Eleven Miles Today!

I left with my dad on Friday and headed to Johnson City, Tennessee, for the funeral of a cousin of mine. He  was 55,  and a summer playmate for many years, as our family vacation always consisted of a week in JC with my father's kin. Some things never change, and in the South, in both joy and sorrow, comfort is always found in FOOD!

Which is to say that I didn't get much walking in this weekend, although I did find time to walk around my dad's old high school, Science Hill, which has turned into a mega-campus and took an hour to walk around! So, to assuage my guilt, I decided that it was time to see how well I would fare in attempting two walking sessions similar to a day's walk on the Camino. After helping MB pack up some care packages for the deployed military in our church, I headed out to a favorite walk close by: Buttermilk Falls. That was a five-mile walk and it took me an hour and a half. I then went home and took a break for lunch. I meant it to be an hour, but catching up on email and getting the archeological society newsletter out...well, the break turned into two hours.

I then headed out for the six mile walk around my neighborhood. I managed it fine in two hours and ten minutes. That last quarter mile suddenly found my right knee protesting a little, but Natalie McMasters fiddled her way into my gait and I stomped and jigged up heartbreak hill, which I purposely placed at the end of my course.

So, I am complacently sitting before the computer with a large and well-deserved glass of bourbon in my hand. This coming Saturday is the Papa John Ten Miler race which I have signed up for. I have to do an eighteen minute mile for 10 miles, if I want to finish before the race closes. (How's that for a goal? Just get done before they close the course!) No break, either! Can I do it? Solo el tiempo lo dira!

Compeed, I Love You!

A very strange thing happened last week. I was out on my usual walk, with my usual backpack, in my usual boots and socks, on a usual day, when, about two miles into the walk, I began to feel the dreaded hotspot on the ball of my right foot. I remembered what the pilgrims say about attending to it immediately, so I stopped and searched in my first aid supplies for some blister protection. I had purchased some little band-aid type things with a gel pad in the center made just for blisters, and so I found one, applied it to the hotspot, and proceeded on my way. Before long, however, the pain of a blister started to accompany my every step. I decided to soldier on, knowing that more than likely this will happen on the Camino and I'll just have to learn to deal with it.
       When I got home and took my boots off, the puny little blister protector had come off, and a full-fledged blister was there. The next day, I was scheduled to walk a 5K in Louisville, as the first leg in the "Triple Crown" leading up to the mini-marathon in April. What to do? The next morning I applied moleskin but the pain was my friend for the whole walk. Nonetheless, I met another walker, a very interesting lady who made books; that is, she handcrafted her own paper and bound it in handcrafted covers. And she was on her way in a couple of weeks to serve coffee to participants at the end of the Iditarod. There are so many interesting people in the world!
      Anyway, when I got home, I was determined to find a source for that miracle mentioned by many pilgrims. It is a British product called Compeed. I found out that Johnson and Johnson in the US had bought the rights to the technology, so I thought surely a pharmacy would carry it. I went to Walgreens and found it. It is called Tough Pads, and they are expensive: about $5.00 each, but if they work, they will be worth their weight in gold. (Well, they are very light, but still...)
      I slapped one on, and believe me, they are technological miracles! I could walk without pain; it stayed on through showers, walking and a sauna, for three days. By the fourth day, it was starting to come off. I peeled it off. It did not stick to the skin and the blister was gone.
      The mystery still remains as to why that blister popped up out of nowhere, but I am glad because now I am ready for them. My first aid kit will be replete with them for myself and other blister-prone pilgrims I may meet along the way.
     

Diez Kilometros con La Mochila al Hombro

Friday the sun showed her shining face and smilingly beckoned me to hit the road. I donned my new Osprey Aura backpack, filled with most of the items I will be taking with me (sans-or rather "sin"- toiletries, rain gear, and water bottle). I clipped on my newly acquired Blackberry, and headed out on the six mile path I had just mapped out around my neighborhood. (The pack weighed in at 8 pounds. I hope I can keep it under 12, or at most 15.) I soon entered a kind of Zen in my loping gait, a mental state that I acquire when walking slowly and steadily. The pack never gave me a moment's discomfort. I paused once to snap a photo with the Blackberry camera and send it on its way to my husband's cell phone. Yes! I can do this. Six miles in the early morning manana temprano, six miles in the late morning, with a break for almuerzo, perhaps a little Rioja vino tinto to make light the heart. But can I do it for forty days in a row? Solo el tiempo lo dira!

Brass Tacks

It's getting serious now. Last Friday I went to Quest Outdoors and bought my Osprey Aura backpack and an ultralight sleeping bag. I put in my high tech quick-dry shirts and one of my quick-dry, zip-off pants, some coolmax socks and sundry other things that I will itemize at a later date. It weighs seven and a half pounds so far. I still need to put in raingear, some lightweight sandals, my Brierley guide, and toiletries. (I am determined not to pack any cosmetics--ugh!) So, I think I am doing quite well. I am also researching the possibility of getting a Blackberry cellphone upgrade so I can text home once in a while, take some good photos, listen to some music, and use it to blog on the road without breaking the bank.

My friend, Tuula, has given me some Spanish lessons, and I have been refreshing my French. A friend who is a UPS pilot has offered to get me a stand-by ticket to Paris and back. My plan is to fly from Baltimore/D.C. to Paris in mid-May, take the TGV train from Paris to Bayonne, and then a local train to St. Jean Pied de Port to begin my trek.

Meanwhile, I've signed up for several walks in Louisville. A 5K, a 10K, a 10-miler, and the Derby mini-marathon. I'll take my backpack on all of those and see how I fare. Six miles is easy for me now, and I've done ten miles, so I think I'm ready. I am excited!

"Solvitur Ambulando"

"It is solved by walking" says St. Augustine. After reading Sil's comment, I decided to repent! That is, literally, to rethink. My mind and heart were in a dueling match. There is only one thing to do when that happens. Go for a walk! I headed out to Buttermilk Falls, tuned in to the ethereal sounds of Libera on my MP3 player, and put one foot in front of the other. Why was I backtracking on my plans to walk the Camino? Because I wanted to be comfortable? Because I wanted it my way? This is supposed to be a pilgrimage, not a vacation, after all. There was a reason that the idea to walk the Camino seemed to fall into place this year. Am I losing faith in the idea of walking in faith? That my needs will be provided for in some way? As Sil said, what might I be missing out on that I will not have a chance to recapture for eleven years? Think of all the wonderful people I will miss meeting if I don't walk there this year. Perhaps I need to "celebrate" instead of "meditate" this year. I can always go back again for a quieter camino some other year.

As these thoughts trickled through my brain, a gentle sense of knowing came over me. Voy a caminar El Camino Frances esta primavera, después de todo! (How's my Spanish, Tuula?) Just as my decision was made, a hawk took off from a barren tree branch above me and glided a few hundred yards down the trail.

Come One, Come All, to Santiago

The buzz on the Camino forums is that the Camino Frances will be packed this year due to not only the Holy Year, but also the fact that the Pope will be visiting Santiago. Some predictions say there will be ten million people coming through Santiago this year. Not all will be pilgrims, of course, but there is bound to be a surge on the already extremely popular route. Many veteran pilgrims are saying take another route or wait a year to go, unless you think you'll like feeling like you are in the middle of a herd of cattle. Forget solitude! This has been my dilemma lately. I WILL be walking somewhere, just not sure where. The Camino Portugues has its advocates, but it is only a week's walk and mostly on tarmac. The Coastal route is brutal physically and I don't think I'm ready for that. I could go on pilgrimage to somewhere else, for example Canterbury or Rome, but somehow thats just not what I want right now.

I ran across a blog by a Kiwi woman who walked the whole camino to Santiago from Le Puy, France, a couple of years ago. That's a thousand miles!!! Her description of the walk through France sounded lovely, not very crowded, and the French Gites d'Etape (hostels) were quite nice and had the advantage of being available to be booked ahead. She doesn't expect the route as far as St. Jean du Pied de Port will be very much more crowded this year. So, here is what is going through my mind: Walk the Le Puy route (also known as the Via Podiensis) as far as St. Jean this year, and return to walk the rest next year after the Camino Frances part has settled down a bit. I have to come back and finish to get my "Compostela" certificate, so I am proposing doubling my walking plans. Arggghhh! Am I nuts?

One advantage is that I know a bit more French than I do Spanish. Not that I'm fluent or anything. And I have always wanted to see the French countryside. This route goes through the least densely populated part of France, and by Margaret's blog pictures, it is charming. A lot of up and down, but hills, not steep mountains. Most of it is in the Massif Central. Check out Margaret's blog at chemincamino08.blogspot.com.
She says, "Il faut aller doucement" (It is necessary to go gently) and that every descent has an equal and opposite ascent! So it will be a workout! I'll just have to "walk in a relaxed manner" as every good pilgrim knows.

"The best laid plans..."

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver

It has been a long time, I know, and, no doubt, my fans are rabid with curiosity, but there are new plans afoot. So be patient. More to come.....