36 DAYS TO GO, THE TRAINING CONTINUES

This months numbers are, 94 miles walking and 286 miles on the bike.  All goes well with the training with some minor adjustments made to my pack.  My back started hurting right between the shoulder blades when I had my pack on, so I've been making some adjustments to it to see what works best.  If I don't get any improvement soon, I'll be making a trip to REI to talk to the experts. The pack weight is right where is should be at just over 16 pounds, before I add the 1.5 liters of water that I will start each day with.  The water is in a hydration bladder in the pack with an attached drinking tube.  I like this best as I drink more water this way since I don't have to take the pack off to get to a water bottle.  

This is what's going in my pack: Rain jacket and pants, lightweight sleeping sack, fanny pack for day use and valuables, (1) long-sleeve tec T-shirt, (1) short-sleeve tec T-shirt, (1) long-sleeve hiking shirt, wool beanie, pair of gloves, mesh bag with toilet articles and medicine, iPhone, iPad Mini w/charging cables, (1) pair convertible hiking pants, (1) pair lounge pants, (2) pair underwear, (2) pair double layer socks, sandals and Camino guide book.  I will add a small first aid kit, clothes pins, small pocket knife and the all important corkscrew.  This list does not include what I'll be wearing.

AND IT ALL GOES IN HERE

Last year I postponed going on the Camino because of painful bursitis in my left shoulder.  Most likely due to carrying the pack, but it's starting to hurt some again.  Not to the point of another postponement, but enough that I've made an appointment for another injection of cortisone.

I still haven't been able to do a real test with the rain gear.  I walked once in light rain an it did fine.  I may have to go stand in the shower to do a real test.  There has been a little rain here in Southern California.  When I started my training walks, I posted this picture on the blog of our brown hills.

Here's what it looks like after a little rain.  Being Southern California, it will soon be brown again.

For the reader (s) out there, feel free to post comments or ask questions in the comment section.  If you have my e-mail address you can use that too.  

64 TO GO, BUT WHO'S COUNTING

This months training included 104 miles on foot and 243 on the bike.  I am now able to power up the hills on my hikes, but I'm still pushing the bike up.

I bought new Keen Boots and have been breaking them in.  I've worn Keens for years and they have never given me problems with one exception.  When walking to Yuma 2 years ago, my feet swelled due to all the walking and I got blisters under a couple of toenails.  So this time the boots are a half size larger and that seems to be working.  My new rain gear was tested in a light rain and it is working better that the previous rain jacket.  Hope for some heavy rain before I leave, or I'll just have to wear it in the shower.  Walked on a couple of cold mornings and with a fleece and the rain jacket over it I stayed warm.

Besides the airfare, which was purchased some time ago, I been making other arraignments to get myself to the start of the Camino in St. Jean Pied du Port on the French side of the Pyrenees.  If all goes as planned it will go something like this:

Arrive in Madrid on 4/6 and spend one night in a hotel near the train station.  In the morning, the B&B that Cathie and I will stay in at the end of the Camino has agreed to store a suitcase for me with my non-camino stuff.  Then take the train to Pampalona where I will be met by Istvan.  Istvan and his wife run a small pension that caters to Pilgrims on the Camino.  He will take me to his pension, feed me dinner, breakfast in the morning and then drive me to St Jean Pied du Port where I will start.  Here's a link to their place. CORAZON PURO 

On the first day of the Camino, you can either cross over the Pyrenees on the Napoleon Route or take the route at a lower elevation which follows the highway.  Weather permitting, I am opting for the Napoleon Route as the views are said to be spectacular.   The route is steep with an elevation gain of about 4,000 feet.  I will do it in two stages only walking about 5 miles on the first day to Orisson where I will spend one night in the Refuge there. REFUGE ORISSON.  The next morning I will cross the Pyrenees into Spain.  After that the only plans are to keep walking.

A little unsettling new is that the employees of the Spain's airports intend to going on strike on pre-set days in the next few months.  One of the days they selected to walk off the job is April 6th, my arrival date.  Here's hoping.

95 DAYS TO GO

I keep at it, the training that is.  I've increased the distance hiking and slightly reduced the miles on the bike. Christmas helped as it fell on a Thursday, a normal bike day.  So for December the mileage was, 87.2 hiking and 370 on the bike.  Starting at the first of the year I'll be doing some back to back hikes to see how my feet hold up.  As I walk along I feel different parts of my body reacting to my hike.  OUCH, a twinge in the knee, OH, my hip hurts, or pain in the ball of my foot.  Several years ago I was diagnosed with Metatarslgia, which means, "Pain in the Ball of the Foot".  That's why at times my feet hurt. Anyway I intend to keep moving forward as I expect that because of the mileage traveled, I will always have some pain.  That's what they make Ibuprofen for, which is known on the Camino as "Camino Candy".

I continue walking on trails around my home, and have started putting some hills in the mix.  Here's some photos of the scenery along the way.

Typical Southern California brown.  We did have some rain this past month, so I was able to finally test out my rain jacket.  A little rain jacket history first.  A couple of years ago I bought a Marmot Precip jacket.  It leaked.  Big time.  Then in England a couple of years ago, I bought some inexpensive rain pants.  On the same trip and while in Germany I bought an Icepeak  rain jacket, which was made in Finland and came highly recommended.   With the recent rains, I took out the rain gear for a test.  The cheap rain pants preformed well, keeping the bottom half dry.  The Jacket started out fine, but after 40 minutes of steady rain, I was pretty much soaked through.  So, back to the drawing board.  Actually, back to REI, where I've been spending much of my free time, not to mention money.

This time, with the help of the fine folks in the store, I selected a Outdoor Research Foray Jacket, made with Gore-Tex, so we shall see.  I should mention that my Tilly Hat worked well.  Shading my face, ears and neck in the sunshine and keeping my head dry when in rains.

So, you want to know more about the Camino?  Just mention it in my presence and I'll be happy to fill you in on all the details.  It some how enters many of the conversations I have.  It seems that it occupies most of my thoughts as of late.  Now if you don't want to know about the Camino, then it's best not to start a conversation with me.

Training Begins While the Countdown Continues

126 days and counting, so the training has begun in earnest. For the month of November, 54 miles walking with my pack and just shy of 540 miles on the bike. The walks for the most part are on recreation trails near my home in Bonita Valley. I've been carrying my pack with some of what will be in it on the Camino, about 15 to 18 pounds. For the first time I have a pack that has been fitted for me thanks to the folks at REI. A Osprey Stratos 36 liter with a hydration bladder. Currently I'm carrying a 3 liter bladder, but will downsize to a 1.5 liter for Spain. Anyway I've been testing my gear, packing it in different ways trying to find the best fit.

I have yet to be able to test my rain gear, something I must do before leaving for Spain. The problem is that here in Southern California, it rarely rains. The other morning I woke up with it pouring so I thought I would get the chance to test it out. I had planned on hiking in the mountains and that's the direction the rain was heading. Cathie and I drove in the rain to Cuyamaca State Park for our planned hike up Cuyamaca Peak and as soon as we arrived, the rain stopped. So, no test in the rain, but I did wear my rain jacket over my fleece for warmth. The route to the peak follows a fire road gaining 1725 feet in elevation in 2.75 miles, so it's pretty steep. With the workout climbing to the top, perspiration collects on the inside of the rain jacket, so I guess you could say it was raining on the inside as I was pretty wet upon gaining the summit.

Cuyamaca was decimated in the 2003 Cedar Fire and it shows. It will be many years before the forest recovers. I read somewhere that the fire was so complete that the pine trees will never regenerate without the planting of seedlings.

CATHIE IN THE CLOUDS

The 540 miles on the bike is nothing new for me as I've been riding it 3 times a week for about 4 years now, riding from my home to Coronado and back. The only new wrinkle is that I'm pushing myself more, trying to get my heart rate up and keeping it there for longer periods of time.

There seems to be a theme developing in the blog. I keep writing about the reasons as to why I'm doing this. I suppose it keeps showing up in these pages because I spend a lot of time thinking about my reasons for walking. When I talk to people about my walking 500 miles across Northern Spain, they usually ask two questions. First, "Why?" and second, "Are you crazy?"

There is no compelling reason as to why. Because I want to, because I can, or I have no idea. I suppose the idea appeals to me because it's a challenge. It's not a religious journey, and I don't have any spiritual reasons for walking, I just decided that it was something I wanted to do. Will it change me in some way? Perhaps, a little change will be a good thing. I'll just have to wait and see. Am I crazy? Could be. But aren't most of us just a little bit mad?

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THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

The countdown has begun, even though it is still 6 months before I leave for Spain.  So, what to do in the meantime?  Prepare.  One of the biggest issues for people that walk 500 miles across Spain is their feet. Blisters are the norm for many, as are shin splints, sore knees and backs.  Walking day after day for over 30 days will take a toll on you body no matter how much one prepares.  I hope to minimize these ailments by conditioning my body before I start walking.

I have been pretty active before starting my camino training, riding my bike, walking and hiking when there is somewhere to hike to.  I'm just getting started with my training and in goes something like this:

120 miles a week on my bike.  This usually consists of three rides a week on mostly flat terrain.  On occasion I ride a fourth day by riding to the USS Midway Museum where I volunteer a couple of days a week.  My walking includes carrying my backpack weighted with what I will be carrying in Spain.  8 miles a week, which I will increase over time.  The bike gives me the stamina I will need and the walks with the pack hopefully will prepare my feet and legs for what lies ahead.

People talk about the "Call of the Camio".  Those who have heard it will know exactly what I mean. It's a whisper at first, a fleeting thought which is easily dismissed.  But soon it is incessant.  It starts to fill you mind. Invariably conversation turns to it.  You read books about it, seek out other pilgrims.  You dare to call yourself a pilgrim.

There is a sense in which we are all pilgrims the moment we decide to leave behind a life of certainty and start a journey of discovery into the unknown.  One source describes a pilgrimage as "a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance".  I know that in the strictest sense it is a physical journey to a real place of significance, but I think that the journey starts long before your feet hit the dusty roads.  It starts inside your head.

I wish I had the talent to make a video like this one.  It was made by a woman who walked the Camino in 2005 and when I came across it, it hit home for me.  For me it says, "This is the reason I'm walking".  The music is, Time by Chantal Kreviazuk

I MUST BE GOING, I PURCHASED THE PLANE TICKETS

Well, I guess this means I'm really going to do it.  I've been watching the cost of airfare every week or so and hadn't looked for a while because we're currently traveling in the RV.  But two days ago I had an Internet connection and checked.  It had dropped $300.  Cathie and I talked and she has agreed to meet me in Madrid after I complete the Camino.  Unfortunately her ticket price did not come down, but the two different tickets at two different times would probably never be the same.

So, I leave on April 5th, Easter Sunday and fly to Madrid.  I will make my way to Saint Jean Pied de Port in Southern France where I will start walking.  I have given myself 39 days to complete the 500 miles, which should allow me some rest days along the way.  Then on May 18th I will meet Cathie in Madrid and we will spend 3 weeks in Spain and Southern France before making our way to Germany to visit friends.  Our return flight leaves from Mulhouse, France on June 8th.  Guess I better start training.

A DECISION MADE, A WALK POSTPONED

After giving it considerable thought and weighing the positives vs the negatives I've decided to postpone my Camino till next year.  I had intended on walking starting in May, but several things have led me to the decision to postpone for now.  My left shoulder is in pain most of the time.  I've been to the doctor who says it's bursitis and has given me an injection of cortisone.  I'm thankful that surgery is not needed.  I still have pain but not as severe and in a couple of months we'll see if another injection is necessary.

Another factor in my decision is that I've lost some of the drive that it takes to make such a trip.  After returning from a two month trip to Europe I was traveled out and I had no desire to head out for  a six week trip.  I figured that if I waited to make the decision the drive to go would return, but it hasn't.  Weighing on my mind is the nagging pain I'm experiencing.  I would hate to be mid Camino and have the pain get worse causing me to end my walk.  In an effort to get back in the zone, so to speak, I will began training for the Camino as though I was going in May, minus the backpack.  I am currently riding my bike about 140 miles a week and  along with some weight training I will start walking again.

So I will take care of my shoulder, do what the doctor says and hopes that the desire to walk returns.