DeletedUser13231
Ok...let me say this first to get it out of the way...some will not have any interest in my blog whatsoever for whatever reasons they may have. I respect that and give you a friendly wave and a 'God Bless' as you pass on by
For those who are interested in a blog written by a pilgrim whose first journey along The Way of St James (the Camino de Santiago) has..in a way...already begun...welcome Here's your chance to kill some time waiting on your goods and whatnot And who knows..maybe it'll inspire you to do your own Camino some day! Buen Camino! if you do!
Sit down and I'll pour you a drink on this wonderful Friday evening (this is a Tavern after all)... whilst I continue sharing my real life true adventures. Lots of ice cold beer to go around Cheers!!
I say already begun thanks to my Catholic priest who has pointed out to me that my pilgrimage actually began on the first day of the start of my training for it...which was Dec 1..whether I was aware of it or not. I wasn't. I didn't think it started until the plane lands in Toulouse France. Nope says he...Dec 1st it began.
For those unfamiliar with the Camino de Santiago and who don't know what it is...it is the Way of St James along the route St James (disciple and Apostle of Jesus Christ and brother of St John) took on his way to Spain to spread the Word of God after Christ's crucifixion. Pilgrims have been retracing his steps for over a thousand years...and ending in Santiago de Compostella Spain where his body is entombed. St James began in Jerusalem Israel...but modern day pilgrims commonly begin the trip in St Jean Pied de Port France...500 miles from Santiago de Compostella. Rarely some pilgrims do actually begin in Jerusalem...but 4000+ miles is just a tad too much for most.
A good way to get an idea of the Camino is to watch the movie "The Way" starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez..it can be found on Netflix. The movie was my inspiration to actually do the Camino. Years ago I had read about the Camino vaguely and had dreamed of one day doing it...but it wasn't until I saw the movie that the overwhelming desire to go on it came over me enough to seriously budget and plan for it. I mean..to me this is a major undertaking for a woman my age and in my physical condition! 500 miles...wow! Every step of it will be walked if..God willing...all goes well.
Physically I am not in the best shape to begin with so training is a must. I am active but not athletic in any way. Whether I make it to the end of the Camino will be interesting... I wonder!! The actress Shirley Mclane did the Camino...that gives me hope for me! If she can I can too! And Martin Sheen..bless his soul...and Emilio Estevez...hunk of hunks
Over a dozen people have died on the Camino trying to complete it. I very well might be one of them although unlikely. Some die from heart attacks..others from being caught unprepared in severe weather conditions in the Pyrenees mountains. The weather there is unpredictable and can change suddenly. Unless you are very athletic it takes at least two days to get through the mountains. A lot can happen in two days. My plan is to spend the 3 months prior to departure getting prepared.
So training began Dec 1st in the gym on a treadmill. My plan is to increase distance endurance slowly and incrementally. One mile at 2.2 mph with no incline was enough for the entire 1st day. Then I boosted the incline as can be seen in the pic..the number of rows of green lights are indicative of the amount of incline...here it was a 3% incline. For those unfamiliar with treadmill digital dashboards the numbers from left to right mean I had been walking for 24.42 minutes..had gone a distance of .89 mile (just under a mile)...at 2.2 mph...and had burned 93.1 calories. The remote control is for the wall mounted tv in front of the treadmill. Sorry the pic turned out crappy..was walking when I took it and used my Ipod camera.
[/URL][/IMG]
Almost two weeks later and I am now at two training sessions per day doing 5 miles each at 2.5 mph with an average incline of 3%. Sometimes the incline is boosted up to over 6% and sometimes I drop it down to below 3% to prepare my leg muscles for a variety of terrain. This is not easy!! So far at 5 miles I 'hit the wall' and have to stop for a few hours to rest. Been trying for the past couple days to get past that wall. It'll happen..I just gotta keep believing it'll happen!! On the treadmill I've been burning a little over 100 calories per mile. 5 miles at a time x2 per day is just over 1000 calories. One lb of body fat equals 3000 calories. In 3 days I've lost a lb. In the course of the past 13 days my jeans are baggy and feel a slight difference in my core and leg strength...the training is definitely helping!
So I'm jazzed! I sent off for my Camino credentials...aka the Camino Passport (not to be confused with a regular passport) earlier this week. Should receive that within 3-4 weeks by mail. The Camino Passport is what is required to receive the Compostella diploma at the end of the pilgrimage on the Camino. The Compostella diploma is a reproduction of the original medieval document written in Latin that is given to each pilgrim...with their name and date of completion included on it..to certify that the pilgrim completed the Camino. The diploma can only be obtained by the pilgrim having his or her Camino Passport stamped at each Albergue (hostel) the pilgrim stays in along the way. Only those who do the trek on foot..bicycle...or horseback can obtain stamps and a diploma and the pilgrim must have done at least the last 100 kilometers of the Camino just before Santiago de Compostella. The Camino Passport will be full of stamps by the end!!
I haven't mentioned yet why I'm doing this...the 'Why' is one question asked by the clerk who fills out the diploma at the end to every pilgrim. There are two different diplomas...one specifically (the one in Latin) for those who do it for spiritual reasons..and another (not in Latin and not true to the original medieval wording and format) for everyone with other reasons. My reasons began as spiritual and will end as spiritual. Sure..500 miles is a challenge..but it doesn't change my spiritual reasons for this trek. A person can do 500 mile treks anywhere...but this one..along the Way of St James..is spiritual in its own right.
The timing of my Camino has personal significance to me as well. (A lot of thought and effort has gone into it by me. It took me weeks to decide on start and end dates!!) It begins the first week of March 2015. Events such as my birthday...Holy Week...Good Friday...and Easter will all occur during my Camino and I will (should) arrive at the foot of St James on April 17th (hopefully if all goes well)...the day theologian scientists think is Jesus Christ's real birthday. Once completed...each pilgrim attends Mass at Santiago de Compostella...receives communion..and is individually blessed by the priest. What better day to do this on than on the day that is most likely Jesus' real birthday!! How better to honor St James..Disciple and Apostle of Christ... who lived until his death doing God's work! Crazy cool!
Until next update...Cheers!! *pouring another round*
LeatherAndLace
For those who are interested in a blog written by a pilgrim whose first journey along The Way of St James (the Camino de Santiago) has..in a way...already begun...welcome Here's your chance to kill some time waiting on your goods and whatnot And who knows..maybe it'll inspire you to do your own Camino some day! Buen Camino! if you do!
Sit down and I'll pour you a drink on this wonderful Friday evening (this is a Tavern after all)... whilst I continue sharing my real life true adventures. Lots of ice cold beer to go around Cheers!!
I say already begun thanks to my Catholic priest who has pointed out to me that my pilgrimage actually began on the first day of the start of my training for it...which was Dec 1..whether I was aware of it or not. I wasn't. I didn't think it started until the plane lands in Toulouse France. Nope says he...Dec 1st it began.
For those unfamiliar with the Camino de Santiago and who don't know what it is...it is the Way of St James along the route St James (disciple and Apostle of Jesus Christ and brother of St John) took on his way to Spain to spread the Word of God after Christ's crucifixion. Pilgrims have been retracing his steps for over a thousand years...and ending in Santiago de Compostella Spain where his body is entombed. St James began in Jerusalem Israel...but modern day pilgrims commonly begin the trip in St Jean Pied de Port France...500 miles from Santiago de Compostella. Rarely some pilgrims do actually begin in Jerusalem...but 4000+ miles is just a tad too much for most.
A good way to get an idea of the Camino is to watch the movie "The Way" starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez..it can be found on Netflix. The movie was my inspiration to actually do the Camino. Years ago I had read about the Camino vaguely and had dreamed of one day doing it...but it wasn't until I saw the movie that the overwhelming desire to go on it came over me enough to seriously budget and plan for it. I mean..to me this is a major undertaking for a woman my age and in my physical condition! 500 miles...wow! Every step of it will be walked if..God willing...all goes well.
Physically I am not in the best shape to begin with so training is a must. I am active but not athletic in any way. Whether I make it to the end of the Camino will be interesting... I wonder!! The actress Shirley Mclane did the Camino...that gives me hope for me! If she can I can too! And Martin Sheen..bless his soul...and Emilio Estevez...hunk of hunks
Over a dozen people have died on the Camino trying to complete it. I very well might be one of them although unlikely. Some die from heart attacks..others from being caught unprepared in severe weather conditions in the Pyrenees mountains. The weather there is unpredictable and can change suddenly. Unless you are very athletic it takes at least two days to get through the mountains. A lot can happen in two days. My plan is to spend the 3 months prior to departure getting prepared.
So training began Dec 1st in the gym on a treadmill. My plan is to increase distance endurance slowly and incrementally. One mile at 2.2 mph with no incline was enough for the entire 1st day. Then I boosted the incline as can be seen in the pic..the number of rows of green lights are indicative of the amount of incline...here it was a 3% incline. For those unfamiliar with treadmill digital dashboards the numbers from left to right mean I had been walking for 24.42 minutes..had gone a distance of .89 mile (just under a mile)...at 2.2 mph...and had burned 93.1 calories. The remote control is for the wall mounted tv in front of the treadmill. Sorry the pic turned out crappy..was walking when I took it and used my Ipod camera.
Almost two weeks later and I am now at two training sessions per day doing 5 miles each at 2.5 mph with an average incline of 3%. Sometimes the incline is boosted up to over 6% and sometimes I drop it down to below 3% to prepare my leg muscles for a variety of terrain. This is not easy!! So far at 5 miles I 'hit the wall' and have to stop for a few hours to rest. Been trying for the past couple days to get past that wall. It'll happen..I just gotta keep believing it'll happen!! On the treadmill I've been burning a little over 100 calories per mile. 5 miles at a time x2 per day is just over 1000 calories. One lb of body fat equals 3000 calories. In 3 days I've lost a lb. In the course of the past 13 days my jeans are baggy and feel a slight difference in my core and leg strength...the training is definitely helping!
So I'm jazzed! I sent off for my Camino credentials...aka the Camino Passport (not to be confused with a regular passport) earlier this week. Should receive that within 3-4 weeks by mail. The Camino Passport is what is required to receive the Compostella diploma at the end of the pilgrimage on the Camino. The Compostella diploma is a reproduction of the original medieval document written in Latin that is given to each pilgrim...with their name and date of completion included on it..to certify that the pilgrim completed the Camino. The diploma can only be obtained by the pilgrim having his or her Camino Passport stamped at each Albergue (hostel) the pilgrim stays in along the way. Only those who do the trek on foot..bicycle...or horseback can obtain stamps and a diploma and the pilgrim must have done at least the last 100 kilometers of the Camino just before Santiago de Compostella. The Camino Passport will be full of stamps by the end!!
I haven't mentioned yet why I'm doing this...the 'Why' is one question asked by the clerk who fills out the diploma at the end to every pilgrim. There are two different diplomas...one specifically (the one in Latin) for those who do it for spiritual reasons..and another (not in Latin and not true to the original medieval wording and format) for everyone with other reasons. My reasons began as spiritual and will end as spiritual. Sure..500 miles is a challenge..but it doesn't change my spiritual reasons for this trek. A person can do 500 mile treks anywhere...but this one..along the Way of St James..is spiritual in its own right.
The timing of my Camino has personal significance to me as well. (A lot of thought and effort has gone into it by me. It took me weeks to decide on start and end dates!!) It begins the first week of March 2015. Events such as my birthday...Holy Week...Good Friday...and Easter will all occur during my Camino and I will (should) arrive at the foot of St James on April 17th (hopefully if all goes well)...the day theologian scientists think is Jesus Christ's real birthday. Once completed...each pilgrim attends Mass at Santiago de Compostella...receives communion..and is individually blessed by the priest. What better day to do this on than on the day that is most likely Jesus' real birthday!! How better to honor St James..Disciple and Apostle of Christ... who lived until his death doing God's work! Crazy cool!
Until next update...Cheers!! *pouring another round*
LeatherAndLace
Last edited by a moderator: