112 Miles...

​First morning hOMe in Portland.

The last 7 days on Kauai I walked 112 miles (average 16 miles a day).
I did so in 3 walks a day at sunrise,
mid-day and sunset.

In the prior 4 weeks on Kauai,
I was walking 5-12 miles a day. 
What did I learn?  

I am preparing to walk The Camino de Frances. Beginning in St Jean Pied de Port in the Pryenees Mountains of France walking 500 miles to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, the official ‘end’ of the pilgrimage of ‘The Way of St James’. But because I am an ocean person I will continue another 50 miles and complete my pilgrimage at the Atlantic Ocean at Finisterre, Spain. 550 miles. 

I am planning on 7 weeks to do so, which is an average of 11-12 miles a day but my walking will not be that exact. I may have some days of 20 or more miles and some 8 mile days. How do you physically prepare to walk that far? Walk… And I carefully listen to my body.  

It really is not about the distance, the last 5 weeks I have walked just under 300 miles although without a pack. That is a lot of miles, yet still not a Camino ‘pace’. Since I made the decision to walk The Camino, I never doubted that I can physically walk that far. It isn't a race. All I will be doing with my days is walking. Time and steps will eventually take me 550 miles. 

The 7 days was not really about ‘training’ my body it was more about learning… Feeling… Listening. What did I learn in walking 16 or 17 miles a day for 7 days and walking every day for 5 weeks? The physical news is good. I feel great! I can at times feel sore overall and the best response for that is a bit of stretching.

Ahhhhhhhhh....

When I increased my miles,
I began stopping,
taking off my shoes and socks
and doing some yoga
about every 3 or 4 miles.
My feet loved this routine! 

While of course I think it is a good plan to be reasonably fit when I begin… For me it is more about the mental preparation. I know my body, I know what I need to listen to. The real question is… How did my mind, Heart & Spirit feel walking every day? 

I wanted to keep going, I could begin The Camino tomorrow. 

There were moments, especially walking in the heat of the day, where I thought ‘OMG, this is going to be intense!’. Yet the large majority of the time, I loved the rhythm and the flow. Making the choice to to walk ‘The Way’… Is absolutely correct for me.  

I will be in Portland 5 weeks and my routine will change. I will work and tend my life more than was necessary while I was on Kauai. I have been race walking many of my miles on Kauai for overall conditioning. In Portland I will slow down and add my pack. I have changed my mind about boots and will be shopping for a pair of trail runners that I will need to break in. 

I will continue to post as I prepare body, mind, Heart & Spirit for this Journey. I will share my thoughts on the question I often get asked… ‘Why?’ It is already a remarkable Journey. One foot in front of another… 

And now...
Off to REI to shop 
for those trail runners!