Jim McMurtrie
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances April-May 2018
Frances September-October 2019
I am planning to walk the French Way this spring. I am 72 and relatively healthy. What is a reasonable distance for me to walk each day.
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Sulu's watering holes involve beer Grande lolWelcome to the forum and good luck with your planning.
When I started my first camino I was sure that I would never manage more than 15km a day but it doesn't take long to build up stamina. The best part of the Frances is that there are plenty of options for stopping, just make sure you have a good guide book and know where the stopping places and the watering holes are and make good use of them. Spring is a wonderful time to walk.
Good advice from all I was thinking 15 mi a day , ThanksWelcome to the forum and good luck with your planning.
When I started my first camino I was sure that I would never manage more than 15km a day but it doesn't take long to build up stamina. The best part of the Frances is that there are plenty of options for stopping, just make sure you have a good guide book and know where the stopping places and the watering holes are and make good use of them. Spring is a wonderful time to walk.
Walk 10 miles 3 days in a row with your full pack. That was my final training test.Good advice from all I was thinking 15 mi a day , Thanks
Now how do you know that??Sulu's watering holes involve beer Grande lol
It's possible that the facilities such as albergues were not spaced so evenly across the distance. At each stop, they were likely advised of where accommodation would be for the next few days, and that's where they stopped.I was reading something about medieval pilgrims and they used to do some very short days and some very long. Nowadays people all seem to think they should be doing the same distance each day, I wonder why.
If I do a very long day I have to do a short day next day, I suppose it depends on how you define long and short! But perhaps this is about listening to your body, as someone else said, and not feeling you have a commitment to be somewhere on a certain day.I was reading something about medieval pilgrims and they used to do some very short days and some very long. Nowadays people all seem to think they should be doing the same distance each day, I wonder why.
When I walk 40k anything beyond 10 the next day is very hard but it does depend on accommodation. At least on the Frances there is plenty of accommodation so 40k's are never necessary, they would only be done because of an 'I feel great I'll carry on' moment, or I'm superman/superwoman moments and those people often come a cropper. Having said that I met a 74 year old Frenchman on the Aragones who walked 40+ every day but it was what he did!Like they would walk 40km, and then 10km.
That is very sound advice. Quite a lot of people run into problems because they start walking with little practice and with brand new and untested clothing and gear which they have been carefully setting aside for their journey. Far better to give everything - your body and your kit - a good testing well in advance. Any problems you spot in the run-up to your Camino are likely to be far easier to fix before you board the plane for Spain.My suggestion is that you have a regular training walk at least once a week with all you gear, including pack etc. That way you find, for example, what shoes or boots bet suit you.
As a 68 yr old very fit my walking pace 5 km per hour. I walk 4 to 6 hours so a 25 to 30 km day very easy. Most pilgrims average 25 km a day buen caminoI am planning to walk the French Way this spring. I am 72 and relatively healthy. What is a reasonable distance for me to walk each day.