Training, part 2

Several people have kindly suggested that perhaps my training agenda in my recent post was a bit over the top. I love to walk, so I walk a lot, maybe more than is necessary for training. Some might characterize my regimen as excessive, or perhaps obsessive, so here is what I think is a minimum that you might consider in preparation for the Camino.

Do some kind of regular walking -  to accustom the body, and to encourage the happy hormones.

Walk at least 100 km, over a number of days, in the shoes you plan to wear. After each walk, take off the shoes and look for any red or hot spots on your feet and ankles. Are your shoes big enough? Would you benefit from 2 pairs of socks? Or perhaps try vaseline the next time. My feet were vaselined every morning on the Camino.

Practice with your poles. You will be able to go farther, faster, and it will take some of the weight from your feet, hips and knees.

Find someone, or a group, who has walked the Camino, so you can listen and learn, and share your own plans. Going through your packed backpack with a veteran can also be very helpful. Attending an information session can answer a lot of questions and allay some fears.

Get your backpack, try it out, and get help getting it fitted. When you are sure it works for you, and fits you well, start wearing it while walking. Gradually fill it up, so that by the time you leave, you have walked with the weight you will carry on the Camino. Aim for approximately 10% of your body weight, and remember that the weight will grow as you add water and snacks.

Walk 2 hours. Then walk 2 hours with your backpack. Then walk 3, then 4 hours, then 5 hours with your backpack. Then walk 5 hours on 2 consecutive days. Track the distance, so that you know that you can walk 20 kms on 2 consecutive days. If you can do that and enjoy it, you will be ready.

You could always do more to prepare. Some people show up in untried equipment and make it. And then, some people have to give up as a result of injuries, chronic conditions that flare up, accidents, and just plain doing too many kms. I am a prudent pilgrim. I go prepared. But truly, I am training not just for an upcoming Camino, but for life.

Plans for training for my 2016 Camino

I'm walking the Camino this summer and fall. I'll be turning 70 while I am there, so I am giving careful thought to my training in preparation for about 4 weeks of walking, and 2 weeks of 18 hour days, caring for pilgrims at Refugio Gaucelmo in Rabanal.

The largest part of my training is the walks that I lead here in Toronto. I have been leading 3 hikes a week for several years, and I'll continue to do that while I am in Toronto.
On Mondays, we walk for about 4 hours with a break for coffee - about 15 km.
On Tuesdays, we walk for an hour or so, then have coffee, and walk home - roughly 6 or 7 kms.
On Fridays, my goal is 20 kms. Sometimes we go further, especially if we walk home after lunch. Sometimes it is shorter.
That adds up to roughly 43 kms on training walks.
I walk about the same amount over the week, doing my errands. I walk to pick up my grandson, to pick up my email at the library, to church on Sunday and back again, food shopping.....I walk almost everywhere I go.
My goal is 100 kms per week, and I have averaged that over the last 18 months.


Miguel Cura did this caricature of me and put it on his blog. He walked the Camino with his dad, and trained a few times with us. See his Camino at miguelcura.com

I also attend a 90 minute Iyengar yoga class each week, and have been doing this for the past 12 years. It has helped my stamina, strength and balance, and I enjoy it (mostly).

I wear a backpack wherever I go, and it usually weighs in at about 10 pounds, so that is part of the training too. When I start to practice with my Camino backpack, I hardly notice a difference.

I am thinking of walking to my cottage this spring as part of my training. It is about 120 kms, and most of it can be done on trails. I have friends along the way, so I can possibly stay at various homes, maybe taking 5 days to walk it. So far, I have no definite plans, just the possibility, but it is a fun idea.

All this walking makes me a happy woman!

I read about the Camino, follow blogs, and help to organize our twice yearly meetings about the Camino. Yes, and I dream the Camino!

Last day in Santiago

Saturday Oct 13 in Santiago

I´m doing the draft of today´s post in the Santiago Public Library.  I feel so at home here, even though the staff doesn´t speak Spanish. And it is only a few blocks from the albergue. Yesterday I pared down my backpack: let´s hope it is under the regulation 10 Kilos for Easyjet. I made a list of the food I had on hand, so that none of the weight will be made up of food. So this morning, in the kitchen of the albergue, before 9 am when I had to be out of the bedroom, I had yogurt and oats and some of Father Pius´s elderberry jelly. I gave the rest  of the jelly to Bill, an American who appeared in the kitchen while I was eating. He had stayed in Rabanal when I was working there, and was still in Santiago because he walked to Finnesterre and came down with a cold, so he is holed up here trying to get better. Though this is a very noisy albergue. There is no curfew, so my roommates can come in at any hour. And one floor below, under my window, is a bar, and there was a lot of celebrating last night, until the middle of the night.

After breakfast I  walked to the daily market. It was huge! It reminded me of the St. Lawrence Saturday morning market, but instead of tables, the local vendors set up on the ground or on stone benches. And the meat and fish and seafood sections were wide open, not behind glass, though they were in the building. There were also some vendors selling used clothes. Yesterday I refound a vintage clothing place that I had seen in 2007. But I have no weight allowance left for clothes, unless I wear another layer. I don´t think they will weigh me, so I will fill my many pockets with stuff, and wear my raincoat over my black jacket in hopes of making the 10 kilo cutoff.

Sitting here, I can imagine that I am home in Pape library in Toronto. There are so many things I miss about home. My level of appreciation and gratitude should definitely improve when I return. Cooking my own food is high on my list, but on the top are family and friends. Meanwhile, I am here, with plans to visit another museum and the Cathedral, eat the cheese and crackers from my stash, post this later at the albergue, and catch a bus to the airport. Next report should be from Switzerland!

Darlene, the intrepid traveller

A dilemma

Wed Oct 3 , Cacabelos to Ruitelan - 27 km

I´ll admit it - I was absolutely wasted when I arrived in Cacabellos yesterday at 2 pm, and the municipal albergue was not too welcoming. I could barely speak, and dragged myself to the showers and laundry. But with a nap I was able to wander the town looking for internet - couldn´t find any, so yesterday´s post got done today.

In contrast, today felt better, though the blisters are speaking, and so are the calves and thighs. I walked until 4 pm today. I took more breaks, and ate and drank more, and changed into my sandals half way through the day - all these elements helped. Plus, I walked with a few people and chatted, and it helps the kms to go faster.

I am at a favourite albergue in Ruitelan, and the meal is here, and they will make rice for me instead of spaghetti carbonara, and they have meusli for breakfast, so this is a fine place.

I am mulling over a decision. I think I will send my bag on tomorrow. It is a very challenging climb, and my bag still weighs about 11 kg - about 25 lbs. I think it is the food I am carrying, which I wouldn´t need if I could eat the bread. On the one hand, I prided myself on walking and carrying every step of the way last time. So I already proved that I could, so perhaps it is ok to send it up this time. And it will save my feet - it should be a pleasure to do the climb tomorrow, not weighed down. On the other hand is it cheating? Who am I cheating? I don´t like to see others walking with daypacks. But maybe they are doing it the only way they can. Oh well, I will give it more thought. Tomorrow I hope to stay in a recommended albergue in Fonfria, and it is about 20 km, including climbing for 8 kms

Next to last day at Gaucelmo

Liz and Dick joined us for lunch yesterday. I am trying to use up our food, and leave nothing behind when I leave tomorrow. My plan is to leave after lunch, and walk 5 km to Foncebadon, or perhaps 10 to El Ascebo. I will have to be ready to be a pilgrim again, expecting only a bed and a roof over my head, and anything else will be a bonus. Our pilgrims get much more. I  put my old backpack in a plastic bag and left it in the lost and found. Perhaps a pilgrim will arrive with a broken backpack, and can use mine.

Yesterday, there were 20 pilgrims when we opened at 2 pm, and we announced before we let them in that we had fumigated, in case anyone didn´t want to experience the residual fumes. We also asked if anyone had had a bag or themselves transported, and asked them to speak to us privately if they had bedbugs. Fortunately, no one had any problems with these 3 issues. By the time we put up the cerrado sign, we had 28, and it was about 1/3 of all the pilgrims staying in the 4 albergues. The hotels were full - they have about 18 rooms each. The village can sleep about 300 pilgrims, and I think it might be full often in the summer. Today we will open at 1 pm, as we have no other jobs to take care of, and I have become quite proficient and quick at the cleaning.

Dave and I went to dinner - a first! We agreed that we work well together, and that we could do it again in the future. He has already taken the last 2 weeks in October, and as my fingers are freezing at the moment, I would definitely need my fleece jacket if I were to join him. We will see. That was our last dinner at Gaspar´s. Tonight will be the last at Antonio´s. I am ready for this to end, and to become a pilgrim again, but I will miss the excitement of opening the gate and seeing just who will be our guests for the night. Hopefully my hands will heal a little - even the rubber gloves haven´t completely protected them. But that is a small price to pay for the fun and challenges of the job.

Hope to post tomorrow before I leave, but time will tell

Hasta luego

Darlene

Mochila Nueva!

Yesterday morning we kicked Carl out for a few hours to go to Astorga. We cannot leave anyone in the Albergue when we aren´t there. We went to the bank, the grocery store, and 3 ourdoor stores, and I bought a new backpack!! Dave helped me choose, as he said my old one is sh... It is a Trangoworld 40 litres, and it seems perfect. Everything wrong with the old Gregory is better on this one. I am now excited to leave, rather than apprehensive. It has a camera bag, a rain cover built in, a place to attach jackets, poles and shoes, narrower shoulders and an adjustable chest strap.

We came back and opened at 2, let in everyone who was waiting and locked the door. That made 26, so we opened the barn. So many people make Gaucelmo their destination for the day, and a lot of older people want to stay with us as our comfort level is high. But if they are slower walkers, we have to disappoint them. What a dilemma.

Last night we had
6 Irish, including Carl. They drank a lot of tea at teatime and breakfast.
6 Australians
5 English, including a couple who are interested in being hospitalero/as, and let me tell some stories
2 Germans - young women, one of whom translated the instructions on Carl´s prescription into German, then the other translated it into English
2 Belgians - a brother and sister. It was Luc´s 7th camino, and he usually walks with someone who is afraid to walk alone. This time it was his 79 year old sister, who has only 40% vision
2 Italians
1 South Korean
1 American
1 Canadian- an Italian-Canadian film maker

The film maker, Gian Ceccato, is making a documentary about the Camino. He is interviewing people. and letting them tell their own story in their own language. His pack is 18 kilograms - about 40 pounds! There is a young Korean film student who is following him and making a film about Gian´s journey. The Korean was staying at El Pilar, and though we called for permission, we didn´t hear back, so couldn´t let him film in the Refugio.

When everyone was signed in and had done their laundry, Dave and I went out and picked up garbage in the lane and swept the Plaza del Peregrino Julian Campo, which is bounded by Refugio Gaucelmo, Monasterio de San Salvador del Monte Irago, the guest house for the monastery, and the church, which may have another name. The compost of Father Pierce benefited from the sweeping of leaves and horse chestnuts. I took Father Pierce empty jam jars and some oatmeal fudgies to thank him for the elderberry  jam. It was very cold and rainy yesterday - about 8¨ when the pilgrims set out, and today, though a bit warmer, is still rainy.

We are having tortilla today with Isabelle at El Pilar. Then back to open the doors for 1:30.

Have a buenos dias.

Darlene

Here I am in Villadangos - Wow! about 20 km for my first day, and I am so glad to be sitting down. I didn´t mean to walk this far, but I got persuaded. This morning, after mailing weight to Rabanal, I went for breakfast. Cafe con leche - HOORAY, a small glass of orange juice, a generous piece of tortilla, all for only 2 euros. There I met 4 Finnish women, and one of them asked me to walk with them so she could practice her English. The best laid plans of mice and women!
So, we stopped to purchase walking sticks, and by the time we were all ready to go, it was 11 am. A bit late, but that is what we managed. It turned out the 3 of them were very slow, and the english speaker who wished to practice, took a bus. I´m not sure what the problem was - we are here in the municipal albergue, and it is 5 pm - I walked 6 hours, minus a few minutes for another cafe con leche, hb egg ,cheese and rice cracker from my backpack, blowing my nose, drinking water, checking our maps, etc.
The woman who walked all the way with me had very minimal English, so I entertained her with singing. It is interesting which song lyrics stick in my head. Quite a few songs from my time with toddlers at the library, and time at drop-ins with Cy  - The wheels on the bus, eency weency spider, bumping up and down. Then there were the hymns: We are pilgrims on a journey, one more step along the road I take, Morning has broken, and Johnny Appleseed ( does that count as a hymn?). Then the musicals; Oklahoma, the sound of music.
Our last stop was 1 km from the albergue - I could go no further without chocolate, so we shared part of my Camino chocolate bar - very appropriate - a birthday gift from Peggy.
I swear I will get another backpack for the next time. Despite constant adjustment, it felt very heavy on my shoulders, but it is heavy - 20 lbs, and I was wearing a sleeveless shirt (and sunblock), and it seemed to rub on my skin. Plus it was very hot - about 26^` all day, and we took the road route, so there was minimal shade.
So now, the familiar routine. Legs up the wall, shower and wash clothes, check out the town, and dinner about 8 pm. After that fall into bed - luckily I have a bottom bunk, as they are triple deckers, with 6 people per cubicle. But for 4 € who can camplain. I resolve not to complain.

Thanks for reading along.

Buen Camino
Darlene
PS.My feet look brand new - no red spots, and no blisters. I am so grateful to my training, my training partners, Keen boots, and vaseline.