One of the biggest concerns of the first time Pilgrim who is going to walk the Camino, is the fear that their conditioning will not have prepared them for the experience. It is not a question on Facebook posts as much as many other things, likely because most people don’t want to admit that they are not ready physically for the experience. It is understandable that few people have the time to really get themselves in Camino shape before they go. Therefore, they must catch up or endure the first couple of weeks of 24-kilometer days (15 miles) before they start to feel like they are getting in shape. And by the time they finish and are actually in shape, it is over. There are also a lot of folks that decide to go at the last minute, figuring they will get in shape on the journey, and that might work OK for 20-30 year olds, but it does not work well for the rest of us, especially people my age.
When I made the decision to go on my first Camino it was 19 months before I was scheduled to leave. I was a fairly regular walker, which was an hour or less of walking and not every day. I was age 68 and scheduled myself to leave for The Camino on April 21, 2019. I knew that I needed to be in better shape than I was and that meant losing some weight and getting comfortable walking long distances with a 15 -20 lb backpack. Even at my age I was so Naïve as to what it was going to take to accomplish my goal. Because of time considerations I was planning on doing 32 K per day (20 miles) on average. I figured that since all I had to do was walk I could pace myself, do longer days, and finish the Camino in less than 30 days. I figured that if I could walk 16 k I could do 32 k, and so every once in a while I would do a 16 k walk just to see where I was at in my conditioning. The bottom line is that my training walks were inconsistent, my 16 k walks were infrequent, and I didn’t walk far enough to test my shoes to see if they would give me blisters. There were so many little things I didn’t realize were important and I thought I could deal with them on the journey. As the saying goes, “Stupid is as Stupid does”. Therefore, I arrived in St Jean de Pied de Port having lost no weight, having shoes a ½ size too small because they were my normal size, and not in the shape that I needed to be to have the kind of journey that I was expecting.
My first morning heading up to Orrison for breakfast was driven by adrenaline and excitement. That went well for those 8 kilometers. I did fairly well on a physical level that day, but the downhill into Roncesvalles did a number on my feet, especially my little toes. I was so exhausted when I arrived that I slept for 2 hours. I also slept well that night and felt OK the next morning. I walked most of the next day with a young lady from Hungary and pushed on to Larrosoana which turned it into a 27 k day, which was still short of my goal of 32 k a day. That left me 13 k behind schedule for the first 2 days. I started to feel the effects of walking so far each day and my feet were not doing well. On the 4th day trying to catch up I did 36 k and my feet and body were breaking down fast and I was still behind my schedule. I ended up leaving the Camino on the 14th day at Carrion de Los Condes with skin pealing off the souls of my feet and I had seriously infected blisters. I clearly was not ready for this journey in so many ways and it wasn’t much fun.
In the fall of 2021, I came back to finish my Camino. I had walked significantly more in my training, still had not lost weight, but had much better shoes. I also had worked with a Spanish friend that helped me on my first Camino and she helped me with my schedule and booked my accommodations. We shortened my expectations to a 25 K per day average, and I finished in 19 days from Fromista. It was still challenging, and I realized that my conditioning was still not what it needed to be. When I got home after my success, I decided I wanted to do the whole thing the following September in 2022. This time I lost 30 lbs before I left and put a lot of simulated Camino days in my training schedule. I walked daily 10 – 12 K and weekly did a 20 K with a full pack with significant elevation in the walk. I discovered the shoes that would work for me best, which are Oboz Hiking Shoes, and lowered the weight of my pack some, and gave myself a little extra time. My Spanish friend helped me again with the schedule and booking some accommodations for the first few days. I ended up doing that Camino in 33 days that included one rest day in Leon. I had two consecutive days in the second half of that Journey that were 35 k, I did so in order to catch my group that had gotten ahead of me because of my day off in Leon. It was the most fun, inspirational, meaningful, joyful, 33 days of my adult life. I have become friends with people of all ages from all over the world. I could keep up with anyone I walked with and arrive at my destination at the end of the day with energy to spare. The weight loss made a huge difference, and not getting a single blister and experiencing any body pain was entirely due to my taking my training seriously the previous 12 months.
No one who has not walked 25 k a day for 30+ days knows just how challenging it can be. I know it is unrealistic to walk Camino days at home with all that shows up in life. I also know that regarding weight issues that you cannot out work your diet. Some people actually gain weight on their Camino because they eat everything in sight due to their daily exercise level. I didn’t lose weight, but I didn’t gain any either. I ate a lot and didn’t scrimp on my portions, but I tried to be sensible in my food choices. During that 10 months between Camino’s, I used an APP called Noom to monitor my caloric intake and lost about ¾ pound a week and have managed to keep it off for the most part. I have continued my training schedule, only it is not training, it has become normal daily activity. I remain physically ready to do another Camino, in fact I attempted the Camino Del Norte this past September but found I was hasty and not really ready, so I came home after 9 days. The first 5 days of that route are harder than any day on the Camino Frances and It got too expensive for me because of accommodation challenges on that route. I wrote an article in this Blog series about it.
I believe to be ready for a Camino, I must walk about 90 kilometers a week for a couple of months before the Camino. That would include two simulated Camino Days back-to-back to assess my condition. I will say that if you prepare, you will have a wonderful, fabulous, inspiring, and transformational Camino experience.
Buen Camino,
Stephen Towles
stephentowles@me.com
You can read more about Stephen’s Camino Adventures in his book Heaven is Walking the Camino de Santiago available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Heaven+is+Walking+the+Camino+de+Santiago&crid=1SMK81DODG0WV&sprefix=heaven+is+walking+the+camino+de+santiago%2Caps%2C151&ref=nb_sb_noss
Camino Moments 