I’m pretty well set for everything on the Camino. Got all the gear (with a few exceptions – I’m leaving the purchase of a new pair of waterproof trousers to the last minute in the rather forlorn hope that I will have dropped another size). There is however a rather nagging gap in my preparation which is the amount of walking I’ve done. I’ve done plenty of time on the cross trainer and the Concept 2 but I haven’t done a lot of walking with the rucksack. Actually, with three weeks to go, I’ve only done one, not very long walk, with the rucksack filled with 20lbs of weight.
This is of course, rather a fatal gap in preparation. I’ve plenty of excuses as to why – job interviews, building that wardrobe etc – but I can’t help but feel that when one is planning to walk 500 miles with a rucksack one should have a bit more mileage under one’s belt. You know, a 20 mile hike in the Lake District, or a 18 mile tramp down the Ridgeway?
I’m encouraged, as always, by the Camino forum. Lots of heart-warming stories of people who just decided one fine day that they were going to do the pilgrimage and, without any preparation or forethought, set off that very evening and walked the 500 miles and didn’t get a single blister and found it all quite easy. I find this very encouraging. And, as long as I avoid looking at the personal descriptions and pictures that these people have posted of themselves, showing healthy twenty-somethings with hobbies that include marathon running, long-distance cross-country skiing and ironman triathlons, I can continue to find the stories very uplifting.
コメント