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14kms with no pack is very different to say. 25kms, with a pack! And it can be very hot with no shade for miles! But it's all part of what makes the Camino! An awesome experience - and you'll just take the day off if you're tired or sore!Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
My preferred mileage on the Camino is 13 miles per day. I've done a few 15-18 mile days when necessary, but my feet start telling me they don't like it!Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
Amen! Very nicely written and so true!A one day test walk won't provide an answer to the question: Can I keep up my test walking pace day after day for however many weeks you will be pursuing your Camino?
An example: For many, blisters don't occur until day two or three. During the first day or two, unnoticeable pre-hotspots begin to happen; feet feel sort of like after walking a ways barefoot on warm concrete or asphalt. It is an understated feeling of subtle rawness. When looking at the bottoms and heels of one's feet, they feel a bit tender, but there are no obvious blister formations or hotspots. This is when preventive taping needs to be rigorously done, but frequently, most won't.
During days two and three, the feet, having been subjected to the previous day's insults and now being tasked to continue walking yet another long distance day, begin to develop significant hotspots and blisters. Until one is doing multi-days of long-distance trekking, they will not know if the above will apply to them, or if they will be blister free.
Achilles tendons may respond to the unusual amount of repetitive walking by becoming tender and a bit swollen; sure to become a problem if not dealt with in the early stages of inflammation.
A new pattern of daily long-distance walks will also put unusual strain on the arches and plantar fascia... Being new to long-distance walking over many weeks, untrained feet may go ballistic with all the new stresses and pounding that they must now adapt to.
Shoulders, upper back and neck muscles all become strained from carrying backpacks loaded with pounds/kilograms of weight that they normally don't tote. Although most of the pack's weight is shifted to the hip belt, the shoulder girdle still carries some of the weight and keeps the pack from flopping backwards. Attention must be paid to those areas so that soreness doesn't become inflamation and agony.
The lower back is dealing with about 75 to 80% of the weight of the pack via the hipbelt. Aches and pains may occur that become increasingly aggravating by having to carry one's pack day after day.
Knees, ankles, shinsplints (ugh).....
All of the above, and more, are what a single practice walk over 14 miles will not reveal to you prior to the Camino. That is why you need to focus more on paying attention to what your body NEEDS you to do, mileage wise, and ease into the daily mileage. Let your body harden into its new found physical activity..... allow time for your body to adapt. For those who are not experienced long-distance walkers, thru-hikers, or trekkers, trying to push your body too soon is a recipe for misery.
Let your body be the one dictating your pace. If you follow that advice, you will find that the daily distances you walk on the Camino will increase over the following days and weeks.
Buen Camino, Pilgrim.
Thanks Trecile,It took me 31 days, and I took just one rest day. I averaged 15 miles per day, with my longest day being about 22 miles. This year I don't plan to take any rest day. I'd rather get my rest by walking a couple of short days in a row. And walking multiple consecutive days, up and down hill with a backpack is definitely different than a one off 15 mile hike.
This website has 3 different walking plans for the Camino Frances starting from SJPDP, 35, 31 and 26 days: http://santiago.forwalk.org/en/m/guide/1-the-french-way/route-list/#trails
Great post.Let your body be the one dictating your pace.
If you are in no rush, why not plan to walk longer and stop to see more? We plan to stop in several places to visit cathedrals and museums, see ruins and whatever spikes our interest as we go.We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day.
Walking the 775km. in 30 day's will be a average of about 26km. with no rest day's.Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
I don't want to get into a debate about fast or slow Caminos, but I did mine in 50 days with multiple rest days. The definition of rest day changed quite a bit. Initially, I thought that it would be because I was tired (66 years old at the time of the Camino and in ok shape but not top notch). Instead, the rest days became a time to rest but more important a time to just visit the place I was in without worrying about the next day's walk. It was the chance to sit in the plaza and have a cafe or beer and just watch and listen. I found those rest days to be among the best of the trip. As others have said, if you have the time, take the time. You might not pass this way again.
We did it in April in 28 days. I'm 52 and my son 19. We are pretty fit, but we did blister up after 5 days though we kept them under control. Look aft your feet! I think 30 days is ample as long as you wear decent shoes or boots, broken in and maybe afford yourself the luxury of carrying a spare pair of comfortable trainers like we did. That was our one extra 'luxury' and I was so glad that we did. When our feet started to hurt we changed footwear straight away.
We didn't struggle particularly in that 28 day period. We could have done it quicker but wanted to embrace the Camino experience. We actually had allowed for 31 days. I envy you....I'd go back like a shot. It was the best ever experience. So you know what they say 'Buen Camino' , enjoy and savour it as it goes in a flash.
Ps get up early .....walk in the cooler hours. We have long legs so we were always quick walkers, but setting out by 7am in April really did pay dividends.
A one day test walk won't provide an answer to the question: Can I keep up my test walking pace day after day for however many weeks you will be pursuing your Camino?
An example: For many, blisters don't occur until day two or three. During the first day or two, unnoticeable pre-hotspots begin to happen; feet feel sort of like after walking a ways barefoot on warm concrete or asphalt. It is an understated feeling of subtle rawness. When looking at the bottoms and heels of one's feet, they feel a bit tender, but there are no obvious blister formations or hotspots. This is when preventive taping needs to be rigorously done, but frequently, most won't.
During days two and three, the feet, having been subjected to the previous day's insults and now being tasked to continue walking yet another long distance day, begin to develop significant hotspots and blisters. Until one is doing multi-days of long-distance trekking, they will not know if the above will apply to them, or if they will be blister free.
Achilles tendons may respond to the unusual amount of repetitive walking by becoming tender and a bit swollen; sure to become a problem if not dealt with in the early stages of inflammation.
A new pattern of daily long-distance walks will also put unusual strain on the arches and plantar fascia... Being new to long-distance walking over many weeks, untrained feet may go ballistic with all the new stresses and pounding that they must now adapt to.
Shoulders, upper back and neck muscles all become strained from carrying backpacks loaded with pounds/kilograms of weight that they normally don't tote. Although most of the pack's weight is shifted to the hip belt, the shoulder girdle still carries some of the weight and keeps the pack from flopping backwards. Attention must be paid to those areas so that soreness doesn't become inflamation and agony.
The lower back is dealing with about 75 to 80% of the weight of the pack via the hipbelt. Aches and pains may occur that become increasingly aggravating by having to carry one's pack day after day.
Knees, ankles, shinsplints (ugh).....
All of the above, and more, are what a single practice walk over 14 miles will not reveal to you prior to the Camino. That is why you need to focus more on paying attention to what your body NEEDS you to do, mileage wise, and ease into the daily mileage. Let your body harden into its new found physical activity..... allow time for your body to adapt. For those who are not experienced long-distance walkers, thru-hikers, or trekkers, trying to push your body too soon is a recipe for misery.
Let your body be the one dictating your pace. If you follow that advice, you will find that the daily distances you walk on the Camino will increase over the following days and weeks.
Buen Camino, Pilgrim.
But perhaps the Camino Chamber of Commer would.Thanks Dave. The El Camino Chamber of Commerce won't be hiring you any time soon.
Thanks Dave. The El Camino Chamber of Commerce won't be hiring you any time soon.
My wife and I just finished the Camino Frances and Camino Finisterre on June 27. We are in our 60's reasonably fit and were walking 10-15 miles on flat streets and paths for months prior to going without packs and > 1 month with loaded packs. We averaged 2.5 miles an hour (4 km/hr.) walking on the flat sea level terrain and we generally took a 10 minute rest after ~ 2 hours of walking. We are both retired so we could spend the time day after day. We did try some hilly terrain hikes but ignored the problems we had with our 2 hikes (large elevation gain/loss at high elevation. This did not prepare us completely for the Camino experience. I would recommend that you try multiple day hikes of 10+ miles that gain AND lose at least 3000 feet in a day. If you find this relatively easy, you shouldn't have a problem, as long as you can walk the following days on level without an issue. We allotted 45 walking days and 3 rest/tourist days for the combined Caminos and felt fairly confident we could achieve this. This means we had to average ~20 km/day for each walking days and the 3 rest/tourist days were a cushion. We felt that we could give up the Finisterre route in a pinch, and if we finished earlier, we could add tourist days. We did complete both Caminos in our goal of 45 walking days and we needed each of the 2 rest days because of exhaustion, blisters and we had the 1 tourist day in Santiago so we could attend the Pilgrim mass and get a seat. At least 4 of the walking days, we were completely exhausted by the time we found a place for the night and could not have gone further under our own power. We ended up pre-booking for some of the nights, where end distance was critical and options few, after we found we had to walk past our goal to find a place to stay. We found that sleeping in an albergue was not as restful (for us) as at home, so that was a factor in how fresh we felt in the morning. If you can, I would break up the St Jean to Roncesvalles leg into 2 days and stay at Orison. That first leg is long and hard and the Orison albergue is very nice. This will REQUIRE reserving Orison at least a couple of months ahead of time. As others have said previously, Orison only accepts PayPal and it takes about a week to contact and complete the transaction. /QUOTE]
Sorry I hit return before completing the post the first time-so I have edited it.
You will miss a lot as far as scenery is concerned but if 30 days is all you have then you must do what you have to. If you have more time, stretch it out a bit to closer to 40Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
A one day test walk won't provide an answer to the question: Can I keep up my test walking pace day after day for however many weeks you will be pursuing your Camino?
...
One lady did it in 18 days albeit she saw nothing and must have talked to.no one. But you can make up a lot of time on the meseta after Burgos. I averaged 45 km for those 7 days. That being said I did it in 37 days minus 2 rest days. Good luckJust booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
She had to have been18 days !!!
Was she running all the way?
Just booked our flights and excited to start at St. Jean in early Sept. We plan on 30 days of walking with two days of rest. We're fairly active and did a "test walk" last week of 14.5 miles in four hours. Granted, didn't have a backpack and it was only one day but it was pretty easy. We're in no rush but to complete the Camino in 30 days of walking we would have to average about 16 miles a day. My question is: does this sound realistic? Am I missing something? Thanks.
Slower start...can make it up on the mesetaI walked the Frances in May in 29 days without a day off, so averaged a tick over 27 km. or 17 miles a day. The first 10 days were shorter than this as I built up some endurance, and even now my achilles tendon and I are are barely civil to each other. I could not agree more with those who have said that day after day and week after week of walking are far different to one days training walk. BTY, not that it is at all important, I am 69 next week.
Alan
Be brave. Life is joyous.
Hi James , just a average of about 44km.She had to have been
Happy Birthday @Alan PearceI am 69 next week.
Yeah by the end 20 km before lunch no problem!!A group of friends and I just finished the Camino, most 60 or above. I left SJPP on 5/19 and arrived in Santiago on 6/22 with rest/relaxation days in Burgos, Leon and Astorga. We averaged 25 km per day, 20 shortest, 39 longest (at the end) by choice. Once you get started, it becomes easier and, you meet people as you go. Stay strong, walk your Camino and enjoy.
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