StArting Sept 20, 2021 10 Days

[LAtoMiami]

Still working out the details on starting point and stays along the way. What is a challenging but manageable walking distance for each day for 2 fit women?

 

[Richmond Gardner]

Are you walking along the Frances route?

 

[MaryLynn]

Still working out the details on starting point and stays along the way. What is a challenging but manageable walking distance for each day for 2 fit women?

I usually walk 20-25km/day, but the first two or three days are shorter days (10-15km), then I slowly increase my distance until I am comfortable with the longer distance. (I don't always start in St. Jean.)

 

[Tincatinker]

Still working out the details on starting point and stays along the way. What is a challenging but manageable walking distance for each day for 2 fit women?

How far do you usually walk every day? What is the longest distance you have ever walked in a day?
Do you want to make pilgrimage to the bones of Santiago?
10 days to Santiago is a start from Ponferrada if you’re fit.
I walk a minimum 5 miles a day. 15 miles once or twice a week. On Camino I average 20 miles a day with my pack. But I’m not a fit woman I’m a wrinkly old pagan with a dodgy heart and other challenges. Your question is a bit unanswerable. The trouble with aspiring to averages is that none of us is average.

 

[Vince Rollason]

Still working out the details on starting point and stays along the way. What is a challenging but manageable walking distance for each day for 2 fit women?

Hi
I don't know if this will help you but here is my experience.
I am now a 68 year old distance running coach and retired athlete. I was a 14.17 5k and 29.58 10k runner in my day and was still under 20 minutes for 5k in my 60s.. I am also an experienced hiker so pretty fit. I aim to walk on average about 20k per day. I start between 6 and 7 in the morning and walk about 2 hours and look for a breakfast stop. I then walk another 2 hours and find a lunch stop. I then consult my guide book and decide upon an alberque about 1 hour but an absolute maximum of 2 hours ahead. At a leisurely 4k an hour with and 8 kilo pack this comfortably gets you finished between 2 and 3 in the afternoon.
Hope this is of use to you
Buen Camino
Vince

 

[lt56ny]

Yes everyone is asking good questions. Your age, do you have to end in Santiago? I think your age because a fit 25 year old is different than a fit 65 year old.

I usually walk 20-25km/day, but the first two or three days are shorter days (10-15km), then I slowly increase my distance until I am comfortable with the longer distance. (I don't always start in St. Jean.)

Marylynn and I both have the same approach but I shoot for 20K a day to start. I also do not look at it as walking 20 or 25k (which is my normal camino distances) but as 5K increments. I start out and if there is a town within 5k or so that is where I go and then stop, take off my pack, take off my trail runners and have a snack. Rest for about 20 minutes or so and go the next 5k and repeat. By my 3rd 5k or maybe even a little sooner. I stop for my lunch and take an hour or so. Unless it is pouring rain I eat the sandwich I made the night before and then go to a bar and have a coffee. Then I may make one more short stop or just get to the town I want to sleep in. If I find myself tired and there is an albergue where I am, well all bets are off and that is where I stay that night.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Yes everyone is asking good questions. Your age, do you have to end in Santiago? I think your age because a fit 25 year old is different than a fit 65 year old.

Marylynn and I both have the same approach but I shoot for 20K a day to start. I also do not look at it as walking 20 or 25k (which is my normal camino distances) but as 5K increments. I start out and if there is a town within 5k or so that is where I go and then stop, take off my pack, take off my trail runners and have a snack. Rest for about 20 minutes or so and go the next 5k and repeat. By my 3rd 5k or maybe even a little sooner. I stop for my lunch and take an hour or so. Unless it is pouring rain I eat the sandwich I made the night before and then go to a bar and have a coffee. Then I may make one more short stop or just get to the town I want to sleep in. If I find myself tired and there is an albergue where I am, well all bets are off and that is where I stay that night.

Each to their own, I start walking, then keep walking until I feel like stopping for the day. I then keep an eye out for an albergue and when I spot one that I think I will like I look it up on Gronze.com and if Gronze says that it is okay I stop. If not I repeat until I do find one that Gronze and I like.

 

[lt56ny]

Each to their own, I start walking, then keep walking until I feel like stopping for the day. I then keep an eye out for an albergue and when I spot one that I think I will like I look it up on Gronze.com and if Gronze says that it is okay I stop. If not I repeat until I do find one that Gronze and I like.

I totally agree with this but it doesn't always work depending on which camino you are doing. I will be doing the VDLP. For example the first day is either 9 or 21k. Day 2 is only 19, Day 3 is only 29. Day 4 is 14 or 34K. I never take cabs or buses but I may not be ready for a 29k day on the third day. 67 sure ain't 37!

 

[antepacem]

For my part, I think the real question (you being fit and all other injury-prone things being equal) boils down to two aspects: feet and mental toughness. If your feet aren't up for more, the rest of you isn't up for more. If your mental toughness isn't up for more, the rest of you isn't up for more.

Before my first camino (Francès), I was a relatively seasoned half-marathoner and figured I could do more than the "average" - I was wrong. I ended up doing 20-25k a day until the very end, when I pulled a couple of longer days. Now, many caminos and thru-hikes under my belt, I would say 30k days are pretty standard for me, and I can pull out a few 40s and even a 50 or 2, here and there. But that's because I stop whenever I want to, have figured out the perfect sock-shoe combo, and have developed the mental toughness necessary to go longer (both through camino-ing and marathoning). Going long isn't necessary, of course; it's just a way that I personally am fed. I think anyone reasonably fit and dedicated to camino-ing can do 20-25k their first time out. I would prepare mentally (and pedally!) for that and let the way show you the rest.

(For the record, I'm a 43-year-old woman, been camino-ing since I was 35, and have been running long distances since I was on track in high school.)

 

[Anniesantiago]

I will be 69 this year (!!!) and my comfort zone is between 20-28 kilometers depending on the terrain.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

My sweet spot for walking the Camino is 20k per day, but I have often walked 26-30k when it was required...my feet definitely felt extra sore on those days.

 

[SkyDancer]

Each to their own, I start walking, then keep walking until I feel like stopping for the day. I then keep an eye out for an albergue and when I spot one that I think I will like I look it up on Gronze.com and if Gronze says that it is okay I stop. If not I repeat until I do find one that Gronze and I like.

You don’t stop for lunch? Or you just eat while you’re walking?

 

[DoughnutANZ]

You don’t stop for lunch? Or you just eat while you’re walking?

I sometimes have a late lunch when I stop at the end, which seems to fit in with Spanish culture.

I don't rush when I walk, I keep a steady pace of around 4.8 to 5 klms per hour unless the terrain or something else mandates a change.

I carry water and use that as needed. If I spot something of interest I will stop and take a photo but then I head off again once I have done that.

I have mild arthritis and if I stop for extended periods my muscles cool down and it becomes increasingly harder to restart walking and so I am more comfortable with warmer muscles that I keep moving.

 

[yolanda Mejia]

Are you walking along the Frances route?

I’m with a family member; but done the French twice by myself

 

[Richmond Gardner]

I’m with a family member; but done the French twice by myself

Have a great Camino… which route will you walk?