Camino training

Training in Milwaukee

The majority of pilgrims do not train beforehand.   They simply step onto the Camino and start walking.  We represent a middle ground. We didn’t subscribe to a regimented training schedule but we did do some testing of ourselves and our gear so the Camino wouldn’t totally ambush us.

Ning proved her mettle early on with cold weather hikes along rough Milwaukee River trails.  

Selecting the right hiking gear for the Camino was a major concern. We ordered dozens of items from Amazon and returned most as we screened what would go on the Camino with us.  Ning tried at least 10 different pairs of shoes in her search for that magic combination of comfort, support, and a bit of princess style.

Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast...

While we were in Bay St. Louis in early 2015 Ning walked 10-miles in what she thought were her perfect shoes. Disaster!  Major blisters by Mile 8 and she finished the hike in her stocking feet. With the clock ticking down on our departure date she ordered some red Solomon trail runners and wore them constantly to break them in.

In March we spent a couple of weeks in Denver and took several confidence-building hikes on Green Mountain and Cherry Creek Parkway.  Her Solomons proved to be winners. 

On our cruise across the Atlantic we were the ship hamsters who looped the upper deck, 10 times around per mile. 

Madiera Island, Portugal 

While on Madeira Island in Portugal,  we signed up for a “moderate” hiking excursion along the lavadas (irrigation canals) to do some final Camino training.  “Moderate” translated into seven hours of scrambling up and down slopes on narrow, slippery paths with steep drop-offs to valley far below, all in a cold driving rain that took Ning close to her quitting point.

With all of that under our belt we felt geared up and ready when we stepped onto the Camino. 

We're now four days into the Camino and sobered by how tough this pilgrimage truly is. Two days on steep trails over the Pyrenees followed by two back-to-back 13-mile days on rocky trails.  

Our training certainly helped us through, but the Camino is already teaching us that we have to go beyond ourselves. We arrived in Pamplona on Day 4 by leaning on faith and each other.