How much did you really train for the camino?

[serenalms]

Hey there! I'm less than 2 months away from my Camino, and I'm starting to get rather nervous because I haven't been able to train as much or as hard as I had thought I would have been able to by this stage.

I'm fairly young (30) and in pretty good shape. I work out regularly. I've been walking a couple of miles in my shoes almost every day (to/from work), and I've done a few long hikes (most of which I didn't wear my backpack on), but outside of that I haven't really done any training. I have some more long hikes planned, but that's about it...

So my question to you is, how much did you really train?

Be honest with me... am I going to be totally screwed?!?

 

[CaminoGen]

You'll be fine if you start slow and walk with a full+ pack from now on.

 

[Tincatinker]

Walked 5-10 miles with pack about once a week for 4 -5 weeks as a conscious effort but I regularly walked 10 - 15 miles in a day without a pack. You say you work-out regularly which is great for your general health but not for the demands of walking a half marathon every day for six weeks.

That said, the very best advise has already been given - start slowly. I could add, listen to your body, keep it watered and feed it.

You'll be fine.

Buen Camino

 

[efdoucette]

I agree with the advice provided, you will be fine if you take your time, take breaks, boots off, hydrate.
I would recommend you put on your backpack with intended weight and take it for a 3 - 4 mile walk, see how it feels. Do it soon. Have fun!

 

[jmcorrigan]

Hi Serena, I'm planning doing the full camino starting around the third week of September. I started seriously 'training' a couple of weeks ago by going on daily hikes with my full backpack. I would label myself an amateur hiker because I do like to take long walks with my dog, but I'm no expert and I felt I needed to break everything in, including my feet! I find the idea of doing the camino invigorating, but I know it's going to be a hardship in many ways (otherwise it wouldn't have been a pilgrimage). So, I started by doing daily short hikes, and built up my distance to the 12 mile level. I did that almost everyday, and then last week I did a scenic, but fairly difficult 22.5 mile hike. I felt I needed to do one very realistic long trek. I was very happy with the results. But if you walk a few miles to work each day, you are probably in fine shape. I would only suggest, as others have, to practice with your full pack so you see how it feels.

Good luck with your preparations!

 

[Anne100]

I am walking 6 days a week and lifting weights 3 days a week. I increase the daily walk about a mile and a half over the course of a week. For example, last week I started out walking 3 miles, then increased it to 3.5, then 4, and I was walking 4.5 miles per day by the end of the week. I walk with my pack on the weekends.

Have you read all the threads about peregrinos who are made miserable by aches and pains and fatigue and blisters? That is why I train. It's the difference between a happy camino and an unhappy camino, especially at the beginning. The Camino will eventually get you in shape but why set yourself up for a hard start? With all the other challenges that come with walking/hiking long distances, this is one thing you have a lot of control over. Don't forget to stretch!

 

[Maggie97520]

I've been training since early May for 20-Sept start from SJPdP. I was walking 8 - 10 mile a day in town and weekends, I would head for the trails in the mountains. By the end of July I was hiking 15 miles at 6,000 feet mountain trails with my pack. Unfortunately, my hikes had to come to a complete stop a week ago. Southern Oregon is enveloped in dense smoke from several large forest fires - just going outside is enough to knock you down a couple of notches. I've moved my training indoors in the elliptical and treadmill at the YMCA, but there's nothing like being out on the trail. In the meantime, I'm praying for cool, clean air and a safe and early end to fire season. Have fun training and buen Camino.

 

[trevorcc]

Make sure you do not over do it as September is getting close, injuries also happen with overload as ihavehadto stop swimming this year with frozen shoulder. I have worked around it with my pack.
The Camino is a journey not just a walking race slow enjoy and smile at fellow peligrinos.

 

[jmcarp]

We're departing for Spain next week. We may have overdone it, but my wife and I started increasing our casual evening walks last fall, slowly building up from 10-12 miles / 15-20 km per week without packs to our current 35-40 miles (55-65 km) per week. We started walking with packs half-loaded around the 1st of June, then fully loaded around the 1st of July. All of our training has been in the Denver area and the adjacent foothills, so we've been training mostly at 5500-7500 ft / 1675-2285 m, but have gone as high as 12,500 ft / 3800 m on a couple of short hikes in the past month. Of course there has been time off during this period due to weather, other travels, and a couple of medical issues, but we've easily walked 500 miles (800 km) in training over the past few months. BTW, we're 69 and 68 yrs old, respectively. We don't walk fast, but we'll eventually get there. We're assuming 40 days from SJPP to Santiago, or an average of 12.5 miles/20 km per day, plus a few days off here and there, mainly in larger cities and towns.

Jim

 

[Maggie97520]

Make sure you do not over do it as September is getting close, injuries also happen with overload as ihavehadto stop swimming this year with frozen shoulder. I have worked around it with my pack.
The Camino is a journey not just a walking race slow enjoy and smile at fellow peligrinos.

Thanks so much for this reminder! As a former open-water swimmer, I know what it's like to have to stop swimming because of over-training - I just never translated that concept to walking. My new mantra: slow down and smile.

 

[Tortuga9]

Buen Camino, Maggie!

I am also in my thirties, swim, ski, exercise regularly, and have the benefit of living at high altitude. However, I have always been overweight. I did not train with my pack at long distances for either of my Caminos. On both walks I took it slow at first (7 to 12 km a day) and was doing 25 to 30 km by the end. I found it imperative to listen to my body while walking. If I needed a day of rest I took it. (I was fortunate to have time.) I felt it would have been beneficial to walk in my shoes more before walking, but the challenging distances were fine due to being in shape and having the mental determination that the Camino provided me.

My intuition tells me you will be just fine!

 

[Tortuga9]

Sorry, I addressed my message to Maggie. Wrong name, Serena...

 

[Thomas1962]

I never trained before especially for the camino. In daily life I bike a lot for my work and that's about it.
I also agree with what's said before by a few people, start slow, find out on the way what is fine for you. There is no daily distance what has to be done. Our expectations or our plans made before can be our biggest enemy.
I do recommend to exercise walking with a loaded backpack before to experience the importance of taking as less weight as possible though...

The past camino's I found myself doing about 25km's the first few days. After 2-3 days I also find my body getting more tired, also in the morings before starting to walk. That's a signal for me to do a very quite day of 10-15km's so my body can recover. The day after I feel my body is getting used to daily walking, and my really joy can start, at moments I can feel that I'm 'flying'. After I while I can find day's doing 30-40k's easily with a big smile on my face (with usually a quit 20-25k the day after to recover again...).

But nothing needs to happen.

 

[Deleted member 12253]

Serenalms, you will be fine, at your age you will walk into fitness in a few days on camino, I walked many caminos, on wrong side of 60 but still able to walk 25/35 km a day, I stop training 2 weeks before start to let legs recover, except walk on beach, sea water great for hardening feet, 5 week to go before my next start, Buen camino

 

[johnsondav]

We are 60 & training for our first Camino. We are carrying our loaded backpacks (17-18 lbs.) and hiking 12-13 miles up and down small hills each week. Only thing we haven't been able to do is string multiple days together due to work. I do think you have to listen to your body & make sure your shoes are broken in well. Buen Camino!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This is the way it plays out for many pilgrims who are in good shape, but do not train.

You will have plenty of strength the first day. Your feet will spread from the extra pack weight and chafe against your shoes. You will ignore the warning signs, and get blisters.

You will walk in pain and treat the blisters for at least a week. If the mechanics of your stride change in response to the pain, you will get aches in your ankles, knees, and hips; even tendonitis. The good news is that the continuous pain from the blisters will keep your mind off the other aches and pains.

You will have fallen into a group that you do not want to leave, your Camino "family," so you will continue to walk further and longer than you should. The blisters and joint aches will not improve, or improve only slowly, because you don't give them a rest.

After two weeks, you will wonder why you are doing "this." You will quit, take a bus, or do what you should have done all along, stop, rest, recuperate, and go forward more slowly.

Walking a half-marathon with a pack every day for a month is not the same as taking a hike on the weekends. Repetitive stress sets in. If you do not train, you will be well served to keep the distance to around 12km for up to a week. You will be bored in the afternoon, but you will build strength slowly using the Camino as a training ground. Think about going to the gym for the first time. You would not start with exhaustion repetitions at maximum weight, and then keep it up for a week. You would start slowly, and build up. Why would a Camino without training be different?

Buen camino!

 

[Stellere]

I'm also worried about being prepared! While I walk a lot, I live in a valley - and it's FLAT. I can walk for hours without hitting much of a hill. I try to get out and do a proper hike every week or two, but it means a bit of a drive.

Has anyone used a treadmill to train for the camino? I guess it'll help with uphill, but not downhill...

 

[Tia Valeria]

Part of the need for training is influenced by your work/lifestyle and where you live. If it is an office, sitting down all day, bus/train/car journey to work etc then some training will be needed to build up leg muscles. If your work/travel involves walking already then less 'training' will be needed. Similarly with carrying weight in a pack etc. This makes it hard to generalise as one person's training will be another's normal day.

Speaking personally I had to build up from walking about 2-3kms, following a knee injury and other constraints on need/places to walk. Once determined on dates for my first time on the camino (as a test run) I built up to 5kms, then 7kms and finally 10kms before leaving for Spain. Similarly, not being used to carrying a pack I built it up from about 3kgs to 5.5kgs. This took about 6 months.

For actually walking the Camino (with the aim of reaching Santiago) we just kept on walking locally, trying to walk at least 5km walks and various 7 and 10kms etc with our day packs. Then walked with our full Camino packs and around 12kms at least once a week as we got nearer the time. Sometimes daily walks, but at least 3 times a week (weather permitting).

We are doing the same again now, trying to maintain our Camino stamina. When on the Camino we walk slow, cover about 15-20kms per day and rest up in places of interest. We aim to stop walking by lunchtime and personally don't find the afternoons boring, there is always something new to see.

To sum up:- year 1 needed more effort and 'training' than subsequent years, but all need some 'maintenance' walking and pack carrying.

'Stellere' - if there is a choice between stairs/lifts/escalator then always use the stairs - up and down, or as far as possible.

 

[peregrina2000]

I think falcon has described how the Camino plays out for many people and is filled with great advice. The only couple of things I'd like to add have to do with what constitutes "good shape." This is a term with a whole range of meanings. In my experience, European pilgrims who are in "good shape" rarely train at all, in fact they look at you incredulously when you ask them how they trained for the camino. My favorite line, which I've repeated many times on the forum, was when I asked a northern European 60+ male that question, and he looked at me and said "How do you train to walk?!"

U.S. pilgrims who are in "good shape" probably have better looking abs and sculpted arms than your average European pilgrim, but we come out of our sedentary life style that separates physical activity from "real life," so we drive to the gym or take the elevator up to the health club.

I did train for my first Camino along the lines described by others here, and I have no doubt that it helped me avoid a lot of the major meltdowns falcon describes. Upon returning to the US, while pondering that question about "how has the Camino changed me" I realized that one of the non-metaphysical things it had shown me was how much happier and healthier I was with a higher level of regular physical activity in my life. So I've tried very hard to keep that level up and find that I don't ever train for a Camino anymore. I hope this doesn't come across as preaching, my only point is to to say that pilgrims might want to ask themselves why they are spending so much time to "get in shape for the Camino" if they are at the end of the Camino going to fall back "out of shape."

My son in law works for the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and he is routinely on a "wellness" soapbox, and it occurs to me that the Camino is a perfect platform for jumping off into wellness on your return! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[jsmith199]

I am 45 yrs and had not exercised much in the last few years, so I started slowly. 5 months before the Camino I started with 2-3 miles several times a week and no back pack. Two months before I was up to 6 miles and an empty back pack. By the time I left, this June, I was doing 8 miles with a 12 lbs. back pack 2-3 times per week and walking stairs at the local high school twice a week. My regular trek was all up hill and this routine was extremely helpful. I had minimal adjustment to walking the Camino, no shin splints and no blisters. Just needed to rest every 4-5 days.

My 76 yr old mother went and she suffered greatly. Her back pack was 15 lbs and although she had trained for the Camino, it was very difficult for her. I think the heavy back pack was the problem.

My 18 yr old daughter did not train before going. She suffered shin splints which put her on the bus for two days at the beginning, but she recovered quickly. Her pack was about 15 lbs.

 

[mspath]

Once again Laurie has precisely summed up the situation !

Hiking 20 k up the 1060 meter Ibaneta pass via the Valcarlos route the first time in 2004 at 64 to the monastery at Roncevalles was one of the most difficult days on the Camino and certainly the most physically exhausting day of my adult life then to date. I was pooped! Although I had hiked throughout the summer in preparation for the trip, nothing had prepared me for such an effort. Beneath a deep blue sky and brilliant sun I gasped and ached while my pack weighed like bricks. But eventually I made it to Santiago walking all the way.

On that first Camino I learned the hard way that this is NOT a walk in the park!
Ever since I have tried to keep moving and walking. ...Each time I garden on our sloping hillside, carry a load of groceries, stoop to make a bed, etc. I like to think that such efforts might make it easier next time, ie late autumn 2013, to climb up the Ibaneta pass or trudge through the O Cebreiro snow.

At any age what matters is TO TRY.

At my age what matters most is TO CONTINUE!

Carpe Diem,

Margaret Meredith

 

[LTfit]

I always hestitate when giving advice about training - I am a physio and former long distance runner. The reason is that I believe that many people overtrain and develop overuse injuries prior to even beginning the Camino! I also feel that preparing for the Camino should be fun!

I can't say that I really "train" for a Camino (maybe I fall into Laurie's category) but that is not to say that I don't work-out. I combine BodyBalance (a tai-chi, yoga and pilates lesson) 2-3x a week with Spinning and when the weather is good I go out on Sundays and walk in the dunes for several hours. I do my errands by bike and a few months prior to the Camino I try to get in several 20-25 km walks without a pack and that's it!

Maybe I am blessed but I am able to walk 25-35 km a day without muscle aches and pains (I'm 57) and since I changed over to running shoes 2 years ago without blisters - now that is a godsend!

My pack is light - usually 6.5 kg and fits me like a glove. So I have never felt the need to train with gear. But I will admit that experience helps. With each Camino we learn more about our bodies and our particular needs. But I am always amazed how are bodies recover overnight!

Happy preparing!

 

[serenalms]

Wow, thank you everyone for the great advice! Since there is no way that I have enough time to walk 12-14 miles a day consecutively leading up to it (alas, that pesky thing called a job seems to interfere) I think the best advice for me is to just start slowly and build up.

I am afraid of suffering the fate that Falcon mentioned... needing to stop but not wanting to lag behind my camino family. That is probably my biggest concern/fear... not wanting to fall behind people I may have built up a good relationship with. But I'll have to listen to my body, and wait and see what the Camino has in store for me!

 

[Anne100]

This is the way it plays out for many pilgrims who are in good shape, but do not train. [. . .]

I laughed when I read this because it applies to Appalachian Trail thru-hikers as well. You described it perfectly.

 

[Stellere]

'Stellere' - if there is a choice between stairs/lifts/escalator then always use the stairs - up and down, or as far as possible.

I had to laugh at this. I live in a village of fewer than 2000 people. I'm not even sure we HAVE an elevator here. Haha! But it's a great suggestion when I visit the city.

 

[zakosdad]

Hi Serena - we are 67 & 68 doing our first camino - leave in another week. We are giving ourselves 40 days - going to walk at a moderate pace - with backpacks at
6 & 7 Kg we feel comfortable walking 12 - 15 miles a day. We started on the tredmills ( 3mph for 1 - 2 hours)) and with better weather went outside. We have been walking
with our packs fully loaded since March so that means about 6 months training. We started at 2½ miles and quickly moved up to 5 & 6 mile walks 3 times a week. We then
added in 8 then 10 and 12 miles walks. We never did manage to walk two long hikes in a row but we did 13 miles with only minor issues which weere quickly resolved. The
mantra about drink water - should be drink water with electrolytes! When we attacked our first 16 mile trek we did it in 3 two hours shifts. Our biggest was 17 miles in
a little over 6 hours - our pace is pretty steady at 2.75mph so that puts us at a medium pace according to the Brierly book. Our plan is to walk untilour body says enough - then
we either stop and rest or call it quits for the day. We are very comfortable at 2 hour stretches so we will attempt to maintain that - with a max of 6 hours walking a day. It
is not a race and we are open to whatever arises - we don't want to walk 500 miles with our heads down - we want to really take in all that the camino is. You have youth on
your side - you should do very well.

 

[musicman]

Hey there! I'm less than 2 months away from my Camino, and I'm starting to get rather nervous because I haven't been able to train as much or as hard as I had thought I would have been able to by this stage.

I'm fairly young (30) and in pretty good shape. I work out regularly. I've been walking a couple of miles in my shoes almost every day (to/from work), and I've done a few long hikes (most of which I didn't wear my backpack on), but outside of that I haven't really done any training. I have some more long hikes planned, but that's about it...

So my question to you is, how much did you really train?

Be honest with me... am I going to be totally screwed?!?

You are young and fit.
Be prudent about what you carry in your pack and do some walks
carrying that weight ( hasn't got to be your actual kit!')
You will be fine.

Buen Caminho,

John

 

[bklyntraveller]

Hey there! I'm less than 2 months away from my Camino, and I'm starting to get rather nervous because I haven't been able to train as much or as hard as I had thought I would have been able to by this stage.

I'm fairly young (30) and in pretty good shape. I work out regularly. I've been walking a couple of miles in my shoes almost every day (to/from work), and I've done a few long hikes (most of which I didn't wear my backpack on), but outside of that I haven't really done any training. I have some more long hikes planned, but that's about it...

So my question to you is, how much did you really train?

Be honest with me... am I going to be totally screwed?!?

 

[bklyntraveller]

I was not a good example because at 65 years of age I did not do much training for my Camino last year. I am overweight and do not regularly exercise and yet I made it to Santiago and lost 20 lbs along the way. It took me 6 weeks and training would have helped but I met oh so many more pilgrims along the way. It is not as race but an endurance event. MY hardests 2 days (overnight in Orisson is so important especially if you are not prepared) were from SJPdP to Roncesvalles. Stop every two hours and take off your boots and socks (put on dry ones if yours are wet) use Glide in your feet and this will prevent blisters. Listen to your body. Put boots now and wear them everywhere until you go. This is the only way to detect a problem while you have time to fix it. If I had carried my loaded backpack before leaving I would not have had to purge or use the mochillas as often as I did. Buen Camino

 

[AJ]

I consider the first two weeks to be my training. Just take it easy.

 

[NicoZ]

People often talk about breaking in boots/shoes what isn't mentioned is you're toughening up your feet. The ladies might not like it but the hard skin/calluses that develop is a positive. Calluses don't blister.

 

[dougfitz]

serenalms

When I was preparing for Camino Frances and St Olav's Way, I trained for other walking events and walked regularly to maintain my walking fitness. I found this more motivating in that there were several shorter term objectives to keep me motivated rather than a single, more distant objective that might not have been so inspiring.

The difficulty already identified is that while one is working, it is difficult to get longer walks into your schedule. I scheduled these for weekends, gradually increasing the distances I was walking and the load that I was carrying until I felt comfortable that I could achieve the longer distances that might have been needed.

Even with regular walking, my biggest problem was getting the excess weight off, so I started both pilgrimages fit but fat. Knowing that I had reasonable aerobic fitness and endurance was some comfort, but it still meant taking some care particularly from SJPP to Roncesvalles on CF. Next time, I intend to break that into two days walking.

Now that you are so close, you are really going to need to heed CaminoGen's and AJ's advice - go slow and use the first week or so to settle into the pace, stabilize your packing list, etc. What you might miss out on is hardening up your feet and finding out that your body, as well as some bits of kit, just do funny things when you are walking all day. If your pack and footwear are working for you, the other things are easier to adjust/leave behind/etc.

 

[annakappa]

People often talk about breaking in boots/shoes what isn't mentioned is you're toughening up your feet. The ladies might not like it but the hard skin/calluses that develop is a positive. Calluses don't blister.

Toughening up your feet? I think I must be the only member on the Forum who soaks her feet in a strong tea solution, once or twice a day for the last 3 weeks before leaving for the Camino!
This is a tip I read about while searching on the Internet and it is regularly used by ballet dancers!
Well, ballet dancers and Pilgrims walking to Santiago are not quite the same, but both rely on their feet to do the job for them! Anne

 

[NicoZ]

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001232.htm

A callus is thickened skin on your hands or the soles of your feet.

The thickening of the skin is a protective reaction. For example, farmers and rowers get callused hands that prevent them from getting painful blisters

 

[peregrina2000]

I have a lot of calluses and I have been regaled by people on both sides of the callus argument. Some people have said what always seems intuitively correct to me, which is that they are good protection. Other people have told me that they are in fact not a blessing but rather a problem and that your feet would be much less of a mess is you started a camino without calluses. I've never paid much attention to this because there's no way I can get rid of them after years and years of build-up, but I did once get a blister under a callus and that was one of the worst things I have ever endured on a Camino.

 

[piogaw]

hello serena,
you will be alright. you still got 1 months to go. you can start your training by putting about 9 kilos of books in your rucksack and start walking/hiking slowly and then pick up the pace. as you live in sf, i would suggested you start your training walking up and down telegraph and russian hills. train with the boots you will be wearing for the camino. listen to your feet and body. when it is time to stop, stop to rest. do not worry about the friendship you picked up on your walk. there will be more friendship that will come your way.
buen camino and god bless.

 

[robertt]

Many people like to hit the ground running, and be "on camino" from day one. I take the attitude that I am in one nice place rather than another. So, starting on a camino, I just walk till I feel a little tired and stop, just as I might back here in the Australian bush where I live. No need to worry about testing the body or the shoes. The downside is that everybody else is long gone, with a clatter of hiking poles. The upside is I get to loaf, doze etc. No probs with accommodation, since I don't have far to go in a day, unless I really feel like it. I may not make it X destination by the end, but I will make it to Y, which is somewhat to the east of X.

Locals are flattered if you linger and look about. Nobody likes being a thoroughfare. You will lose pilgrim friends as people streak ahead, but you will gain new ones from behind. Walking slow is almost too sociable in this regard.

After doing this daily for a bit, one is fitter.

Of course, the idea is to eventually gain speed and stop dawdling. That's the theory, but in my case...

 

[Anna B]

Hi Serena
What an interesting thread you started. Lots of good advice. Personally, I've trained less that I would like owing to being on a boat for the past couple of months. But I'm fairly fit and have managed a number of 6-7k walks with my boots and almost-full pack on - not long walks, but hopefully enough to take the "shock factor" on the body out. Although this is my first Camino (7 Sept start) I've done many trekking trips and never really had a problem getting going again each day.
In response to your worry of leaving your new Camino Family - don't even give it a second thought. Another family will be behind you, and behind that, and you will meet more amazing people over all. And you'll probably catch the first lot up in a few days when they have to slow down and rest! Finally - you may surprise yourself (as I hope I will) by enjoying your own company for a bit.
You'll be just fine.
Anna

Wow, thank you everyone for the great advice! Since there is no way that I have enough time to walk 12-14 miles a day consecutively leading up to it (alas, that pesky thing called a job seems to interfere) I think the best advice for me is to just start slowly and build up.

I am afraid of suffering the fate that Falcon mentioned... needing to stop but not wanting to lag behind my camino family. That is probably my biggest concern/fear... not wanting to fall behind people I may have built up a good relationship with. But I'll have to listen to my body, and wait and see what the Camino has in store for me!

 

[christer1]

I have only been preparing for about 6 weeks. In that time I have completed about 160kms with pack, in a variety of terrains. The longest was 28kms (gravel and tarmac roads)and the shortest around 6.5kms (mountains of Norway, steep, slippery, rocky). I only decided about 2 months ago to do this, otherwise I probably would have done more but mainly because I enjoy it. I also had to walk in a new pair of hiking shoes!

My last hike was 4 days ago at 24.5kms with full pack in very hilly Kent in the UK, I am not doing anymore but did spend 50mins yesterday climbing and descending 7 flights of stairs nonstop with full pack and will probably do the same today or tomorrow. Boring but tough!

The weakest link here is my feet, they start to feel bruised after 18-20kms because the muscles in the feet are relatively weak as my physio tells me, and only prolonged activity will build those up. I think the camino will provide this

I don't have any time pressure so if I manage 10 or 40kms in a day I don't mind.

Buen Camino

 

[Tia Valeria]

The weakest link here is my feet, they start to feel bruised after 18-20kms because the muscles in the feet are relatively weak as my physio tells me, and only prolonged activity will build those up. I think the camino will provide this

I don't have any time pressure so if I manage 10 or 40kms in a day I don't mind.

Buen Camino

As I said in an earlier post here my daily distance is best at 15-20kms. We both wear Corrymoor socks with cushion soles, which helps our feet not to feel bruised. Favourite combination is 1 inner (Rohan 'Inner and hot'); 1 middle (Corrymoor Sportsman) and then 1 cushio sole (Corrymoor Companion or Woodlander). If it is hot I would leave out the Corrymoor middle pair and add a second Rohan pair. We find that the 3 pairs system means that we don't get blisters
You can see the socks here http://www.rohan.co.uk/Product/Detail/WomensSocks_02572?ocode=02572556 (or under Mens - socks)
and here
http://www.corrymoor.com/the-socks.html

 

[lauradonatelli]

Make sure you do not over do it as September is getting close, injuries also happen with overload as ihavehadto stop swimming this year with frozen shoulder. I have worked around it with my pack.
The Camino is a journey not just a walking race slow enjoy and smile at fellow peligrinos.

I too am dealing with a "close to" frozen shoulder. I developed rotator cuff tendonitis 7 months ago and it just isn't healing, despite lot of PT, massage therapy and daily exercises. So my pack training is fairly cautious, and I am especially careful putting the pack on and off. My biggest concern is sleeping at night when on the Camino since the pain is most bothersome them.

 

[trevorcc]

Well Laura I feel sorry for you but as my Phsio said good news and bad news ...Good news it will get better........................Bad news ..it can take a few years.
Just watch the movement and you will be fine as long as you are not intending to do the walk on your hands....

Trevor

 

[Avenelite]

I have only been preparing for about 6 weeks. In that time I have completed about 160kms with pack, in a variety of terrains. The longest was 28kms (gravel and tarmac roads)and the shortest around 6.5kms (mountains of Norway, steep, slippery, rocky). I only decided about 2 months ago to do this, otherwise I probably would have done more but mainly because I enjoy it. I also had to walk in a new pair of hiking shoes!

My last hike was 4 days ago at 24.5kms with full pack in very hilly Kent in the UK, I am not doing anymore but did spend 50mins yesterday climbing and descending 7 flights of stairs nonstop with full pack and will probably do the same today or tomorrow. Boring but tough!

The weakest link here is my feet, they start to feel bruised after 18-20kms because the muscles in the feet are relatively weak as my physio tells me, and only prolonged activity will build those up. I think the camino will provide this

I don't have any time pressure so if I manage 10 or 40kms in a day I don't mind.

Buen Camino

It is interesting that no-one has mentioned using walking poles during the training period. I have introduced them slowly, checking first via friends and the internet how to use them correctly. Mind you, like all issues to do with the Camino, there are many, sometimes conflicting, views. I have slowly adjusted to using the poles, uphill and down, and find that the support and confidence I have gained has been worth the time it has taken to work out what is best for me.

 

[dougfitz]

It is interesting that no-one has mentioned using walking poles during the training period. I have introduced them slowly, checking first via friends and the internet how to use them correctly. Mind you, like all issues to do with the Camino, there are many, sometimes conflicting, views. I have slowly adjusted to using the poles, uphill and down, and find that the support and confidence I have gained has been worth the time it has taken to work out what is best for me.

I never imagined that anyone who was going to use poles would train without them.

I am glad to hear that you have taken the time to find out how to use them correctly - it was common to see people who didn't, and were not gaining all the benefit they might have from having and using their poles.

 

[Alena]

Keep it light and enjoy the walk.