Preparing for the journey Archives

A Walk in the Park

I’m tired and dehydrated and my feet hurt. What a GREAT day!!! Yesterday Steve and I walked around Green Lake Park carrying packs. It was a clear sunny (insert beautiful here) day of about 70 degrees with a cool breeze. As planned, we walked with a friend so it was a leisurely trip around the lake while we chatted and caught up on the latest.

From a training perspective, this trip was different. The path was flat with gravel next to asphalt. We were walking at a slower pace than usual because it was a social occasion. It was also my third day carrying a heavier pack.

My back was already sore from the previous two days of my training for the Camino. I wasn’t sure about carrying a pack, but because our bottled water was most easily carried that way, I decided to take it.

As for dehydration, the gentle breeze on a sunny day is a dry breeze. By the end of a day outdoors dehydration is typical. In addition, sipping water required pulling the bottles, which had been placed at the bottom out of backpacks while we were standing. Swearing that the water was indeed in the designated pocket, we tended to want to swear at the person attempting to reach down in the backpack. “It’s in there. Just feel around. It’s there.” We didn’t stop for water very often.

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The next bit of wisdom regarding hydration was something I learned from another hiker. A plastic bag of orange slices is a great way to hydrate. Sucking out the juice from the orange wedge quenches thirst and replenishes electrolytes, but you don’t drink so much that the next stop necessary is a rest room. At the end of our walk we found a shady bench and ate orange wedges while we recovered.

I am physically tired often these days. My workouts challenge me. I’ve heard people say that working out doesn’t make you tired. I challenge that wisdom with physical evidence of fatigue on the day following a long or very intensive workout. That doesn’t mean I will stop. In fact as I get stronger, it takes more to tire me out. I’ll just keep working toward my goals and let my body feel the way it feels on any given day.

And then there are the feet. I am wearing Keds that are actually a bit too wide for me. It’s time to get more serious about footwear, but hot tired sore feet seem to come with the package. Occasional foot soaks and a stiff upper lip seem to be sufficient to get through at least for the typical 3 mile workout I am doing now.

The journey begins…

“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.” – Paulo Coelho

The journey begins when you decide to make it. From that moment preparations begin. Thus begins my journey along the Way of Saint James. Step-by-step and day by day.

Every trip requires preparation. Sometimes more, sometimes less. On a trip to Paris, I would need to find affordable lodging. I would need a metro pass, the kind they sell to tourists. I would work on my French and so on.

On the Camino de Santiago, the lodging comes with the experience. I will be sleeping in Albergues, the hostels provided for pilgrims at a nominal charge along the Way. My feet will be my transportation for 500 miles to Santiago de Compostela. I will be carrying my luggage, a backpack with carefully selected items for the trip.

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So here I am with an entirely different kind of travel than I have ever done before and a more interesting one in many ways. Traveling more slowly I will be more accessible to people than I am on a typical trip. Learning some Spanish I hope to engage with locals, even those outside the hospitality industry.

To begin with I will work on becoming physically fit enough to hike 8 miles per day, learn to speak basic Spanish, lose 28 lbs by September and learn to use the Canon 20D for travel photography.

Every day I will take steps toward that goal and I will document them here.

I am doing what?

I am planning a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in the fall. The most common route for the pilgrimage is a walk/hike the Camino Frances route from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostella and then on to Fisterra and Muxia. The pilgrimage includes climbing over a pass in the Pyrenees from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles, a 15 mile, 7 to 8 hour hike. I could break that up with a side trip to Orisson Refuge. It is a slight detour but it breaks the trip to Roncesvalles into two days.

One day or two, the trip across the pass is the most difficult part of the journey. Physical training and weight loss is the part of the journey that looms the largest at the moment According to the Brierley guidebook, 2 Stone (28 lbs) of excess body weight plus a 2 stone (28 lb) backpack can put enough pressure on bones to leave small cracks. Excess body weight and poor physical conditioning can also leave the pilgrim vulnerable to injuries on the trail. 30 lbs is a realistic goal in the time I have left. It will not make me height weight proportional, but it will help. The physical training will also help me be prepared for the demands of walking so many miles.
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As an American, I convert everything to miles. 15 miles is not exactly a day for novices.