Training

I have been walking home from work in a vain attempt to replicate the conditions and distances I expect to encounter on the camino.  The Portuguese route is infamous for the amount of pavement walking.  The walk home from work is all city streets.  The Portuguese route requires 20-25km (about 12-15 miles) or more most days.  The walk home is about seven miles, plus I do anther three or four without the pack.  

This is Tuesday, waiting to cross the street a little more than  three miles from home.  This is the last light to wait for and marks the change from relatively busy streets to quiet, residential streets.  The walking always seems to come easier after this point.  It shouldn't be - it is the end of the miles, you're hot, you're tired, things ache, and there are only two places to stop between here and home if there are any problems.  On the camino it seems that you stop for coffee, snacks or meals frequently.  I once offended a pilgrim by saying that I was planning on getting most of my miles done in the AM with just three or four done after lunch.  "But then you'll miss second breakfast!" was her response.

This is is pretty much the complete gear set up I'll take to Portugal.  All was well and good until I carried home a sleeping bag loaned to me by a coworker.  The bag weighed almost nothing in my hand, but tie it on and all of a sudden my pack was staggeringly heavy!  I huffed and puffed going up hills that had given me no trouble on the prior days.  I felt the weight on my knees from the moment I left the office.  I must have looked awful because cars, at street crossings where you usually have to wait for several cars to pass before crossing, were stopping well back from the intersection and waiving me across.  Yet I got home, washed the sweat and dirt off, rinsed my walking clothes, and put my feet up and I felt no different from the prior days.

All that is left is to go through the gear and take out the items that aren't truly needed (do I need a headlamp when the phone gives off plenty of light?) and replace heavier items with lighter ones (what is the weight difference between a five litre and ten litre waterproof bag?).  And print the maps.  And figure out how to deal with the eight hour time difference.  And buy the train ticket from Lisbon to Porto.  And make a bag to hold my pack and pole.  And treat said bag so it will protect my pack from bedbugs.  And, and, and...