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How Many People Walked The Camino Without Any Training ?

Thornley said:
Vasaline and good boots , well done GML
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Just saw this and had to get it for you Thornley! Apologies if it's already been posted.

NB The booklet she talks about recommends against it!!!
 
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Walked it on the spur of the moment with zero training, aged 54. 31 days, no issues. Buen Camino
 
It is a matter of individual fitness. Some people are athletes, some have a good base level of fitness, some have done lots of training; for the rest the first couple of weeks and especially the climb from SJPDP to Roncesvales (whether by Route Napoleon or Valcarlos) is a struggle. You have a better idea of your own fitness than a stranger on an internet forum.
 
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Know your capability before you leave, and stay within it, and you will be fine, with or without training. Remember the concept of "nondestructive testing." Do not push to a point where something breaks! It will end your camino. Discomfort, yes. Misery, no.
 
I walked the Camino completely on a whim. No training. I barely even walked anywhere. No exercising. I was 27 at the time, very out of shape and overweight. I finished the entire way in 30 days exactly in a pair of awful shoes I used to wear to work lol. Talk about unprepared. Trust me if I could do it anyone can. First week will be tough and you'll hurt everywhere but after that you'll break yourself in. I still recommend training a bit if you can but it isn't necessary.
 


Excellent! Thank you
 
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Catahoula19 said:
Walked it on the spur of the moment with zero training, aged 54. 31 days, no issues. Buen Camino
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Is seems that a lot pilgrims feel that it’s a rite of passage to suffer while on the Camino. To hop, skip and jump into Santiago after walking 800km, is not really being a pilgrim. Just go on a wing and a prayer and let the Camino provide.

That sort of thinking has left a lot of people dead in their tracks or in a great deal of pain. Yes, you need to train. Walk as much as you can with the equipment you are going to take. If you have any aches or pains –adjust or replace. The more you are prepared for the Camino mentally, physically and with the right equipment - the more you are going to enjoy it.
 
I still think that people that walked the Camino without any prep at all (and did it without any problems), are the exception rather then the rule. Hey if you want to try......go for it. You may be one of the lucky ones . Personally I would try to get some training in. And I think that breaking in your shoes should be the least you should do. As a "slightly older" 54 year old I also recommend a physical check up before leaving.
But as some wrote here.....many opinions are given. Read them, consider them, apply them (or not). it's your Camino
 
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SoulGirl said:
......... I just wanted to know if there is anyone who decided to walk the camino without any preparation?
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Probably many, but more than probably, most wouldn't have made it past the first few days, and, except for a very limited few, unlikely to complete a Camino.
 
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33 that's spring chicken! Walking is like breathing, just keep doing it and you'll be fine. You may have noticed that people in their 80s are doing it (breathing and walking). At 33 it isn't the body that might let you down but the lack of preparation. There is a well known acronym that goes PPPPPP which stands for Proper Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.
There is a very old joke about a judge that sentences an 80 year old man to twenty years in jail. The old bloke complains that he will probably die in jail. To which the judge replies "Well in that case, just do as much as you can!" What I am trying to say is, just do as much preparation as you can, some is better than nothing
 
I began in Pamplona without any "training". I would walk for a few hours every other day for a few months before, but never with my pack. I began in Pamplona because I was worried about getting over the Pyrenees because I hadn't trained. However, I quickly adjusted and went on to walk the rest of the way to the coast. I think what people need to remember is this: you’re not walking in the wilderness, there are buses or taxis that you can take if you need to and you are never more than 10-15 kms away from some village if you find that you are exhausted or have run into a problem and need some help. Well, that was my experience anyway!
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Bradypus said:
Can't say the 'pus' part is very Scottish. Chose the name because of the Flanders and Swann song 'The Sloth'. If you do not know it try finding it on Youtube. Very funny clever lyrics.
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I agree very funny and clever lyrics, cut and paste link below.
 
Old Koot said:
Probably many, but more than probably, most wouldn't have made it past the first few days, and, except for a very limited few, unlikely to complete a Camino.
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dougfitz said:
I think I would consider that training!
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It's normal for me to walk for a few hours every other day - gosh... maybe you are right Doug - maybe I did train!! But, I was in Biarritz France and the hills there were tough going and I could see the mountains off in the distance and got cold feet! Next time, I won't be so afraid of them!!
 
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Lachance said:
Just saw this and had to get it for you Thornley! Apologies if it's already been posted.

NB The booklet she talks about recommends against it!!!
Click to expand...
Vaselina.....
Great stuff. Used it on all my Caminos. Wouldn't walk the Camino without it and use it here at home for running. You can buy it at the farmacias pretty cheap.
 
One bit of training that doesn't get mentioned is the old exercise of pushing oneself away from the meal table. Also eating isn't like weight lifting. It's the opposite. Lifting a lighter weighing plate is more beneficial to your body than a heavier one.
 
If you are going to treat yourself to a night in a hotel in Pamplona I can seriously recommend the Hotel Maisonnaive.We've stayed there three times and it is excellent. Look it up on Tripadvisor.

http://www.hotelmaisonnave.es/

Just noticed you've already booked! Never mind, make sure you have a stroll round the main square and surrounding streets, the place buzzes of an evening.
 
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I sat down with a couple of veteran Pilgrims and discussed this very issue of training. We all agreed that for most of the people that had broken down on the way did so because they did not put any effort into training or test out their equipment. We came up with what we called the Camino test. Basically if you can get through this without any aches or pains and can keep going the next day - you're ready to walk the Camino. You need to walk at least 100 km in 7 days. On one of those days you need to complete 22 km of the 100, with a full pack. This is not asking too much an is a good test of ability and equipment.

People have to start regarding the Camino as an athletic challenge, not a tourist outing. People are going to say the Camino is not a race. It's not, but getting from point A to B requires a certain amount of athletic ability. Athletic clubs/running clubs all work on the principle of training. Training for success. Something that the Camino fraternities need to pay attention to.

One could say, you can always jump on a bus or take a taxi. For a lot of people that have made their mind up to walk the Camino and have told all their friends they're going to do this, this is a last resort option. Your're going to see people basically run themselves into the ground before they decide it's time to take a bus. I've seen a lot of this.

Nothing breaks up a group of friends faster than somebody breaking down and deciding to take a bus. I was following a family of 8 from Florida. The mother had talked her family and extended family members into doing the Camino. Most of them, left all the planning and preparation up to her. The results were that by the second week they were down to only 4 people and in the end only the mother and son arrive in Santiago. During that time, the pains and suffering for most of the family members came out in a lot of loud arguments. Basically unhappy campers causing grief for everybody.

I would rather see a 100 people walk into Santiago happy and glad they did it, than 1000 sorry, hurt, injured and tired Pilgrims.
 
At the age of 64 back in 2013, I pulled on my backpack in the city of Pamplona. It was the first time in my life I had ever carried one. OK, that night in Uterga I felt like lying down and dying but within a few days I was doing allright. From the day I got home until the first day of my second camino, April 2015, that bag was never on my back again. The most training I ever did was 3 to 5 km around the local park. Dog owners walk further than I do. Going again in September this year at the age of 67 and the back pack will not be carried until I start. Once again doing no particular training. Not saying everyone should do this. I have the time to walk slowly without any time pressure.
 
 
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Not sure how many prospective pilgrims out there have the time or facilities of sorts to walk 100 km in 7 days just to see if they can walk the Camino.
I've done it three times in my 50's with no specific training for it, and could literally put on a backpack tomorrow and do it again. I never looked at it as an athletic challenge or a tourist outing specifically and never want to find myself walking it solely for either, but no doubt, if one is walking 15-35 km a day with a backpack on, up and down hills, some measure of athletic ability is necessary and yeah, not a good idea to jump into it headfirst if not somewhat physically able.
And if you are a bit slower and lag behind friends you met on the Camino, or even friends you came there with? No big deal. You'll all end up in Santiago anyway. That river only flows in one direction.
 
I've did 2 caminos now & not did one bit of training with a rucksack. I dreaded the first day from SJPDP but you know what, I got to Orisson & decided to crack on to Roncesvalles. I gave my booked bed away to someone more needy than me. Yes it was tiring, but it's doable by anyone that tries. Go at your own pace & enjoy the scenery. This goes for every day on the Camino. Don't set goals, just walk until you've had enough & grab a bed.
Just remember, it's only a long walk you're on. Postmen do it every day...
 
loved that..kinda go with the flow
 
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A lady I know that's a couple of years younger than me at 55, walked the 800 km 2 years ago. This lady ran marathons prior to walking the Camino, so you would think that she's more than fit to walk the Camino. She's a sports physiotherapist and knows a few things about human performance, and one thing she knows is that running and walking don't use the same muscles. So months prior to walking the Camino she took to walking around town with her pack on for hours. She found some problems with her boots and had them replaced. She tried on 4 different types of socks and found what worked. Her last day of training she walked 30km without a problem. Needless to say she completed the Camino in high spirits and never had a day that she regretted.
When I walked the Camino last year I met a group of 6 young men from Ireland. They all belonged to the same rugby team and had decided to take a vacation in Europe together. Their travel agent had set them up with a walking trip on the Camino from Pamplona to Burgos. This included reservations at all the best alberques and bag transportation. I met them at the start of their trip and they were all in high spirits and full of energy. Those high spirits died off just within 10 days of them being on the Camino. Massive blisters plagued 2 of them and one had twisted his ankle and was limping along. I heard from fellow Piligrims later on, that they had never made it to Burgos and had decided to fly out to Paris and rest there.

I would like to see those leaders within the Camino fraternity to place far more emphasis on training and preparation. There's an old saying in the woods " Any
fool can be an unhappy camper".
 
I turned 6
6 a few weeks after l completed Sarria to Santiago - not far l know. I had absolutely no problems even though l did no preperational at all and hadn't walked more than a mile since l was a teenager. I had no problem other than an aching left thigh muscle that lasted one day. I also carried far more than was recommended - l will not make that mistake again.
Buen Camino - you can do it.
 

I 100% agree with this!! A couple of years ago, I fancied myself a pretty "big walker," because I walked everywhere around town and never drove and rarely took the bus. Actually (don't laugh!), I was only walking about 5-10km at a time, and rarely several days in a row at 10km. I hated running shoes (have ever since I was a kid), so I wore mostly Teva sandals, sometimes random other shoes, sometimes heels (yah i know! 10km seaside trails in 2.5-inch wedge heels! Been there done that. I really had a mental block against sportswear as everyday wear. ) So when I first starting considering walking the Camino, I thought: Tevas for sure! They are always the best for me. I NEVER have trouble in Tevas!

Then last summer, as part of my prep to increase my mileage to do the Camino this spring, I started walking an average of 10km every day (most daily walks around 10km, but sometimes double that, and some days off). Uh huh... Those other shoes just didn't cut it!! I had ZERO problems doing 5km per day, with the occasional 10km thrown in; but double those numbers, and I had knee pain, hip pain, blisters, muscle cramps, etc etc etc. I had to break down and get proper running shoes with proper pronation support and the works. I even bought them in the recommended size 9, when I had always worn size 8-8.5 in the past. Guess what? All the problems disappeared within a couple days! Proper shoes were the key.

I maintained my daily mileage in 2015, and since 2016 have increased it to average about 15km per day. Still no issues, until the foam in my shoes starts breaking down... then the problems start cropping up again, but: new pair and I'm good to go. That's another thing I learned: replace shoes the minute they start to crap out. I plan to average about 15km per day on the Camino, so I'm happily hitting my goal now.

All this is a longwinded way of saying I AGREE: distance + frequency can change everything!!!!!

I'll add: so does proper support and sizing.
 
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Dougfitz, what do you consider 'substantial' elevation gain?
 
Gareth Griffith said:
If you are going to treat yourself to a night in a hotel in Pamplona I can seriously recommend the Hotel Maisonnaive.We've stayed there three times and it is excellent. Look it up on Tripadvisor.
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Good to hear as I'd already booked myself in for 2 nights rest stop.
 
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Fearless0 said:
Dougfitz, what do you consider 'substantial' elevation gain?
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I think of something around 200 m as the minimum, and at better than a 10% gradient as being reasonably substantial for training purposes. I have a couple of local walks where the last leg to the top is around that, and there are a couple of local mountains that have about 700 m of elevation gain in around 7km that I have used for training. Remember that the climb over the Pyrenees involves over 1000 m of elevation gain, and you might want to be prepared for that.

Of course, you might find that you need to find a walk with several smaller climbs, but that won't quite be the same as the pretty continuous climbs in the Pyrenees and elsewhere.
 
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@West Coaster 100 K's in 7 days with 1 of 22K's is a useful benchmark, thanks. I've been training off and on for the last year. Off for the last month, with 1 to go, but have found it a lot easier to ramp up after past lapses with the groundwork done. So a simple target for the final week helps.

@Thornley @Mark Lee, cheerleaders for smelly greasy Vaseline: try BodyGuide, chicos.
 
Good Morning,
Have done 7 Caminos with little to no training but 2 things you need in place of it.
1 you have to really really really like walking, sometimes in crowds, sometimes in isolation.
2 you have to like the bohemian lifestyle presented by the circumstances of the Camino.
three comments.
1. If you don't have time to train then commit Kangas comments to memory.
2 if you haven't trained and want to be successful you may have to develope a love of walking under many various conditions, not all good.
3 you have to be able to adopt to a bohemian lifestyle while depending on others from time to time
Buen Camino
 
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Don't know how that happened but I double posted somehow. The second post was my edit of the first
 


I guess everyone has to take a view on their own fitness.

If you're not young, or if you want to carry a big pack, or you want to do 30 - 40 km a day, or you have new shoes, then a bit of training is probably a good idea. Otherwise it's probably not necessary, but it certainly won't do any harm.

As others have said it's probably more important to be confident in your shoes, to travel light and not to flog yourself on day 1.

In the past I've not taken this last piece of advice and always suffered for it, making days 2 and 3 pretty hard.

I'm off to Spain in just over two weeks, and can't wait. So far I've done nothing. I'm 52 and no athlete, though not overweight, and it's probably 18 months since I walked more than 15km in a day.

So I'll probably try out my boots with a couple of 10kms and one 30 km. It will build confidence and hopefully make things a little easier when I get there.

Don't fret. It'll be okay.
 
I have not done the Camino but I have done several multi hundred mile treks. Lots of stories about ex rugby players not lasting more than a few days and Grannies who just walked out the door and completed-all true.
A good practice is to do a training hike of a third of the distance you intend to do, complete with gear and clothing. That way you will have experience and full confidence in your ability and gear.
These long distance trails are a long and expensive way to go to find you or your gear are not up to it.
I hope to be on the Camino in 2017. Other fish to fry this year.
 
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I don't know what gradient these hills are, but i'm using these as training hills. Can someone tell me if this is representative of the trails from Sarria to Santiago please. Do I need to increase the grade?
 
They look like good training hills most likely a lot steeper than what you'll find past Sarria. Does not hurt to train above the level you need. Make sure you put in some really long walks about 22km. This seems to be the average point at which things start to break down.
 
Don't worry too much. I live in Florida so NO hills at all to train and I started in Pamplona last year. After Sarria it's pretty flat, however there are still a few smaller uphills. Just take it slow if needed....have fun
 
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Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Hopefully no one will walk the Camino or any long walk without training. You do not need to walk X number of miles each day or climb a mountain daily...you need to learn to walk, to stretch, to lace your boots, adjust pack weight, consume enough water, listen to your body and not the person next to you. You need to have an understanding of carb needs verses protien consumption....Learn to be a walker, a possible long walker before you decide a movie makes a walk exciting.
 
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