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That is a very good summary of the situation!peregrinos are all different, and not all advice works. It is one of those things where you have to walk your Camino and figure it out for yourself. What is consistent, is that you have to love your feet and be open to changing your footwear where the opportunity exists.
I am a bit curious about this arbitrary challenge that you set for yourselves. What are your thoughts about it, after the fact?we wanted the challenge of walking a sub-30 day Camino
Good to hear that you found your camino to be so satisfying that you'll be back another year!
That is a very good summary of the situation!
I am a bit curious about this arbitrary challenge that you set for yourselves. What are your thoughts about it, after the fact?
Susie and I arrived home in New Zealand two days ago from our journey along the Camino Frances and already we are thinking about what we will do next year! We left SJPdP on 27 April, and Susie arrived in SdC on 25 May. For me, my Camino came to an end at Boente, a mere 46 km from SdC after developing a swollen ulcerated foot and could no longer put any weight on it. I became the support groupie for Susie for her remaining two days walking after I received medical attention in Arca. We have spent quite some time reflecting on our foot care, footwear and daily walking distances.
Walking distances and foot wear- we wanted the challenge of walking a sub-30 day Camino, and given we had a few experiences of completo albergues we decided to book ahead our accommodation. These decisions locked us in to a walking schedule of 30+ km walking days, which our legs could handle easily but we were significantly impacted by our footwear and, at times, a lack of opportunities to manage our foot care (weather related). In Sarria, we switched to Teva sandals and realised our Camino experience would have been quite different had we have had these from day one. There are threads galore that discuss the pro's and con's of boots/shoes versus sandals. Our experience has led us to understand that our boot or shoe selection has to fulfill the following criteria. They must have adequate cushioning especially if you are walking long daily distances. They must be reasonably light, and allow for significant foot swelling. Once you start getting blisters, you need to have good sandals to wear, and yes, wear these with socks despite the fashion crime!
Foot care - is challenging when you are walking in the rain. Stopping on the trail to remove shoes where there is nowhere sheltered to sit, or encountering cafe's where footwear removal is prohibido, means you miss vital opportunities to check out your feet and massage them. We learnt these lessons hard, and the difficulty here is that peregrinos are all different, and not all advice works. It is one of those things where you have to walk your Camino and figure it out for yourself. What is consistent, is that you have to love your feet and be open to changing your footwear where the opportunity exists.
The Camino is challenging, and despite the pain and suffering that can occur, it is deeply joyful and we experienced true freedom which is why we want to do another one. I will come back next year to walk the final 46km, and we are looking at the via Francigena from Milan to Rome. It will be great to test our hard earned wisdom learnt on the Frances, on our second Camino, which I guess is what a lot of people do. This freedom, and joy gained in walk, eat, sleep, and repeat, gets into your system.
Buen Camino!
I thank Kanga here for her solid recommendation on sandals, they saved me when blisters started early week 3 but with use of sandals (with socks) for 4 days straight resulted in quick healing and my ability to walk all the way to Muxia via Fisterra from SJPP.
Good to hear that you found your camino to be so satisfying that you'll be back another year!
That is a very good summary of the situation!
I am a bit curious about this arbitrary challenge that you set for yourselves. What are your thoughts about it, after the fact?
Colette, what was your sandal choice for walking? Thanks in advance.
Colette, what was your sandal choice for walking? Thanks in advance.
@Avromal welcome home
I also know the disappointment from stopping, because of injury, before completing.
And like you I am back later this year to complete my first intention. And hopefully do some trips with Glasgow at the centre afterwards.
And, like you, getting the right footwear is essential. After five years training (I'm a slow learner) I have yet to have any blisters. I put that down to shoes several sizes bigger than normal and shoes that "breathe". This latter feature means I have no worries crossing streams or suffering perspiration as the "steam" has the means to escape.
My big issue, however, is "hammer" toes. Here, if the toes can move up and down they create a lot of pain in the joints after about 15 km. So the trick is to find a style of construction that flexibly restrains them. And as manufacturers change their construction details in subsequent versions of the same model, what worked before doesn't work now. As the local Toyota TV add said: "Bugger".
Having walked from Southwark Cathedral to Canterbury I have toyed with the Francigena as a continuation. Suspect it would be over several seasons though.
Kia kaha to you both.
I guess everybody is different, and I never followed Brieleys guide. I picked up a MiSusie and I arrived home in New Zealand two days ago from our journey along the Camino Frances and already we are thinking about what we will do next year! We left SJPdP on 27 April, and Susie arrived in SdC on 25 May. For me, my Camino came to an end at Boente, a mere 46 km from SdC after developing a swollen ulcerated foot and could no longer put any weight on it. I became the support groupie for Susie for her remaining two days walking after I received medical attention in Arca. We have spent quite some time reflecting on our foot care, footwear and daily walking distances.
Walking distances and foot wear- we wanted the challenge of walking a sub-30 day Camino, and given we had a few experiences of completo albergues we decided to book ahead our accommodation. These decisions locked us in to a walking schedule of 30+ km walking days, which our legs could handle easily but we were significantly impacted by our footwear and, at times, a lack of opportunities to manage our foot care (weather related). In Sarria, we switched to Teva sandals and realised our Camino experience would have been quite different had we have had these from day one. There are threads galore that discuss the pro's and con's of boots/shoes versus sandals. Our experience has led us to understand that our boot or shoe selection has to fulfill the following criteria. They must have adequate cushioning especially if you are walking long daily distances. They must be reasonably light, and allow for significant foot swelling. Once you start getting blisters, you need to have good sandals to wear, and yes, wear these with socks despite the fashion crime!
Foot care - is challenging when you are walking in the rain. Stopping on the trail to remove shoes where there is nowhere sheltered to sit, or encountering cafe's where footwear removal is prohibido, means you miss vital opportunities to check out your feet and massage them. We learnt these lessons hard, and the difficulty here is that peregrinos are all different, and not all advice works. It is one of those things where you have to walk your Camino and figure it out for yourself. What is consistent, is that you have to love your feet and be open to changing your footwear where the opportunity exists.
The Camino is challenging, and despite the pain and suffering that can occur, it is deeply joyful and we experienced true freedom which is why we want to do another one. I will come back next year to walk the final 46km, and we are looking at the via Francigena from Milan to Rome. It will be great to test our hard earned wisdom learnt on the Frances, on our second Camino, which I guess is what a lot of people do. This freedom, and joy gained in walk, eat, sleep, and repeat, gets into your system.
Buen Camino!
Susie and I arrived home in New Zealand two days ago from our journey along the Camino Frances and already we are thinking about what we will do next year! We left SJPdP on 27 April, and Susie arrived in SdC on 25 May. For me, my Camino came to an end at Boente, a mere 46 km from SdC after developing a swollen ulcerated foot and could no longer put any weight on it. I became the support groupie for Susie for her remaining two days walking after I received medical attention in Arca. We have spent quite some time reflecting on our foot care, footwear and daily walking distances.
Walking distances and foot wear- we wanted the challenge of walking a sub-30 day Camino, and given we had a few experiences of completo albergues we decided to book ahead our accommodation. These decisions locked us in to a walking schedule of 30+ km walking days, which our legs could handle easily but we were significantly impacted by our footwear and, at times, a lack of opportunities to manage our foot care (weather related). In Sarria, we switched to Teva sandals and realised our Camino experience would have been quite different had we have had these from day one. There are threads galore that discuss the pro's and con's of boots/shoes versus sandals. Our experience has led us to understand that our boot or shoe selection has to fulfill the following criteria. They must have adequate cushioning especially if you are walking long daily distances. They must be reasonably light, and allow for significant foot swelling. Once you start getting blisters, you need to have good sandals to wear, and yes, wear these with socks despite the fashion crime!
Foot care - is challenging when you are walking in the rain. Stopping on the trail to remove shoes where there is nowhere sheltered to sit, or encountering cafe's where footwear removal is prohibido, means you miss vital opportunities to check out your feet and massage them. We learnt these lessons hard, and the difficulty here is that peregrinos are all different, and not all advice works. It is one of those things where you have to walk your Camino and figure it out for yourself. What is consistent, is that you have to love your feet and be open to changing your footwear where the opportunity exists.
The Camino is challenging, and despite the pain and suffering that can occur, it is deeply joyful and we experienced true freedom which is why we want to do another one. I will come back next year to walk the final 46km, and we are looking at the via Francigena from Milan to Rome. It will be great to test our hard earned wisdom learnt on the Frances, on our second Camino, which I guess is what a lot of people do. This freedom, and joy gained in walk, eat, sleep, and repeat, gets into your system.
Buen Camino!
I am interested in your observations on sandals. I wore light boots on my first Camino (Salomon brand). They were very comfortable but I still got blisters. For my 2nd Camino I wore Keen trail shoes. Also comfortable but again blisters appeared. Both walks were in autumn so not the hottest of Spanish temperatures but hot enough for me (also from temperate Wellington). Of course I am contemplating my next Camino - maybe del Norte - and a walking sandal could be on the cards.
Did you find the open toe an issue? For stones/weather etc? Maybe not with the socks?
we wanted the challenge of walking a sub-30 day Camino
@Avromal welcome home
I also know the disappointment from stopping, because of injury, before completing.
And like you I am back later this year to complete my first intention. And hopefully do some trips with Glasgow at the centre afterwards.
If looking at Scottish trip from the Glasgow area, be sure to have a look at the West Highland Way. Great walking and magnificent scenery. Just North of Glasgow into Fort William. Good hiking.
And, like you, getting the right footwear is essential. After five years training (I'm a slow learner) I have yet to have any blisters. I put that down to shoes several sizes bigger than normal and shoes that "breathe". This latter feature means I have no worries crossing streams or suffering perspiration as the "steam" has the means to escape.
My big issue, however, is "hammer" toes. Here, if the toes can move up and down they create a lot of pain in the joints after about 15 km. So the trick is to find a style of construction that flexibly restrains them. And as manufacturers change their construction details in subsequent versions of the same model, what worked before doesn't work now. As the local Toyota TV add said: "Bugger".
Having walked from Southwark Cathedral to Canterbury I have toyed with the Francigena as a continuation. Suspect it would be over several seasons though.
Kia kaha to you both.
do have a look at the West Highland Way
@Bumpa thanks and that is my first planned trip. When staying at Balfron, my eldest son and I walked from the distillery into Milngavie, just on 10 km, on the last Sunday of 2014. It was a brilliant day, sunny, no wind and quite cool. The locals thought very cold: even the joggers and others walkers had thick jackets on. We were both dressed with a light merino top and I had a thin jacket (80 g / 3 oz).
An issue with the WHW is the sparcity of accomodation. So I have a two person tent which with an air matress comes in at around 800 g and the ground sheet doubles as a poncho.
The other trip (if time permits) is to Whithorn, where Ninian is associated with a house, said to be in the 5th century.
I am wondering if all the foot/shoe issues experiencedby the op could be partly due to walking so many kilometers each day. Just a thought. My average is 13 miles per day and the few times I had to increase the mileage to 16-18, I could tell my feet would not like doing that every day. I had no issues and worerelatively inexpensive AsicGood to hear that you found your camino to be so satisfying that you'll be back another year!
That is a very good summary of the situation!
I am a bit curious about this arbitrary challenge that you set for yourselves. What are your thoughts about it, after the fact?
Good to hear that you found your camino to be so satisfying that you'll be back another year!
That is a very good summary of the situation!
I am a bit curious about this arbitrary challenge that you set for yourselves. What are your thoughts about it, after the fact?
Me too! LePuy June 2018! (Lord and health willing.)Oh yes ... Love your feet. I SO understand you all in your reflections that it gets into your blood. It has totally changed us! We're setting off again late Aug to walk Le Puy-SJPP .... can't wait!
Hi Malcolm and Susie, I was pleased to see Mal's earlier message about the results of your Camino but saddened to learn of his foot issue at Boente. Delighted to learn Susie completed the CF.Hi - I'm the 'Susie' mentioned in Mal's post, and would like to add a little more to this thread...
I truly think that doing any camino is first and foremost an opportunity to visit yourself. Some of us go with a goal or challenge in mind re walking distances or days to finish, and that doesn't mean that there is a 'race' mentality in place or that the camino is being 'endured' and not enjoyed. People walk at their own pace covering whatever distances they choose to do, which may include following a guide book or schedule (or not, as anything goes, right?).
On planning for this camino, (a year in the making) the gear we would take was thoroughly tested and we trained. We are very fortunate to have some fantastic hills close by and boy, did we used them! We also walked long distances on and off road and found as we got fitter that we wanted to walk longer distances on our camino than the 'typical stages'.
We were not fast by any means - we took our time, starting around 6:30am and some days we didn't stop for the day until after 7pm. That's not for everyone, I get it. And I wouldn't be suggesting to fellow first timers that this be their plan. Our camino was our own, and we have gained so much from it. Knowledge about gear, footcare, the joy of simply walking and engaging with a country and culture at a slow enjoyable pace. And we now understand how we walk, what we are capable of and have gained a confidence that will allow us to consider walking less supported trails, and those that require 30+ km distances to be completed.
Setting a challenge need not be considered as breaking some unwritten camino rule...I mean, what about the guy we saw running the camino, is he enduring the camino and not enjoying it? I doubt it...I'm almost certain he's having the time of his life! As indeed, we did. Which is why we want to do more.
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