AlexanderAZ
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2017 (Sept/Oct): CF: SJPdP-->Fisterra-->Muxia (solo)
2019 (late Sept): CF: SJPdP-->Leon (honeymoon!)
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Does your gym have a treadmill where you can adjust the inclination? Stairs are also handy ;-) Buen Camino, SY
Hi @AlexanderAZ, I'm not sure I can help much, but may I suggest some lateral thinking. I assume you're planning on a big section of the Camino Frances.For those who have completed a Camino, what do suggest as best preparation when one is unable to walk outside? I live in a region where it is hot this time of year. I read things on this forum about it being hot along the meseta. Pffffffff. You don't know HOT. The next 5 days here are 115/119/121/118/117 so no walking outside (except to get to your car's A/C). Would seem a treadmill at as gym might suffice but I still have no way to train for the decent of the Pyrenees. Any suggestions? I lift weights regularly but I don't know how to best prepare my feet (specifically). Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
trekking poles are a must for decents, saved our butts a few times and took the strain off our legs too.Treadmills don't do a decline, just an incline. Honestly I'm most concerned about the decent.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhaahahahahahahahaha I love it !!! lmaoFor the descent to Roncesvalles you could build a steep ramp in your back yard and cover it with wet leaves. Toss on a few rocks. Spray with a garden hose when it starts to dry out.
Another important aspect of preparation is to put concrete-filled shoe boxes over your shoes to train for walking in mud! The ramp would be useful as well.
Also, perhaps your gym has a large shower where you can walk fully clothed for a few hours.! Bring the ramp and the mud simulators along.
In 2014, the week after I left, temps reached 38ºC and I have heard of 42ºCI read things on this forum about it being hot along the meseta. Pffffffff. You don't know HOT. The next 5 days here are 115/119/121/118/117 so no walking outside.
Good plan. I live in Peoria and as I am an early riser I have been leaving by 5 to do my regular training walks. It's light by then anyway. It's cooling off at night (at least for the time being) so as long as you finish by 8 or so you will be OK.@AlexanderAZ you can get up at 5am to train. Put a torch on your head.
What about your 71yo Dad? What's he doing?
How about finding some stairs in a community centre / exercise facility (no suits there!) and introduce yourself to the front desk / security. Surely they will understand?!A guy with a backpack in the stairwell doesn't make people in suits feel very comfortable and it quickly draws the attention of building security. Tried that, I'll pass on repeating that experience!
Hi @AlexanderAZ, I'm not sure I can help much, but may I suggest some lateral thinking. I assume you're planning on a big section of the Camino Frances.
I live in Australia. I walked my first Camino last year (2016) - 800kms of the CF. I trained for a year before heading to Spain. But I skipped the hottest weather, both during training and on the Camino. I started walking last few days in March and got to Santiago not quite a week into May. Spring in Galicia was paradise.
My toughest day was the first - walking up to Roncesvalles. Probably a combination of nerves and gradually coming down from an adrenalin rush after the first few hours. The Napoleon Route was still closed - jammed with snow. There was also snow up at Rocesvalles, but after walking a couple hours down from R. I got clear of the snow and never saw any again. Although it was zero degrees centigrade (=freezing) when I was in Burgos, so that was a near thing.
The descent that I found the most strenuous is down towards Molinaseca, just before Ponferrada. You'll be fit by then but I strongly recommend walking poles, I found it treacherous - it was wet. Alto De Perdon was not as difficult as I expected but it's the round stones in eroded gullies that make things difficult on the worst descents. Your ankles will take a hit every time all your body weight lands on one ankle at a time and the ankle pops to a new position because the rocks are round and unstable.
My first Camino decision was not to walk in summer. I thought my feet might sweat and blisters might happen. It's easier to control body temp with layers in cooler weather than to be stuck in the heat, as you know better than most.
I think that overall fitness is most important. I have a small exercise machine which is like a rowing machine. I was able to train walking using walking poles and carrying a pack - did that for the final couple of months. (In ALL weather. You'll never get used to walking all day in the rain but it's useful to experience it a few times before you get out there.) Using walking poles properly takes a lot of stress off your legs - going uphill it's like having 4 legs! Poles are essential going downhill - for stability and safety as well as protecting ankles and knees from shocks. Without training your upper body you won't be as ready as you might otherwise be. That would be OK a couple of weeks in, I expect.
Feet are a whole other issue. I never got a single blister but that's basically a genetic thing regardless of what anyone says on the forum (Google "skin shear, blisters"). I have weak arches and a weak ankle so I got a bad case of plantar fasciitis on the Camino. But everyone is different - this is never more true than regarding feet. I have gathered info about strategies which will help me to control plantar fasciitis if it rears its ugly head again. A major strategy re feet is to give yourself an out - stop half way and go back the following year, for instance. Look out for people who say "just wear such-and-such brand of shoe/boot and all your prayers will be answered." You have to discover what suits you specifically. It's a complex issue and if you accept that, you'll be open to learning more.
There are different stretches for calves and achilles/feet. For arches: stand on a step at home with just the balls of your feet on the step, then slowly lower yourself down an inch or so, hold, slowly up to start position, hold, repeat. Difficult but over time, it will strengthen your arches which is where the stress is while walking. If your legs get stiff and sore (duh) get a massage once in a while and maybe take magnesium supplements for muscle soreness. Take regular days off - you're not a hero, an Olympic athlete, or a machine. Stay hydrated, you need more that you think.
I was 72 while walking last year, so some might think that a geezer's experience might not apply. I disagree. Future strategies for me include walking max 400kms. Others can walk 1000kms and turn around and go back, maybe you can too. Lucky you. I have learned to accept that I personally can't do that.
Some people will say "Just go. Don't overthink it." I suspect that means "God/The Camino will take care of you." I take care of me.
Any questions, please contact me via a personal conversation, no problem. You'll almost certainly get a lot of conflicting advice here on your thread. Everyone wants to help but you need time to discover what suits you - physically and other ways too. I'm not a machine and I assume you aren't either.
Buen Camino, Have a wonderful time. I did and I'm planning my next trip(s) now.
Mike
Hi Peter,Excellent Mike, I have planned my pilgrimage from end of August to 6 October, from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago on to Finisterre. I too am 72, I done 90 miles into Santiago last year and I am in training now for August. Looking forward to it.
Do it without the pack at first. Then talk to building security and let them know what you are doing. And/or use a more public building (at a university?). You only need a few stories high to make it work. Up, down, up, down, wash, rinse, repeat.A guy with a backpack in the stairwell doesn't make people in suits feel very comfortable and it quickly draws the attention of building security. Tried that, I'll pass on repeating that experience!
As an uninitiated Camino walker (planning on mid-May 2018), I absolutely appreciate your long, thorough responses! Thank you!!Hi Peter,
I'm glad there was some useful info there for you. I sometimes get carried away and my posts get a bit overlong for some. I often write with the uninitiated in mind and not so much as a narrowly focussed answer to the original post.
The weather should cool down a little for you at that time.
Have a good one. Buen Camino, - Mike
@AlexanderAZ you can get up at 5am to train. Put a torch on your head.
What about your 71yo Dad? What's he doing?
Your post made me laugh out loudFor the descent to Roncesvalles you could build a steep ramp in your back yard and cover it with wet leaves. Toss on a few rocks. Spray with a garden hose when it starts to dry out.
Another important aspect of preparation is to put concrete-filled shoe boxes over your shoes to train for walking in mud! The ramp would be useful as well.
Also, perhaps your gym has a large shower where you can walk fully clothed for a few hours.! Bring the ramp and the mud simulators along.
Absolutely! The best training for traveling is ... traveling!You could come to New Zealand.
You must live in Auckland. Out in the rural back blocks we've had a week of fine crisp days which have been great for chainsawing and wood splitting, not sure if this is good for Camino training but is great for cardio and overall fitness.You could come to New Zealand. We've had rain every day but a handful for the past three months! In another month spring will be arriving and that's when it really rains;-)
You're right - I'm in Auckland. But we too have just had a beautiful week (it's been three weeks since my previous post!) However, yesterday was September 1st and spring arrived and the rain returned and looks like it's set in until Christmas! The plums are in blossom though and first bulbs bursting into flower under the mandarin trees - makes me think of Via de la Plata wildflowers.You must live in Auckland. Out in the rural back blocks we've had a week of fine crisp days which have been great for chainsawing and wood splitting, not sure if this is good for Camino training but is great for cardio and overall fitness.
As an uninitiated Camino walker (planning on mid-May 2018), I absolutely appreciate your long, thorough responses! Thank you!!
I’ve been reading this forum for some time now, and my feelings rapidly seem to go from excitement to terror!As an uninitiated Camino walker (planning on mid-May 2018), I absolutely appreciate your long, thorough responses! Thank you!!
Good plan. I live in Peoria and as I am an early riser I have been leaving by 5 to do my regular training walks. It's light by then anyway. It's cooling off at night (at least for the time being) so as long as you finish by 8 or so you will be OK.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?