Longer Stages - beginning or end?

[Kaye Simpkin]

I am beginning to put together a loose plan for our walk in May. I am not planning too much as I've heard it is good to be flexible and in May there is still plenty of accommodation along the way. However, I was wondering if it is better to do longer stretches to begin with while relatively fresh or to do shorter ones to start so as not to end up completely exhausted. Looking at the Central Route from Porto it seems many suggested routes have longer stints at the end. I guess the idea is to balance it out as much as possible. We have two weeks. I would much appreciate the advise of those more experienced walkers, this is our first. Is it easy to catch buses or cabs if need be? Thanks. Kaye

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You will be stronger at the end, so it is best to build up to longer stages.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

If you are well trained before you leave it will not make a lot of difference and you could choose to stay in the nicest villages/albergues. If not you could at best start with shorter stages.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

My thought is to put longer stages in the middle. If you want the compostela then you need to walk the last 100 km, that's 4 or 5 days. You do not want any injuries those days that would cause you to use a bus or taxi. Start slow so you don't get injuries and built up strength and speed. Go a little farther each day in the middle. Then you can judge whether to continue at that speed, faster or slower to get to SdC in the time you have left.

 

[t2andreo]

Both Falcon and Rick have the 'correct' solution. Start conservatively, and build as you progress.

It is a generally held understanding that the first week to 10 days on any Camino is sort of a breaking in or shakedown period. By the end of this time, you should be 'in the groove.' Build distances as you go along and can better assess your capabilities and tolerances.

Hope this helps.

 

[lt56ny]

I am sure you will get different responses as everyone is different. My first Camino I trained like crazy and I was still in pain for the first 10 days. Now I train less, partly because of where I live and as I get older, I will be 65 very soon. I think the reason for this is I have learned to walk (after 4,000K of walking, I better have). That means listening to my body and stopping when it tells me to stop. I no longer really plan where I am going to walk unless I know (which I do check), if my stages will make me end up walking way to far for me the day after, for example. Way to far for me now is 30+K. I try to keep things under 25. I also do not even consider stages based on what guide books may show. I have found the longer I walk the stronger I get. Although my last Camino on the Norte, I was really tired at the end as it was a tough Camino. I usually try to start walking shorter stages at the beginning to get my body back in the Camino. Then I walk as my body dictates knowing now where my wall is. I always think it is better to walk a few kilometers less rather than a few more. That is when injuries start to happen. It also depends on your time constraints of course.
If I remember when I walked the Portuguese, I never had worries about where to sleep and was able to go distances that were comfortable for me from Porto, but I could be mistaken. If you are using Brierley you will have choices. I would also recommend checking Gronze.com and spending a few dollars on the Wise Pilgrim app, which also has GPS mapping so you don't get lost. Then you will have more sources of places to stay. Gronze is free and you can check it on your phone. It is in Spanish but if you check it on Chrome it will automatically translate it. No one source of information has all the available places to lay your head at night.

 

[Kaye Simpkin]

Thank you everyone. Seems the general consensus is to start gently and build up.

 

[koilife]

Thank you everyone. Seems the general consensus is to start gently and build up.

This thread made me smile with memories. The advice I received before my first camino (CF) was, "Start like an old man and finish like a young man, but start like a young man and finish like an old man." This made perfect sense to me . . . until all these old people kept passing me like I was standing still at the start, middle, and end of my camino.

I started slow and steady, while my teenage son would sprint ahead to "put it to the old man." But 8 days in, he had tendinitis, which meant this "old man" also carried much of the young man's load while he recuperated. But, by the end, we walked the final 45K into Santiago in one day, very much stronger than when we started. Somehow, I had also become wiser in his eyes, which is perhaps the greatest miracle of the six weeks!

 

[november_moon]

Thank you everyone. Seems the general consensus is to start gently and build up.

Yes, I think that is a good plan. Take a little time to let your body adjust and learn how it reacts to all the walking. You won't go wrong that way.

I found that my body (mostly feet) react very differently to hours of walking day after day than it does to exercise and walking/hiking at home, which is interspersed with all the other stuff that takes up my time in normal life.