In three weeks I’ll be stepping off on another ~800 Kms (~480 miles) walk across Northern Spain, along the Camino de Santiago 13th century pilgrimage trail. This will be the fourth time for me, once again (hopefully) completing the entire “Camino Frances” route, from southwest France to the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago.
I’m in southeastern England right now, in Canterbury, home of the famous medieval cathedral. The climate here in the summer is generally very pleasant and conducive to long training walks. The area is home to many scenic foot and bicycle paths, which are ideal for nice, long walks.
Canterbury itself has long been a pilgrimage destination and is also the starting point for the “Via Francigena”, a 1200-mile walk to Rome, so the whole pilgrimage thing is well-understood here.
My training involves going to a gym for weight work three days a week, an 8-mile plus walk to nearby Chartham and back five days a week, and one extra long walk each weekend. Slowly, sometimes painfully, I’m whipping the old bod into the kind of shape needed to tackle the Camino.
I’m also using all my Camino gear in order to ensure that it all still works. My planning attempted to incorporate all of the “lessons learned” from last time (but, no, I didn’t add a snorkel – I’m praying for drier weather than last time).
I’ll make a few more posts in the next few weeks, to give you a better idea of the area and my preparations. Once I launch on the camino, I’ll make regular posts. Thanks for following along.
Cheers.
The Occasionally-Examined Life 