Planning - Physical Preparation - 68 Days to go

First let’s get this out of the way. Yes I am aware of COVID variant BA.5 and that much of Europe is currently experiencing a new wave…vaccines less effective etc etc. Ontario entered it’s 7th wave 3 weeks ago and current best guesses are we will be there until mid August at which point things will improve.

Then rinse and repeat sometime in the Fall.

Ok not a big surprise as this has been predicted for some time…unfortunate however... if I was scheduled to fly out tomorrow I would go. Careful masking indoors, outdoor walking, private accommodations, lesser travelled Primitivo and Salvador Caminos, 4 vaccines…go!

While I currently am much less risk averse than Spring 2020 when our Camino Primitivo was cancelled 😞 I will not be totally foolish if the situation really deteriorates.

IF serious deterioration occurs I would consider one of the following before canceling:

1) Pretend I have not had any vaccinations and see if I can get 4 more doses in succession- 8 in all. Probability of success - Very Very Low!

2) Sleep outside and eat berries found in forests. Probability of success - maybe last 2 to 3 days!

3) Walk 24 x 7 until Santiago de Compostela. Probability of success - 🤔 interesting option 😂

I will also outline another promising option in a future Clothing Planning blog. 

Enough about COVID I am going to complete my planning blogs with the positive thinking that this time I will walk!

Physical Planning

Most importantly you should know that one does NOT need to be an athlete to walk a Camino. I am certainly not as outlined below.

A Camino walk can be any length you want, for as many days, walking pace and rest days you require or desire.

I would think for practical purposes…accommodation availability…you should be able to walk 10 kms a day and preferably up to 15 kms.

2022 Camino plans anticipate an average of 25 kms per day over mountainous terrain with meaningful ascent/descent profiles so…have to prepare as best I can.

Athletic History - such as it is

Over the years…mainly in my early years I participated/fumbled my way through many sports/activities. They are categorized below as Pathetic, Acceptable and All Star. Think of an upside down pyramid and you get the picture 😂🤣.

Pathetic 

Hockey, Baseball, Tennis*, Badminton*,Table Tennis**, Bowling 5 pin, Bowling 10 pin, Volleyball, Crokinole, Tiddlywinks, PickupSticks etc etc

*Entered City Championships once by simply paying an entrance fee and was slaughtered first round

**Entered U of M tournament doubles and lost 21-0, 21-1 🥲 

Acceptable - With age caveats 

Golf - In my teens broke 80 maybe 7 or 8 times on a regulation course. Now out for the pure enjoyment and the chance to get my first hole in one (2 Blog recipients Ken and Stefan each have 2 holes in one…no fair!). I will keep trying…on Tuesday was 10 feet away from the pin on the front nine! 

On a later hole hit a brilliant shot to maybe 15 ft from the hole and with backspin (NEVER done this before) ball rolled back 10 ft. On a normal day ball would have hopped forward AND my first hole in one as the line was perfect! Robbed! Note I ended up 27 over par…a little inconsistent 😂🤣

Running - Strictly in my late 20s and early 30s. I had no speed skills whatsoever however my endurance was pretty good. I think good endurance is my main advantage today while walking.

86 - Half Marathon avg. 7.6 minutes a mile 227th place

87 - Full Marathon avg 8.3 minutes a mile 133rd place

88 - Full Marathon avg 8.4 minutes a mile 143rd place

2003 - Full Marathon Waddle avg 11.5 minutes a mile 1,019th place. Grossly overweight and out of shape 😞

Greg, a blog reader has run avg 6.2 minutes a mile and if memory serves me correct finished in 6th place?

All Star ⭐️ 

Claim to fame played second on a team that narrowly lost the A side final in Junior Men’s in 1976. Had we won we would have represented Manitoba in Canadian Nationals. Yours truly was voted All Star Second for the 16 teams.

After that it has been mostly downhill in curling 🥌 until I moved to Toronto and joined the Old Foggies League (my name) which plays twice weekly. I estimate the average age is likely 70 or so…great group! Here I am regaining All Star Status (my own judgement)…coming from Manitoba how can it be otherwise 😂.

Two possible Blog readers Elio, Andy curl in the league. I would say Elio and I are both All Stars ⭐️ however Andy well he tries so hard…is older than both Elio and me by a fair bit… enough said😞. Oh a little trash talk in advance of opening day is fun!

Medical History

I include this simply to outline why walking has been so very important to me.

First I must acknowledge how fortunate a person I am…I have always known and been thankful for this.

In late 2005 diagnosed with a Heart Arrhythmia…serious stuff. Couple of visits to Emergency…ambulance ride..tests etc. During one such test to measure EF (Heart pumping capacity) the technician (Dr W) turned to me and said:

“I was a Dr in the Ukraine prior to coming to Canada…your heart is beating 135 or so beats a minutes as if you are marathon 24x7. This cannot continue…if you were my patient you would go immediately down the hall to Emergency”

So I did that…further tests…Cardiologist Dr X on call was the top Cardiologist in Manitoba. He indicated that my arrhythmia had been misdiagnosed…changed all medications and I became his patient for the next 12 years.

Xmas 2005 I set a goal to lose 50 lbs by my 50th birthday 2006. Success through thoughtful eating and walking, walking, walking...

Ok regained a few lbs (10 or so) but it’s all 💪😂

2006 Dr X performs cardioversion procedure to reset heart electrical rhythm. Recall asking him before going under “You’ve done this before right? You know how many watts or whatever to zap me with?” He assured me yes…smiled and proceeded to zap me with the paddles.

Move to Toronto and now have Dr Y as cardiologist. Super nice guy…first time says “I see you have been stable for a long time…what can I do for you?” I didn’t really know so I mentioned Heart Ablation…is that possible?

Dr Y says “Why not…let’s give it a go” Off to see Dr Z who confirms yes and performs the procedure which is to “spot weld” those areas in the heart that were not firing properly. Weird as I was awake during the procedure and heard stuff like “Got one…another one” as they were watching television screens and pressing some button.

Finally back to Dr Y who says “Well that was a success! Now Guy I don’t have any patients like you…you are a well man. As long as you see your family Dr for checkups you don’t need to see me…you don’t need all these EKG’s…you know the symptoms if problems reoccur. I will be here if you ever need me in the future”

Sweet words…excellent medical support however I also credit walking as a major contributor to regaining good health so…keep walking 😊

Now I will be walking with a few past Pilgrim friends…hmmm a little younger than me 🤔

Paulo - Camino Primitivo Upper 40s age range lawyer from Brazil who is the primary managing lawyer for a family firm. I believe they have 30 or so combined staff lawyers/staff so a lot of effort I am sure!

I have walked a total of 43 days both on the Camino Frances and the Camino Portuguese with Paulo.

Paulo is a strong walker with great endurance and no give up…makes it easy to keep oneself motivated. He of course speaks Portuguese and also decent Spanish which has helped on occasion.😀

Food and drink = happy Paulo

Now I hope that Paulo has not gone soft in his new Executive role at the Firm…he assured me that will not be a problem!

Cyrille - Camino Salvador upper 30s age range for Cyrille who recently moved to Perpignan France (little story below). Cyrille has worked in many occupations…carpentry, studying to a pilot and now long haul truck driving. 

I have walked a total of 26 days on the Via Podiensis, Camino Frances and Camino Finistère routes with Cyrille. Cyrille is an exceptionally fast walker likely in the 6 km+ range when he gets going but man "one vraie tortue le matin" We would often set out an hour or so earlier than Cyrille every morning!

See you later Cyrille - he would always catch up!

Georges - Camino Salvador?? mid 50s age range I would guess. Georges lives in Belgium and is now the Camino expert…including walking clinics…at Decathlon. Georges may well be the strongest walker…along with my brother Marc…that I have ever met. Likely 7 ft 10 inches or so he is a powerful grinder. No blazing speed however he simply pulls away from you and keeps moving!

I have walked a total of 17 days on the Via Podiensis with Georges…many laughs during that time!

Georges has indicated that he likely will not be able to join Cyrille and me however one can always hope!

 

Note to self 

Maybe Georges will read this and feel pumped about joining us as I have just said good things about him. Or maybe Georges is not in good shape these days and is simply afraid to walk with the youngster Cyrille and the old guy Guy. Hmm 🤔 let us hope it’s the former and he decides it’s a go!

Perpignan story

A funny encounter at the restaurant where the organizer of the Perpignan group of 7 or 8 walkers came and joined us as we were finishing up. He sat beside Georges and just unloaded about about his group. He whined, complained and said that never never again would he get involved in such a walk..."they don't know how to walk...they get tired quickly...they get lost...they don't like the accommodations...they let little hurts get to them etc. etc."

Daniel, Cyrille and I watched as our Perpignan pilgrim would place his head in his hands, shake it vigorously from side to side and wring his hands...all the while looking for support from Georges who was stuck trying to listen. We killed ourselves laughing...trying our best to cover it up with stories not to insult.

However on the way back to our dump in Figeac the tables were turned as the Perpignan gentlemen, scarf and all, who by this time had had a fair amount to drink went to say goodbye to me. I extended my hand, he took me by the shoulders and embraced me (huge hug) and kissing me on both cheeks.

Georges and Cyrille thought that was hilarious in that apparently I went stiff as a board...I told them that I thought that was how things were done in France. They thought that had I not turned my head in time I would have received a greeting full on the lips. For the rest of the day they kidded me about my "special friend"...maybe it was the gift of a Canadian Lapel pin...may have to be more careful going forward.

Camino Physical Preparation

Prior to COVID was going to a local gym 2-3 times a week taking group classes…various exercises at different stations. 

Not surprisingly and totally in accordance to my post University days attendees were 90 - 95% women (prior to post University days the exact opposite %). No problem…same at home…same while working…same while volunteering etc. Only downside is 2 things are 100% guaranteed:

1) I will be the least flexible person there therefore in significant jeopardy of not being able to do the exercise and 

2) I am the least likely to have followed Class leader initial workout routine instructions necessitating a few questions 😂

During the pandemic the gym workouts went online and I gradually went 3-2-1-0 weekly workouts over time. Now time has passed me by…need new gym or for the time being doing a simple workout at home.

- 23 minute stretching 

- 10 - 15 reps x 2 push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, backward lunges, one arm weight pull ups and deadlifts. So far I have done this twice 😂 however I will get into a routine soon.

Main exercise is to walk, walk, walk listening to podcasts or my Spotify playlist. I have destroyed one set of Hoka shoes already in 2022.

As of June 30, 2022 FitBit tells me:

- 4,848,003 steps

- 26,785 avg steps per day

- 20.1 kms avg per day

- 3,535 kms YTD

Ok so a good base 😊…will want to walk with a loaded backpack at some point (maybe) and will also walk up and down a small hill down the street as often as I can. However I have not gone as far in my preparation as I did for for the 2014 Camino Frances...here is an excerpt from that blog posting years ago...a little tongue in cheek 😀

Camino Frances - Soon...very soon!

Physical Fitness- Barring injury/illness or other unforeseen event I know that I can walk the distances which will be somewhat long in the 28 km average per day ...both from a physical and mental standpoint.

I have been working out since early December in an effort to become stronger overall...especially upper body. Carrying a backpack over long distances sure can be tiring on the shoulders and upper body! 

I think it is paying off...a week ago I bench pressed a little over 2 tons!!! Pas croyable!

Before Training

After Training - A little impressive I know

Other than that stay healthy and avoid injuries!

Next blog Mental preparation…hint Mental side of long distance walking similar to running a full marathon far outweighs in importance the physical side in my experience.