Training : what not to do

For my first camino, I spent about 9 months slowly building up my fitness. I discovered the miraculous power of iron tablets, regularly taken and  for the first time in my adult life I was able to exercise as much as I wanted without getting sick.  Before I left for the camino I managed to lose almost 10 kilos with regular gym trips and lots of walking and I lost another 5 kilos on the camino itself.  Although my first days  on the camino were a bit painful and tiring, and I lost a toenail and later developed a very small blister at the 2 week mark, I had a very easy camino really with very few problems and I was glad of my preparations.

This time, 10 years later and fatter, my comparatively last minute decision to walk this year has left me a much shorter time  to get camino fit.  I immediately threw myself into walking, stretching and lifting weights.  After almost 3 months of this daily   I now have a painful ankle and hip and a cold that I can't seem to shift...all the classic signs of overtraining. I did a bit of Googling and have just made and drunk the most revolting beetroot smoothie (the kitchen looks as though I have been dismembering bodies.. but apparently beetroot is the latest superfood and helps your body to recover from training) and last night I even ate 3 cloves of raw garlic.. I have no idea if these things help in any way but  I haven't had a better idea!

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Packs

Packs are amazingly complicated. They come in different volumes and materials, to fit different sexes and back lengths. They have many varied features. Luckily 10 years ago as I prepared for my first camino I didn't know any of this. I simply took a pack that we already had in the cupboard, that had come free with a tent that we had bought from Kmart. Despite that it worked beautifully. It fit everything I needed, was comfortable and reasonably light, and easy to open and close. I wondered if it would be strong enough to last for a 800 k walk but it was. In fact it lasted well and I used it again in 2003 for another camino. In 2005 my daughter Anna walked her first camino with it and in 2008 her second. Between times I patched and reinforced it. Now it is old and a bit tired but still going strong and Anna still uses it weekly to walk home from the vegetable market.  Which left me in a bit of a quandary. Over the holidays I visited outdoor shops in Hamilton, Whangarei and Tauranga but nothing really appealed. Packs that should have worked liked the Osprey Exos just didn't seem to fit me.. even the sales person said he didn't know why.. but it just didn't look right. I was intrigued by the new Aarn packs with their balancing front pockets, but at $NZ450 it was a bit hard to justify.

And then a stroke of luck. Although my pack was well over 10 years old and I had unsuccessfully checked the previous 3 months of Trademe (NZ's version of Ebay)  I had  saved a search. A few weeks ago someone advertised its duplicate.. just a bit newer looking and still brightly coloured.  Last week I won the small bidding war for it and today it arrived in the mail. It has a frayed strap and is missing a buckle so there will be a bit of mending, but I am so thankful to have it. I will also sew on the Camino and NZ patches and add some black mesh so I can safety pin my damp socks to dry as I walk. So far I have been going on practice walks with G's old pack. Tonight I was able to load up the new one and it felt so good!

Back from holiday

We have had a wonderful summer holiday. The weather has been been the hottest that anyone can remember for the time of year and we were lucky to have both our children home for Christmas.  We spent a few days in the north of the North island, exploring, with my extended family, parents and brothers, aunts  and cousins, the area where my mothers ancestors had first arrived in NZ and lived. While up there we had a great day trip out to the marine reserve at the Poor Knights islands to do some snorkeling. After Christmas we spent some time with G's family at the beach in the Bay of Plenty, again with almost perfect weather and lots of barbeques and swimming. For me there were lots of walks along the beach and up the Bowentown hill and a trip over the hills to Homunga Bay with my daughter. It was a bit of a shock to go back to work again but I have now been back for a week and the last child was deposited at the airport last night. Time to start planning again !

A decision

So much for along period of pondering and musing.. within  weeks of hearing the call of the camino.. I have decided to walk the Le Puy route. Why.. mainly because so many people who have both walked this route and others say that this is the one that they would repeat. Without the time to walk all three (how great would that be!) I am going to go with this choice. And as for timing.. I have gone from thinking that I would walk in 2012, to thinking that I might make late 2011 (but  found that I was the last person in NZ to realise that most flights to Europe in September / October are already booked for the Rugby World Cup) to making a very sudden decision that I might be able to go over the June mid year University break. Within days of this decision, and with some last minute online reassurance from the Santiago Forum, and a phone call to KiwiNomad in Palmerston Nth, I booked my tickets into and out of Paris.  Exciting and terrifying.. but it is time for an adventure!

Le Puy en Velay

Le Puy en Velay or Via Podensis to St Jean Pied de Port is the most popular of the routes through France. It generally follows the GR65 and is very beautiful, green, hilly and wet. It is  736 km  from Le Puy to St Jean Pied de Port

My research here

Arles ?

The Arles route (chemin d'Arles, voie d'Arles or Via Tolosana) goes from Arles, crosses part of the Camargue, through Montpellier and Toulouse and becomes the Camino Aragonese, joining up with the Camino Frances at Puenta la Reina. Here is my research.

Pro

• Some interesting cities (Arles, Toulouse etc)
• Camping may be possible
• CSJ recommends "Consider it seriously - discover it early"
• Good waymarking
• Plenty of Gites, hotels etc
• More pilgrims than Vezelay
• More spectacular scenery

Con

• More varied terrain, hillier than other routes , higher level of fitness needed
• May be colder and wetter in the shadow of the Pyranees
• Heavy rainfall common in September
• Average stages longer than le Puy route

Vezelay?

It is about 900 k from Vezelay to St Jean Pied de Port. Forum discussions here I have made a Google Doc out of my findings on the Vezelay route that I will keep adding to as I find relevant sites. So far the pros in favour of this route are

• It is relatively inexpensive, with some pilgrim accomodation
• Beautiful countryside
• Not too crowded.. locals less likely to be jaded by a constant stream of pilgrims
• Reasonably flat and not too hard

Against

• Can be lonely
• Mostly rural.. few cities
• Not as much variety in the terrain?