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How about the low hanging light fixtures installed by all the 5'8" Spaniards? Stitches anyone????Help us realize that the tall ones can't possibly understand our plight.
I should have added that it is in a series that includes using a skateboard. You figure out the truth in the matter.
My father was your height. It is the perfect height for a man.As a borderline short guy (5’8”), I feel your pain.
What I wouldn't give to be 5'8" !As a borderline short guy (5’8”), I feel your pain.
I've often thought there should be a special certificate to acknowledge all the extra effort required of a short person walking the Camino. Walking alone requires 3 steps to every single step of the tall ones. The least little series of stones to ascend is akin to climbing a steep mountain. There is no such thing as a quick jump over a puddle for someone short in stature, the result of any leap generally lands in the water. Let's talk climbing all those stairs!!!! What about having to climb into a top bunk...even worse, trying to get down. And then there's the ever present awful seat at every mass/blessing because it is impossible to see anything over the heads of the hoards. At any bar that has no queue, it's the tall ones who are served and the short ones ignored. When it comes to clothing, we need to pay for shortening the length of pants and all shirts fit like a dress. The one advantage is our clothes weigh less and the length of sleeping bags are hardly an issue. I'd like to think our efforts are three times those of the tall ones, making our hearts all that much more blessed.
Prayer for the short:
Dear Lord,
Help us wee ones on our walk
Help us realize that the tall ones can't possibly understand our plight
Give us the strength to continue
Reassure us that the steps to heaven will not be steep nor many
Bless us twice for trying and provide us with the humor we need to survive each day
Amen
When I met my husband he said that was his height. Then about forty year's later I saw his passport and it declared that he was 5'7"! He said he didn't want to appear short to me, but he actually complemented my 5'2" height perfectly.As a borderline short guy (5’8”), I feel your pain.
5'2"...lets keep in mind that in the US, 'petite' sizes in women are for 5'5" and under...Still having to hem pants!Just how short art thou?
How about the low hanging light fixtures installed by all the 5'8" Spaniards? Stitches anyone????
Six foot bunk beds with solid head and foot boards?
17th Century granite doorframe heads at about 5'8" (tall in those days)?
Bunks that do not allow sitting upright on the lower bunk?
Standard toilet height designed for a short nation requiring deep knee bends for taller or older persons?
Shower curtains hung at 5'10"?
Any of the notoriously short dictators and their attitude toward everyone of any height?
Obviously, ( though apparently, not obvious to all ) the post is written with a sense of humor ...but it remains fact that the shorter you are, the more steps you have to take as the length of your stride is not the same as that of a 6 foot or taller person. I've walked 5 camino and embarking on my 6th this September. Two of those I've walked with a young woman I'd met in Spain who was 25 years my junior and 10" taller than myself. The only advantage I noted for being short was having a much taller friend to walk with !I am 5 foot three inches. I don't think it's a big deal at all as long as I am fit and well to walk.
Well it does give you somebody to look up too!Obviously, ( though apparently, not obvious to all ) the post is written with a sense of humor ...but it remains fact that the shorter you are, the more steps you have to take as the length of your stride is not the same as that of a 6 foot or taller person. I've walked 5 camino and embarking on my 6th this September. Two of those I've walked with a young woman I'd met in Spain who was 25 years my junior and 10" taller than myself. The only advantage I noted for being short was having a much taller friend to walk with !
Laughter gets you through life.
Eyes of blue?5'2"...lets keep in mind that in the US, 'petite' sizes in women are for 5'5" and under...Still having to hem pants!
Coochie, coochie, coochie coo... indeed they are blue
5'2"...lets keep in mind that in the US, 'petite' sizes in women are for 5'5" and under...Still having to hem pants!
5'2"...you are a giant5'2"...lets keep in mind that in the US, 'petite' sizes in women are for 5'5" and under...Still having to hem pants!
How about the low hanging light fixtures installed by all the 5'8" Spaniards? Stitches anyone????
Six foot bunk beds with solid head and foot boards?
17th Century granite doorframe heads at about 5'8" (tall in those days)?
Bunks that do not allow sitting upright on the lower bunk?
Standard toilet height designed for a short nation requiring deep knee bends for taller or older persons?
Shower curtains hung at 5'10"?
Any of the notoriously short dictators and their attitude toward everyone of any height?
“Let us cultivate our garden.”
― Voltaire, Candide
@David, you are correct to point out that there are many advantages to being a short person. When this thread was started, I couldn't decide between it being merely a humouresque or a case of short person special pleading. In any case, I had some time on my hands at home recovering from surgery to do some internet based research. There is a wonderful array of resources that all point to the advantages of being a short person. Amongst these were:Well ... generally short people tend to live longer than tall people and .. hhmmm .. the Roman Legions were pretty tough (to say the least) and marched everywhere, thousands of miles, carrying some 60 lbs of equipment, and imperial regulations stated that 5' 7" (in Roman measurements) was the minimum for a soldier, which equates to 5' 5" in modern money and the average overall was 5' 7" - which is why the huge German tribal warriors burst out laughing when they first saw them ... which only lasted until the fight started, obviously.
@dougfitz Clearly humor is not a universal language on the forum. I can assure you, dear pilgrim, that in no way do I need, nor desire any special pleading. No idea where you fall in the category of height, and perhaps you've had that surgical procedure to remove your funny bone, but I can't see any deliberate autopsy of another's post to be beneficial in any way.@David, you are correct to point out that there are many advantages to being a short person. When this thread was started, I couldn't decide between it being merely a humouresque or a case of short person special pleading. In any case, I had some time on my hands at home recovering from surgery to do some internet based research. There is a wonderful array of resources that all point to the advantages of being a short person. Amongst these were:
I also found some maps of where all those tall people are, and clearly Scandinavia and northern Europe stand out on this score.
- step length is relatively closely correlated to height, so unless @KJFSophie is walking with someone around 15 foot tall, her claim to be doing three times as many steps as those she is walking with is hyperbole!! No doubt short people will do more steps, but the difference is more likely to be 10% to 20%.
- load carrying capacity as a function of body mass decreases with height, so short people are more capable of carrying extra weight than taller people. This relates to muscular strength being related to muscle cross section, and increasing in a square law relationship with height, while body mass increases are related to body volume. So generally body mass increases faster than muscular strength with height, leaving less residual load carrying capacity for taller people.
- Short people have shorter bones, so shorter lever lengths. This is a clear advantage when it comes to many walking activities. Where others might have to deliberately step short, short people are able to continue their normal walking pace longer.
So true!!!Clearly humor is not a universal language on the forum.
No idea where you fall in the category of height
I am about 3cm shorter than the average Australian male, @KJFSophie appears to be about 5 cm shorter than the average woman from the US. Neither of us would fare well in any height comparison with the many pilgrims from most countries in Europe, where it appears (see the map I shared) that those populations are taller on average than those of us from Australia, Canada and the US (and many other places).@dougfitz is taller than me. But I'm 5-foot-nothing
@David, you are correct to point out that there are many advantages to being a short person. When this thread was started, I couldn't decide between it being merely a humouresque or a case of short person special pleading. In any case, I had some time on my hands at home recovering from surgery to do some internet based research. There is a wonderful array of resources that all point to the advantages of being a short person. Amongst these were:
I also found some maps of where all those tall people are, and clearly Scandinavia and northern Europe stand out on this score.
- step length is relatively closely correlated to height, so unless @KJFSophie is walking with someone around 15 foot tall, her claim to be doing three times as many steps as those she is walking with is hyperbole!! No doubt short people will do more steps, but the difference is more likely to be 10% to 20%.
- load carrying capacity as a function of body mass decreases with height, so short people are more capable of carrying extra weight than taller people. This relates to muscular strength being related to muscle cross section, and increasing in a square law relationship with height, while body mass increases are related to body volume. So generally body mass increases faster than muscular strength with height, leaving less residual load carrying capacity for taller people.
- Short people have shorter bones, so shorter lever lengths. This is a clear advantage when it comes to many walking activities. Where others might have to deliberately step short, short people are able to continue their normal walking pace longer.
I think the simple answer is that the slowest pilgrim's feet spend more time on the road. Those with shorter step lengths could well walk with a faster cadence and progress at a similar rate to someone taller. Then both sets of feet would spend the same time walking.My question is, for those mathematically inclined (e.g. dougfitz): who's feet spent more time treading ground in 500 miles, a shorter pilgrim's size 6 (US) or my size 15 (US)?
While walking one foot goes down and the other goes up. There is a foot on the ground all the way. That makes foot-to-ground time a matter of speed of the whole body.My question is, for those mathematically inclined (e.g. dougfitz): who's feet spent more time treading ground in 500 miles, a shorter pilgrim's size 6 (US) or my size 15 (US)?
As a 6’2” woman who has whacked my head on many light fixtures and literally other low hanging fruit (or fruit tree branches) I feel your pain.
And yes, our longer pants weigh more than your shorter ones, even if they’re the same waist size, not to mention shoes for our our “plus size” feet. (Stopped buying Gold Toe socks when they labeled their socks for longer feet “plus size” as I’m a 12N.)
I'm staying up to watch.The height heist will transpire; after the queimada; on an usually cloudy night; next to an albergue; near a stork nested church in a town near a Decathlon for obvious reasons.
I'm average height for a US male; Peg has some height. I have the longer stride. I've measured our speed many times by walking 10 minutes and noting that Peg reaches me in 5 minutes. Thus, while walking that distance my left foot has been in contact with the ground 5 minutes and the same for my right foot. Peg's feet had 7 and a half minutes ground contact each. Now if Peg were to hobble me to shorten my pace/stride when we do the same distance each one of our 4 feet will have ground contact for 7 and a half minutes. Now, if Peg kept her stride length but moved her legs faster to keep up with unhobbled me each of her feet would have 5 minutes ground contact time. Same distance done at the same speed means the same ground contact time no matter the height or stride length.errmmm .... makes it the length of paces, not speed.
@dougfitz Clearly humor is not a universal language on the forum. I can assure you, dear pilgrim, that in no way do I need, nor desire any special pleading. No idea where you fall in the category of height, and perhaps you've had that surgical procedure to remove your funny bone, but I can't see any deliberate autopsy of another's post to be beneficial in any way.
Since others have indeed endorsed my point of view, I'll assume these same others have been made to feel the same at some point walking amongst the tall ones. We don't need useless, correlations and skewed percentages to diminish our extra efforts, nor do we need anyone who is not short stature to smile upon our musings. We get it. That's all that matters.
I'm staying up to watch.
(Or would it be like waiting for Santa Claus?)
This is just for me. I hope I don’t have too much trouble. I will be starting el Camino September 30 !! Thanks for the prayer.I've often thought there should be a special certificate to acknowledge all the extra effort required of a short person walking the Camino. Walking alone requires 3 steps to every single step of the tall ones. The least little series of stones to ascend is akin to climbing a steep mountain. There is no such thing as a quick jump over a puddle for someone short in stature, the result of any leap generally lands in the water. Let's talk climbing all those stairs!!!! What about having to climb into a top bunk...even worse, trying to get down. And then there's the ever present awful seat at every mass/blessing because it is impossible to see anything over the heads of the hoards. At any bar that has no queue, it's the tall ones who are served and the short ones ignored. When it comes to clothing, we need to pay for shortening the length of pants and all shirts fit like a dress. The one advantage is our clothes weigh less and the length of sleeping bags are hardly an issue. I'd like to think our efforts are three times those of the tall ones, making our hearts all that much more blessed.
Prayer for the short:
Dear Lord,
Help us wee ones on our walk
Help us realize that the tall ones can't possibly understand our plight
Give us the strength to continue
Reassure us that the steps to heaven will not be steep nor many
Bless us twice for trying and provide us with the humor we need to survive each day
Amen
Peg is a tallish short person. She is short in altitude but has a tall attitude because she was the tallest kid in her class back in elementary school.I am a short tall person.
Oh!
I’m 5’1”, but I have long legs so folks always think I am about 5’4, 5’5”.
As a borderline short guy (5’8”), I feel your pain.
David--Not necessarily. I'm 5'0" and weigh as much as you do. My pack weighs just as much. I am top heavy to boot. Stepping over logs, stone piles, barriers is difficult. I agree with everything and more that KJFSophie said. And for those who think we shorties walk faster because we have short legs are just plain wrong. It may SEEM we are walking faster, but it's just a visual because our legs are having to move faster to equal your one step.Not at all, in fact quite the opposite - you shorties only have to carry half the body weight we carry!!!
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