Let the Training Begin…

One of the most important tasks that one should do BEFORE walking The Camino is to do some training before leaving. You need to get your body ready physically, especially getting our feet conditioned for walking the distance. Sitting behind a desk and dreaming of your coming adventure won’t cut it. Only miles in your boots/shoes count.

So, how does one go about training? Well, you could put a pair of running shoes on and walk the neighborhood. That would be a good start, especially if you are not accustomed to walking ~ 15 miles. I suggest starting off with 4 to 5 miles. Get a few of those in, and work your way up to 10-12 miles. I also suggest using the shoes you plan to walk The Camino in. I personally use hiking boots, but I saw many folks using running shoes or trail runners. Use what works best for your feet. The last place to break in a new pair of boots is on day one of your Camino. Getting your feet conditioned to the shoes and distance will save you much pain and blister suffering.

So this weekend, we began training in earnest for our up coming trip. On Saturday, we put in 12 miles, and today we did 9. We used our boots and packs with contents similar to what we plan to carry. Including water. My pack weighted in at 14 lbs with water. Ugh. But I guess that is better than 28 I hauled last time.

So off we went with our lunch and packs stuffed and put in our miles on the Soon Creek Trail. Not exactly hilly, and way too much pavement. But the proximity to home and since it’s 12 miles round-trip trip it suffices.

We were fortunate to have good weather. Not too hot or cold. We were even granted a bit of spring wild flowers…

Two trainings in, and no blisters… but a couple of tired folk. Two day and more to go. We need to build up some more endurance as we have a few days planned that are ~20 miles.

Papa Stu