ReGrouping

Posted on Facebook in response to all my friends that sent words of encouragement:

Thank you all for your kind words.  I am a little embarrassed about my rant earlier this morning.  I was just so frustrated and my head wasn't right.  It was one of my weaker moments.  When i think about what others have endured, it puts my situation into perspective.  I did not mean to elicit so many responses but I truly appreciate your comments. 

I did go to the doc and now have crutches so I can move around again.  This really helps me mentally and emotionally. I've made peace with my situation and will adjust as needed. In other words, my head is right again.  I just read a post from a friend yesterday that said "you never realize how strong you are, until being strong is the only choice you have."

They say the Camino teaches you lessons. I'm not even on it yet but I think my journey began long ago because I have already learned so much.  For each peregrino (pilgrim), the Camino is different. And now, mine will be even more different than I imagined.  I welcome the new road before me and I invite you to follow me 

Tragedy Strikes

I am just ten days away from my flight to Paris to start this adventure and the unthinkable has just happened.  I fell off a ladder yesterday and landed awkwardly on my heel.  The pain was immediate and sharp.  I am unable to put ANY weight on my left leg without pain.

Of course, this is a three day weekend, so I have not been able to see a doctor yet, but I suspect that I may have a fracture in my heel.

It is around 3:30 in the morning right now and I am unable to sleep.  I am sooooo frustrated and angry at the curse of luck. It seems that my life of late has been just a series of barriers that I need to get through.  I know that sounds overly dramatic but perhaps it's because I am just tired of having to continually overcome some health issue.

Losing the blood flow to my legs because of my inherited vascular problems required three operations just so I could walk again.  Then there was the bleeding problem in my abdomen that almost cost me my life and required more surgery and almost a month in the hospital.  After that, there was the amputation of three of my toes, again because of vascular problems.  Throughout all of this, my unwavering goal was to walk the Camino.  I had to alter original plans to be able to accommodate this.

And now, an unfortunate and stupid accident.  I have been 'training' for this physically for over three years.  I have been keeping my mental attitude up for all this time.  But, at this very moment, I am completely devastated....

The Training

First of all, it should be said that though we are well into our sixties, we have both lived very active lifestyles.  Peggy has run a ½ Marathon and also biked the Seattle to Portland route (100 miles a day) in recent times.  I have also completed a marathon and a triathlon and have also taught aerobics and fitness classes.  That being said, the prospect of walking that many miles requires training.  Our years of experience have taught us that there is no substitute or cross-training that can replace the specific activity that you are going to do.  “Road time” is essential.

And so, we both joined the Mountain West Hiking Club in our hometown of Boise, Idaho.  This gave us some structure to our training regimen, which basically included weekly group hikes.  Peggy does the more strenuous Wednesday hikes and I participate in the more casual Tuesday or Thursday outings.  I say ‘participate’ with reservation.  Because of my necessarily slower pace, I usually arrive a half hour or so before the scheduled starting time and start off on my own.  I know how long the hikes are so I just time it so that I can finish about the same time as the regular group.  Most times, I pass them on my way back.  This is not ideal for socialization, but it works for me.

In addition, I walk 6 days a week at my own slow pace.  How slow is slow?  I needed to get past the psychological challenge of being slower than everyone else.  During the typical walk, elderly people, young mothers with strollers, dog walkers and bird watchers all pass me.  They smile as they pass me with my cane and iPod ear buds on.  It is okay though.  I am in no hurry to get anywhere.  It took me a while to get past this.  Having always been a competitor, being last every time grates on you.   But I’ve made my peace with this. 

I know that to average the 11 or so miles a day on the Camino, it will take me a minimum of 5 ½ hours.  That’s if I walk straight through with no stops.  That’s a lot of time on one’s feet.  As my friend Jeanne S. told me, it’s not the walking of the 11 miles that get to you; it’s doing it day after day after day that takes its toll on your feet/body.  And so, like I said, there’s no substitute for ‘road time.’

As you might imagine, Peggy’s training schedule is different than mine.  She does more hills to ready herself for her trip across the Pyrenees.  Many times, we start off together but rather than walking together, we set a prescribed time in which we meet back at the starting point.  This is usually 2 to 3 hours.  That seems to be working.  Both of us have gone through a few pair of shoes.  Because of my toe situation (amputations), I am highly conscious of fit and proper wear.  I have settled on my trusty pair of LL Bean Knife Edge Goretex boots.  These are leather, but I’ve had them for a while and they work the best.  I’ve also gone through two pair of Merrell’s, one high top and one standard walker.  They work fine, but it seems that the Goretex used in them do not allow as much breathing as the LL Bean’s.  Therefore, they get hotter, and we’ve been training through both the Idaho snow and the 100-degree weather.

Yes, we use trekking poles.  I find they give me better balance and for some reason, I seem to be able to keep better pace with them.  Many of my training walks through town, I use my regular cane.  I will carry both the poles and a collapsible cane with me on the Camino.

One of the things I remember from my running days was that the end of a 26-miler was great, but not as great as the weeks/months of training that preceded the finish line.  I remember the book I used was called the “Zen of Running.”  See reviews at http://www.amazon.com/The-Zen-Running-Fred-Rohe/dp/B000GRFCZU#customerReviews  If there is a spiritual nature to the Camino de Santiago, I think it will be like this for me.  I am fascinated by the story of Santiago (St. James) and intrigued that folks like St. Francis of Assisi walked this path 800 years ago, but I have already found many revelations just through my training hikes.  When one walks alone for as many hours as I have, many thoughts, some profound, mostly not, go through one’s head.

And so, the training is not only physical, but also emotional and spiritual.  With less than 3 weeks before we start, I think I am prepared.

The Origin of Our Adventure

Peggy and I first heard of the Camino de Santiago de Compostella after seeing the movie, “The Way” with Martin Sheen http://theway-themovie.com/film.php

We were fascinated with the idea of going on such a pilgrimage.  Rather than going into a long dissertation on what the Way is, go to this Wikipedia site for info.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James OR just watch this short video http://vimeo.com/37713808

In a nutshell, this was a pilgrimage route that has existed for over a thousand years.  There are many routes, but the most famous is the Frances Camino, from St. Jean Pied du Port in France, over the Pyrenees and all the way to Santiago in far western Spain.  This route is over 500 miles.  We had originally planned to do the entire route.

However, a series of health problems arose with my legs.  Basically, the vascular system that I inherited has many structural deficiencies.  I pretty much lost the use of my legs and have had a series of operations on them between 2008 and the present.  This included the amputation of three of my toes in 2013.  Therefore, we have had to reassess our goals in making this pilgrimage.  By the way, we are both in our late 60s.

We wanted to see the entire route, but 500 miles would be too much of a physical challenge for me.  I can walk pretty good distances, but just not very fast.  If I extend beyond 2 miles per hour, my vascular system cannot supply enough blood to my legs and pain sets in.  So here is the alternative.  We found a group called Marly Camino on the web.  It appeared that the “Camino Plus” trek that they offered was the perfect compromise. http://marlycamino.com/caminos/camino-plus/  So now, it would be 154 miles in 14 days, or around 11 miles per day average.

Peggy rounded up a friend, Christine Harris, to do the walk with her.  Chris is a fellow hiker from the Mountain West Hiking Club. I had originally signed up for a shorter route but changed my mind when after a few months of training.  I felt I could complete the 154 miles so signed up to do the same walk as Peg and Chris.  However, I would walk alone since I did not want to subject anyone to my necessarily slow pace.  Since they were already paired for the same room, I booked a 'single' for myself.

And so, with all that in mind, we purchased our plane tickets using “air miles” from our AlaskaAir account and proceeded to book hotels.  We wanted to make the most of our air travel so booked an apartment in Paris for a week to start, then made arrangements for San Sebastian in Spain.  Peggy wants to do the arduous 16-mile uphill trek over the Pyrenees (4000 foot elevation change) but being realistic, I declined.  I would meet her in Pamplona with a glass of good Spanish wine and then start off together from Roncevalles.  When we finish, we booked another week in the small waterfront town of Muros so that we could relax before flying back to Paris and then to the US.

Yes, this is a ‘bucket list’ item for me!  At this writing, we are less than 3 weeks to our departure for Paris.  Before we get to the trip, I will talk about some of our prep for this trip in subsequent blogs.

For other Bucket List Items, go to my Bucket Blog at
galenlouis.blogspot.com