hola!

[AJ]

I am from Australia and hope to make the pilgrimage next year, from either Granada or Seville.

It all depends on my somewhat ancient knees!

AJ

 

[lynnejohn]

We are of the ancient knees tribe - we are in our 60's. We have walked the Camino Frances in 2005 and the Via de la Plata in 2007. So rest assured, you can do it. We plan to walk a Camino every year until we can no longer walk at all. That is a long ways off, I can assure you. Train well, pack well, concentrate on only the next step; and keep walking. Think about what is working well - not about your aches and pains. Don't think about the total number of kilometres you are walking. Only think about what you are walking today. Right now. Step by step, hill by hill, rest stop by rest stop - that's how you accomplish your goal. You can do it!

Buen Camino!

Peace,

lynne

 

[lillypond]

Thanks you for your encouragement to those of us with ancient body parts. I am 60 yrs. and have nothing holding me back and need to set a date for 2008.
My mind is keen, keen, keen my body willing and will be much more able as I put into action my fitness plan the BUTS are - will I get lost, I am going alone and I am directional-dyfunctional and there are many secretly lurking WHAT IF such and such..... . Yet these are not foremost in my mind and I think of another poster who wrote something along the lines of ....."just head out the door, go to the corner shop (buy the milk and bread) and REPEAT". I think it will be great training ground towards awareness NOW.
I also read somewhere "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices". This is true but only to the degree that 'weight/bulk' isn't in the equation.

For those who appreciate a good Spanish/English joke -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lanIZjwAEoc
alternatively
http://magicmaximo.com/

It's sure to make a pilgrim pil*GRIN*

lillypond.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Train well, pack well, concentrate on only the next step; and keep walking. Don't think about the total number of kilometres you are walking. Only think about what you are walking today. Right now. Step by step, hill by hill, rest stop by rest stop - that's how you accomplish your goal.
Peace,lynne

Lynne,
I think you have put it very well, and I will write some of this down to refer to when the going gets tough and the tough has to get going!
Margaret

PS: Lilly, on the humour topic, here is a short YouTube video of two Frenchmen in the mud on the Camino. I am sure this will bring back memories for some who encountered the mud on the Camino this past May. (Kelly, I seem to remember you were one of those!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIgG37GVG_Y

 

[Kevin F. O*brien]

Lovely to read what everyone has written so far. The "Plata" is wonderful and mostly extremely well marked. I loved the solitude and the dry beauty of Estramadura. Uff! I think I have to do again next Spring.

Kevin

 

[JohnnieWalker]

absolutely - with stretches in the spring with wild flowers as far as the eye can see...

 

[lynnejohn]

I loved the video of the mud. We were there in May and sometimes we just couldn't get that thick red clay off our boots - it just went on and on. My husband said instead of being 5'2" I was almost 6' tall!

peace, lynne

 

[AJ]

Which months are best for the wild flowers on the Plata?

 

[Kevin F. O*brien]

Sounds as though you are going to do it! You will love it! Don't worry about losing your way, it really is well-marked. Ask people for help getting out of Caceres and Merida. The best time for the flowers is April and May though you might encounter the mud Lynne mentioned. Then you can experience an ocean of wildflowers as far as the eye can see.

 

[AJ]

How about that! I was thinking April and May. What's with the mud?

 

[lynnejohn]

From Sevilla through Andalucia and some of Extremadura the trail (road) is red clay. When it rains, it is very difficult to avoid walking through the large puddles of water and accompanying mud (there is just nowhere else to walk, most of the time). It is so thick and sticky your boots end up weighing much more than when you started out. You clean them off, but they end up the same in minutes. It goes on and on, and all you can do is laugh about it - there's nothing for it!

Peace, lynne

 

[lynnejohn]

But for the flowers - MAY! Definitely May! Such a wonderful bloom everywhere in May. It lifted our hearts so with all the blooming.

Peace.

lynne

 

[John Hussey]

Boots?

Note that the French Pilgrim was not wearing boots. He was wearing sandals!

i walked the Way in sandals, too and found them considerably more functional than heavy leather boots. The mud was a drawback to them, though, as was the numerous piles of cow droppings in Galicia. Perhaps that was even worse, but I could clean them (sandals, feet, wool socks) at any stream or even puddle just by walking through it a few steps or so. The Camino is mostly a comfortable walk so one should choose comfortable footwear to do it in. It is tough to go more comfy than a great pair of hiking sandals!

 

[John Hussey]

I am from Australia and hope to make the pilgrimage next year, from either Granada or Seville.

It all depends on my somewhat ancient knees!

AJ

Mine were 62 when I did it.

Now it is my back which is becoming tender and painful and is causing me a little distress because of my upcoming trip doing the VdlP beginning mid October. I am trying to let it heal rather than train.

I guess gray hair comes with a few more strings attached than I had earlier thought! But, I guess it's still much better than the alternative!!