tell myself mentally or how my body feels I feel pretty good actually, but I know that you just don't go do that And I don't want to be that guy long term who does like marathons I four or five times a year twice a year would be perfect Maybe three like down the road. Anyway, 2020 the goal Well, I shouldn't I got to be careful what I say, but bottom line You just don't go do that and at least I'm not doing CIM, right? That would be what is it this week? It's like two weeks from now. So I'm not doing CIM Let's just lay out the timeline for you from the moment. I started running last Saturday. I had I had eight weeks to go until Houston January 19th 2020 Houston. It's a Sunday. We're gonna do a group run in Houston. Don't you worry?  I don't know where in fact if you have ideas on where to do a group run that is close to the starting area Is there a park? Let me know via email. That'd be amazing. Okay, so eight weeks to go. Here's my layout for volume and Again when I communicate my volume to you, I just want you to keep in mind that Okay, actually before I tell you volume real quick. I just remembered I Think it's really healthy and important before you dive into Marathon training and more importantly before you register for a marathon to go inward into your personality and introspectively Just kind of think to ask yourself this question Do I enjoy Going out for two and a half or three and a half hour long runs on Not a consistent basis, but at least two or three times leading into a marathon because I'm a big believer You all know actually let's just say right now Toss, I'll toss it back to I really believe in building your aerobic engine first the cardiac Efficiency of our hearts so our hearts believe it or not, you know It can expand and get bigger with more training and that can impact Basically the power of the contraction of the heart, which means you can pump more blood Into your system you're I guess your pulmonary system and that allows us to carry more oxygen Or sorry more blood through our bloodstream and therefore more oxygen in addition and yes There you go aerobic engine You remember that vlog a lot of people have watched it and I'm a big believer in the two plus hour Training run. There's so many benefits. It's insane But to the steady-state aerobic training is that at longer intervals it improves our pulmonary Ventilation the lungs become more efficient because they develop more active pulmonary capillary beds You've heard me talk about that before which enables our blood to absorb oxygen faster and more easily So for me, I don't know if you remember the question of the day But I asked it like would you rather train for the rest of your life or race for the rest of your life? This is like three months ago, and I must say I love training in fact I missed it over the past five six weeks going into Amsterdam the taper into Amsterdam and I've just missed I've missed the higher volume. There's no other way to say it. I like the miles I like the volume, but it's not for everyone and that's okay But and this is the mental side of marathon prep That might be a little sign that you should hone in on the half marathon Hone in on a 10 mile or 10 K for a little bit And maybe you'll get that itch to go out and do the two and a half to three and a half hour long runs on your weekend But again, it's um, it's an and it's an inward it's an inward Reflection that we all have to go through as runners and one last point. I forgot to mention I just happen to enjoy that solitude, but I get it like some people in like listen I don't train in a training group, but some people need to go on long runs with a group and that's totally cool I just don't I've never really been that type of personality and that and that's good for me to know And it's good for you to know on maybe I need that group Maybe not a huge group, but maybe two or three other runners to go train with on a consistent basis Okay. Now the volume about I'm about to share with you it It might shock you a little bit, but just just so you know, I trained at a hundred miles a week Consistently in college. So this is 10 years ago and then over the past five years. I've dabbled in 90 to 120 even 125 mile weeks with big vertical We're talking 5 to 10,000 feet of vertical in a week on a not on a regular basis But I've been there into that range of training. I think at least I was trying to think we I definitely was hitting it Going into run rabbit run 100 last year the 100 mile race I think I've hit it three times in the past. Let's say four and a half to five years. So this volume is not Totally new to me. In fact, I wouldn't be doing this going into Houston if it was totally new to me So here we go. Let's count it out. This is week one hundred miles. Okay this week I'll hit a hundred miles week two hundred ten week three 120 miles and there it is on kilometers in kilometers on your screen week four 120 week five 120 and keep in mind Every single day in addition to every single week I will be listening to the body and I'll either reduce I won't go over 120, but I'll reduce the volume if I need to okay, so there you go week five week six Um What oh what it okay? I haven't written down week six eighty five to ninety week seven sixty five to seventy five week eight Race week boom. It's that quick. That's how quick Houston is coming up. So that is why I Personally prefer to hone in on nice solid aerobic fitness Before anything else now. This is where it gets extra exciting. So okay one last point on the volume I'm sorry if I'm jumping around a little bit if I was training to try and break three hours Let's say I'm in the thirty five to fifty age range And I was trying to break three three hours or is trying to chase down a Boston qualifier. I think seventy To eighty five miles a week is like mmm. You don't need to run a hundred You don't need to run a hundred and twenty definitely not. Um, I think seventy though Is like a minimum and I don't think you need to go over eighty five I really don't if you really really really really want to track down those PRs and those Boston qualifiers Anyway, that's just based on my experience and doing quite a bit of reading Of other people's success stories, especially I'm thinking about the BQs out there Okay, moving on to workouts. Here we go specific workouts. So what are my weaknesses? That I have learned from Amsterdam and New York pacing. All right need to work on pacing I'm gonna say for the ease of conversation over the next eight weeks I'm gonna say five fifteen a mile not five twenty because actually five twenty a mile doesn't get the job done for sub 219 it's literally five eighteen a mile. So for my sake, I'm gonna say five fifteen a mile five fifteen a mile So I need to work on that pacing. Okay, so that's number one number two I need to work on Maintaining my form and not falling apart the last let's say three to six miles So Amsterdam it happened early because of the the going out too fast New York it happened probably Probably because I was just tired But it really didn't happen in New York until about mile twenty four twenty three to twenty four where I started to Tighten up a little bit and I just was losing steam and sure enough faded there toward the end. Therefore. Here's my Workouts that I am going to do over the next eight weeks. This is not a Complete list quite yet, but it's I'm really honing in so here we go a warm-up 10 mile tempo run which for me is about five fifty to six minutes a mile Followed by a three two one cut-down workout So three miles so I'll do a 10 mile tempo and what's the idea here? The idea is to make my legs tired to mimic the end of a race So let's say by mile 20 Your legs start getting tired in a marathon, but then I'll stop the tempo rest for two minutes Maybe three minutes and I'll start a three mile 520 a mile pace, okay, and then I'll stop so stop for 90 to 2 minute 90 seconds to 2 minutes and then do a 2 mile and then rest and then a 1 mile and then Rest and then cool down. So the idea is to work on pacing with tired legs Okay, does that make sense also? I will definitely continue the threshold workouts. I really do I love them They give me confidence again back to that mental side So I'll do a nine mile threshold and once again a 13 mile threshold and lastly the 12 by 1 K Workout once again with 90 seconds rest, but this time I will do it in Denver at 5,280 feet rather than in Leadville at 10,200 feet. Alright, so we're gonna the idea Everyone is to so leading into Amsterdam and we're almost done. This is important though leading in Amsterdam I was running a hundred to a hundred and fifteen miles a week approximately with three to six three to seven thousand feet of vertical gain because I was still getting up into the mountains So now I'm gonna say no to the mountains for a little bit more actually for a long time until next spring and then Replace that vertical with a little more snappy work. Okay with form drills with Some plyometrics with getting into the gym, of course And then even just being able to keep my tempo days at just a nice brisk Relaxed pace because I'm hoping my legs are not going to be as Tired because I'm not going and getting that vertical gain and loss on a weekly basis. All right There you go. I love you all. That's it. I hope that helps you understand and again Thank you to the gentlemen who asked on Strava for hopefully that was detailed enough I'm just trying to be transparent and open with all of you. That's how I'm going to train and Again, I'm a little bit of a mad scientist right now trying to figure out this whole marathon road marathon business Because I've you know, it's I've been doing ultra marathons for a long time but it's time to figure out this road marathon business and Just dialing it in but this will be my third marathon in a short amount of time So it's an opportunity to learn and hopefully pass that on to all of you question of the day. Here we go. What is your? Mental approach to volume of training. How do you go? How how are you scared of it? Are you do you do relish it? Um Does it make you anxious?  Yes, I'll stop there. Take it where you will take it where you will everyone. Thanks for being there Thanks for watching. That's it from the studio glide rides. Everything's good. Love you all Oh my goodness. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans and everybody else too, I guess, you know, happy Thanksgiving All right, everyone. You better believe. What's my favorite? Pumpkin pie you are going down. You're going down. All right, well, we're tossing it back to some marathon workouts leading into Amsterdam will go with a threshold run and the two hour plus will go threshold on the right two hour plus on The left there you go. See beauty work hard and love each other. See you tomorrow


Daoism is a Chinese philosophy that is linked to the philosopher named Dao Zhu. This philosophy has been instrumental to the folk religion primarily practiced by the people in the rural areas of China. At some point it was the official religion of the country when it was under the Tang dynasty. So in a way, we can say that Daoism is both a philosophy and a religion at the same time. The primary emphasis of the teachings of the Dao is to do things that are natural and to go with the flow, or as athletes would say, be in the zone. This concept is called Wu Wei, which can be translated as non-action, effortless action, or action of non-action, which sounds like a contradiction, but it all makes sense later on. The foundational philosophy of Daoism was built on the way things in the nature appear to flow seamlessly, like the clouds journeying from east to west and the waves of the sea crashing on the seashore. The religion, on the other hand, came from the belief that a cosmic force regulated these natural occurrences by the Tao. For us to truly understand the principles of the Tao as both a philosophy and a religion, we need to go back to the very beginning when it started. The Origin of Daoism The story of the origin of Daoism is told by a historian named Xi Ma Tian. He tells the story of Dao Zhu, a curator at the Royal Library in the state of Chum and a natural philosopher. Dao Zhu was a man that believed in the harmony of all things. He believed that life would be a lot easier for people to live if they thought about each other's feelings and understood that their self-interest would not always be in the interest of other people. However, nobody really listened to him. Dao Zhu became increasingly tired of the people and the corruption he saw in the government. He became annoyed that he could not change the behavior of the people, and so he decided to go on exile. On his way out of China, he was spotted by the gatekeeper named Yin Xi. Recognizing him as a philosopher, Yin Xi stopped Dao Zhu and begged him to write a book for him before leaving civilization. Dao Zhu sat and wrote the book which is now regarded as the Tao Chi Ting, the book of the way. When he was done, he gave the book to Yin Xi and disappeared into the mist, never seeing what his philosophy would go on to achieve. On opening the book, Yin Xi was greeted with the words, the Dao that can be described is not the eternal Dao. The name that can be spoken is not the eternal name. This is the famous opening of the Tao Chi Ting. The Tao Chi Ting. While you might be tempted to look at the Tao Chi Ting as a scriptural piece, it is quite far from that. The Tao Chi Ting is a book of poetry that presents the simple way of following the Dao and living a peaceful life in a world of constant change.  Apart from the fact that there has been no agreement on when it was written, some believe that the credited offer never really existed. And for those who believe Dao Zhu actually existed, some do not believe he was the author. They believe that the Tao Chi Ting is simply a compilation of why sayings put together in one book by an unknown scribe. However, is it of little or no importance whether the belief system originated from Dao Zhu and when or how it was written? Even the book itself would agree that these are immaterial and that the important thing is what the world says and what readers have come to understand from it. The main message of Tao Chi Ting can be summarized in this verse. Yield and overcome. Or empty and become full. Or bend and become straight. It encourages the reader to yield to the circumstances they are facing and let go of the less important stuff rather than fighting against life and other people. It reminds humanity that we are all connected to one another and the earth. It tells us that mankind can live in harmony if only people will be more concerned about how their thoughts and actions affect them, other people, and mother earth. Because those three are constantly in sync. The heart of the Daoist philosophy is living in harmony with the Dao, which is also known as the way. Which begs the question, what is the Dao? This is a question that can never be completely answered and even trying would be a waste of time. Man's understanding of the Dao can only get as far as the level of his mind and perception. The actual form of the Dao, what it is, looks like, feels like, or sounds like, if it has any of these qualities, no one actually knows. Furthermore, the Dao that we actually talk about is not the real Dao, at least based on the opening verse of the Dao di Jing that we quoted earlier. So what do we know about the Dao? Daoist philosophers describe the real Dao as an all-encompassing force that the human mind or senses can neither comprehend nor perceive. The consensus, however, is that although we cannot understand the true Dao, we must still strive to live in agreement with it. To live in agreement with the Dao is to follow the course of a river. A river already has a preset course or a number of courses. If you happen to be in the river, you can either swim in the opposite direction of the current or hold on to something and stay still or just let go and let the stream lead when it is headed. A lot of people strive throughout their lives swimming against the current without even knowing it. The mind is somewhat preconditioned to think that it can and must be in control of the environment to survive, which is completely wrong considering that many of the processes that keep us alive are barely under our control. Things like digestion, blood flow, healing of wounds, things like our autonomic body functions, the weather and the future are not within our control at all. In the philosophy of flow, we move along with the current of the river and align ourselves with its natural course. It is called the path of least resistance. It allows nature to unfold and take its due course without any resistance from us. The Daoist philosophy is more about doing nothing and letting the river guide you rather than trying to take control of it. Man has always wanted to be control of life. However, Daoists believe that human efforts to control life are counterproductive. This is because these attempts are almost always in the opposite direction of the current, making you move slower than you would naturally have. Daoism teaches that trying to alter our counter-nature will never work, so it's better to do nothing and let nature run its course. Now we know that not trying or not doing anything might feel like a lazy approach to life. However, every time man tries to change something, they did this by creating other problems. Although the intentions behind these attempts might be completely out of good will, they always end up on the wrong side of history because they were not following the natural course. Look at the pursuit of happiness, for instance. People set out every day in pursuit of what they think is happiness, money, property, fame, career. All these things are what humans have tied to their happiness. Ironically, for many people, the pursuit of all these things is the very cause of unhappiness that they face. Another big flaw in the human mind is trying to be something or someone else. Life has given a person everything they need to survive, but we always end up envying others and trying to be like them. There's a quote in the Zhuangji, another prominent Daoism literature, and it goes like this. The one-legged creature is envious of the millipede. The millipede is envious of the snake. The snake is envious of the wind. The wind is envious of the eye. The eye is envious of the heart. This gives an accurate description of how most humans are. We tend to forget what we already have, and instead are struggling against the flow of the current by envying what other people do have. Most people try as much as possible to be another person just to fit into a man-made societal construct or idea or standard. In summary, Daoism teaches that in nature, there's none better than the other. Everybody has everything that they need to survive and thrive, and it is a waste of time and resources to live life trying to be another person. In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Zhu writes, When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created. When people see things as good, evil is created. Being and non-being produce each other. Difficult and easy complement each other. Long and short, define each other. High and low oppose each other. Four and half follow each other. So, how do you master the art of not trying? There are a lot of suggestions from Daoist philosophers. To start with, Zhang Ji relates the benefits of going on the middle path. That is, that one should avoid stretching themselves beyond their means. Instead, they are to stay centered and thereby conserving health and staying close to their nature. Here's a verse from the Zhang Ji that really explains it. Follow the middle. Go by what is constant. And you can stay in one piece. Keep yourself alive. Look after your parents and live out your years. Lao Zhu believed that the Tao is constant and anyone who seeks the Tao learns something new every day. So, do not limit yourself to a belief system. Rather, let go. Keep an open mind and let the universe show itself to you in its true form. Making attempts to change your natural course is a wasteful activity. The same as trying to dim our view of nature through man-made constructs. One would have to let knowledge go till they are at the point where they feel tranquility on the inside rather than burdening themselves with too much knowledge. It is at this point that your mind is now open to the Tao. In this empty state, there is content. And being able to feel contentment is the true meaning to happiness. The Taoist describe this process as the fasting of the heart. Being able to unlearn something every day brings the Taoist to the point of non-action. This is the art of not trying. Where nothing is left unaccomplished and everything works itself out. Well, that's all for today's video, guys. Thank you very much for watching this video to the end. If you enjoyed it, hit the like button. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on the post notification for more videos like this. And I'll see you guys on the next video.


This is the blundstone boot, which through pretty good marketing has transcended the Aussie tradee and become a trendy fashion boot all over the world. Yet you'll find videos everywhere of people looking for a more comfortable or more formidable opponent, their videos proclaiming that they have found the blundstone killer. Well, I actually have and I'll tell you what it is, but it too is already dead and I'll tell you why. G'day, how are you going? Welcome back to my Bootlossophy channel, my name is Tech. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on, recording here on Wajik Country in the Nungar Nation. These are RM Williams' stockyard boots. Before you get carried away though, they don't make them anymore. So why am I reviewing a boot that's not made anymore? This is not about getting you to buy boots, which I think you probably do well by yourself without too much encouragement. It's about a love of boots and therefore appreciating some old models and seeing in them a reflection of the brand and their history. I will still leave a link to the RM's various global websites down below so you can take a look at their current offerings. Like RM's most famous model, the Comfort Craftsman, which I have already reviewed and you can watch that up there, this is a Chelsea boot invented in the 1830s by Queen Victoria's bootmaker for her and eventually circling the British Empire as work and paddock riding boots, especially in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Made popular in the modern era by pop groups such as the Beatles in Chelsea, London during the swinging 60s. The Chelsea style is a lace-less pull-up boot with elasticated, goring panels that expand to help you pull them on. So in this case it's about six inches high, it has a low but fairly chunky block heel and like the other RM Williams' Chelsea's it's a whole-cut boot, meaning that it's made of one piece of leather with only one seam up the back. Now this is designed as a work boot for the stock yards and so it has a much wider rounder toe than the Craftsman series. Looking at the brand briefly, RM Williams was founded by the eponymous Reginald Murray Williams in 1932. RM was an itinerant laborer on sheep and cattle stations in the outback. He learned about leather craft, started first making saddles and then he made boots for work and horse riding. The company grew in Australia because of its quality and then added clothing and leather bags and then really expanded nationally in the 1970s with stores opening up all over Australia. At the same time it was becoming city-fied with city slickers buying their Chelsea boots for comfortable office wear. By the 1980s his Chelsea boots had invaded boardrooms and lawyer's offices worn with suits and the company went international, opening a London store after RM sold the company in 1988. He eventually passed away in retirement in 2003. International expansion continued over the 1990s to the extent of seeing Bill Clinton wearing a pair. In 2013 LVMH, the global head company of luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Mois Chandon and Hennessy took a stake in RM and by 2016 they had full ownership. Since then ownership has kind of changed hands a few times, famously Hugh Jackman on the part of it and then in 2020 it was taken over completely by West Australian mining magnet Andrew Forrest. During LVMH ownership the brand really began marketing overseas and being LVMH owned it was determinedly targeting higher priced select markets. At the same time in the mid 2010s, Blunstone began marketing overseas with intensity. This triggered a response in RM Williams that many businesses fought into, that of trying to compete with a totally different brand. In marketing you need to focus your efforts on the customer segment that best suits your market. Blunstone targeted their boots into the mid-range market, taking advantage of the international popularity of Aussie-ness at that time. RM was in the luxury market but with the fear of missing out they reinvigorated their work boot models and came out with their stockyard boot. Unfortunately it sold for above the mid-range market and competed quite badly with Blunstone and eventually it was discontinued by around 2018. But despite aiming at the wrong market at the time, I maintained that had they stuck to their guns this beautiful boot actually suited for Blunstone fans would have won out as the Blunstone killer because as time evolved the Blunnies and boots like that transcended the price range and the chunky work boot look is now extremely trendy.  That has deservingly been discontinued as well. Today with the stockyard boot gone RM is trying to fill the chunky work boot space with the Gardner models see up here. They are Goodyear welter and slimmer versions of these. So to construction of these unfortunately discontinued deceased Blunstone killers. Unlike the current RM models this is not a Goodyear welter shoe. The sole is actually attached using a heat welding method similar to the Blunstones, redbacks, mongrels and Rossies you know those iconic Aussie work boot Chelsea brands. If you want to understand the different ways of constructing a boot you can check out this video up here. RM calls this a single unit sole meaning that it has the molded one molded piece rather than outsole midsole etc layers. They describe this as having a dual density rubber sole. The dual density is because the upper part of it is a thermoplastic polyurethane for squish and comfort and it's easier to heat well to the uppers and then the lower part is polyurethane rubber allowing squish as well but much more hard wearing. As a result this is actually a more hard wearing sole than Blunnies and their PU and TPU combinations that they use. It's arguably not as squishy but I think that's partially because unlike the Blunnies this outsole has no air pockets and air pockets can be bad in themselves. They collapse. The two layers are molded together hence single unit sole and they are attached to the uppers by welding them on while they're still hot and I think quite liquid molded. That makes them very water resistant and not actually waterproof at the joint.  I guess you could say it's deceptive but any blind Freddy can see it's fake so I think it's more of a design choice than fakery. Being heat molded rather than stitched they don't have a midsole as such but the combination midsole insole is a texon insole board on the inside. Texon is a company that makes material for shoes made from cellulose polyester and extruded polymers for insoles heel counters and toe puffs. It is man-made but is a more durable material than leatherboard which is chipped up scrap leather and which can break up if it's over flexed. On top of that RM uses a poron removable inner sole with a woven wool fabric cover for comfort and breathability. The uppers use chrome and dry oil tan two millimeter thick ox hide leather. This makes it extremely durable while still supple and flexible and very water resistant. It is as I said at the beginning whole cut. It's one piece of leather that's lasted or pulled into shape and then sewn together with one seam up the back. If you think about it this is really hard to do. Think of cutting a flat material in such a way as to make a curve around a foot shape last without either creasing or folding over on itself. RM's are expert at this. The boot is only lined in the shaft with kip leather and the vamp area is unlined. I think this is to aid breathability because these boots are really comfortable in all weathers in the dry desert and tropical north of Australia. The goring panels are up to RM's usual excellent standards. Very closely woven and elastic without turning flabby with use. In a slightly later model just before they discontinued they were made with stockyard logos printed on the goring panels. Another sign of the LVMH ownership missing the point. The spa stitching because it's whole cut and doesn't need much stitching is double stitched and as usual the iconic branded RM Williams cloth pull tabs are there both back and front. Caring for this leather is super easy especially as being a work boot or at least a casual boot you can or should be able to live with scuffs and scratches. As usual keep it clean wipe dirt and mud off with a damp rag and if it's really dirty the use of saddle soap is not a problem otherwise if just dusty brush it with a good horse hair brush when you can. When you want to condition it I use an RM Williams product. Now I'll leave a link to their boot care page down below but I can recommend their saddle dressing rather than their leather conditioner for these boots. I find the saddle dressing gives it a deeper conditioning and waterproofing especially when the leather is scratched and scuffed and especially on their oil tan versions but you have to use it only when needed because I've heard that it could actually deteriorate the stitching. As for sizing these are the wrong size for me and I'll tell you why. These are my second pair of stockyard boots bought from eBay only recently. I bought my first pair in Melbourne in about 2015 or even earlier I think. Malvernians will know the old RM Williams store in Melbourne Central that was under the shop tower. Unfortunately after some adventures up north with mud and bogged vehicles and floods and having to wade through swollen creeks I tore the sole off one of mine and could not properly repair it. I'm told that nowadays you can but my cobblers at the time just shook their heads at me. Anyway I bought those in my true Australian UK size of seven and a half. That's the size in these boots that would fit me perfectly. If you watch my craftsman reviews you know that because of the very slim last in the craftsmen I wear an Australian UK 8 in those but these have a wider rounder toe and forefoot and 7.5 was perfect. I wrecked my pair in about 2020 I think maybe a bit earlier and by then they didn't make them anymore. I've been looking for a pair ever since and these came up on eBay in a size 8 and I grabbed them. Look they fit. Don't get me wrong but they do fit with medium thickness socks at least you know like padded athletic socks and the fit is comfortable rather than a snug firm hand shape. I can live with it as don't get me wrong they're not so big that they're going to fall off and I do really love these boots. The comfort even missized is good but my memory of my first pair was really excellent. The wide forefoot is fantastic for standing around in all day especially with the poron footbed inside. I honestly can't remember how much I paid for my first pair in 2015 but I still see old pages of stockists marked unavailable being put up for Aussie $250 which I guess must have been that sort of time. To me who use them every time I went up north and in those days that was for a week every two wearing them 24x7 in the bush to me that was the best value. I bought these second hand but pretty lightly used for Aussie $214 so they seem to have kept their value. Well there we are. I proclaim these the real Bloodstone Killers only RM Williams didn't know it at the time and frankly the world probably wasn't ready for it at the time. If reproduced by RM Williams today at a price that reflected their construction even if at a small premium for the whole cut nature and for being made in Australia I think they would sell and they really would rival Bloodstone across the world. I hope you liked this review. If you did please click on the like button below and also please click on the subscribe button if you haven't yet.  Until the next time take care and I'll see you soon