CaminoTranquilo.net

Training

In order to walk for a few hundred miles, you are going to need to do a bit of training. Any Camino is an enormous physical and mental undertaking. First of all, consult your physician to determine if you are healthy enough to attempt a Camino. If you get approval, then it is time to design a training regimen for the months leading up to your long walk.

Training is simple. Walk. Just get out and walk.

However far you are walking on your Camino, we recommend that you practice hike with all of your gear(loaded pack, in your boots/shoes) for a minimum of 1/4 of the total distance you intend to complete for a month or preferably 2 before you leave. For the full Camino Frances from St Jean to Santiago, a distance of 496 miles, you should practice hike a minimum of 100 miles in the months prior to leaving home. Only walking from Sarria to Santiago? That distance is is only around 65 miles, so training for 20 or so miles per month should be enough to get you on the road.

Now that you know how much to train, just what is the best practice?

First, be realistic about your physical conditioning.

From a desk jockey with no fitness cred to a seasoned marathon runner, both will need to train for a Camino. They may train differently, but train they must. For our discussion we will concentrate on the person who is starting from scratch in the fitness world. Weight training, concentrating on whole body movements, crossfit and aerobics all can help, but nothing beats getting out and walking with your pack on.

How is your weight?

Slimming down a few pounds before and while training makes a huge difference on how your feet and knees will fare on your Camino. There are also some other health benefits dealing with energy and hormonal regulation that can affect your mental well being while under stress. If you really want to get a hold of your diet, meet with a nutritionist or dietitian to help plan a medically monitored plan. Avoid trendy diets if you can, not because their efficacy is in doubt, but because special diets(keto, carnivore, paleo) are very difficult to maintain while on a Camino.

Give you self plenty of time to train.

While some folks can prepare for a full Camino Frances is just a couple of weeks, the rest of us need a bit more time. Ramp your training time up slowly in order to allow your body to adapt and heal as you go. Starting out with back to back days of 20 mile hikes are going to do some serious damage to the unprepared pilgrim.

Sample program:

Week 1 Mon - Wed - Fri 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 2 Mon - Wed - Fri 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 3 Mon - Wed - Fri 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 4 Mon - Wed - Fri 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 5 Mon - Wed 5 miles, Fri 10 miles with pack and boots
Week 6 Mon - Wed 5 miles, Fri 10 miles with pack and boots
Week 7 Mon - Wed 5 miles, Fri 10 miles with pack and boots
Week 8 Mon - Wed 5 miles, Fri 10 miles with pack and boots
Week 9 Mon - Fri 10 miles, Wed 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 10 Mon - Fri 10 miles, Wed 5 miles with pack and boots
Week 11 Mon - Wed - Fri 10 miles with pack and boots
Week 12 Mon - Wed - Fri 10 miles with pack and boots

We start slow. Just a few miles each time out for the first couple of weeks. Then start ramping up your miles till you reach a point where 3 or 4 days a week of a 10+ mile hike don't leave you sore and exhausted.

This schedule can be shortened or lengthened as needed by the pilgrim. Listen to your body and adapt.

It is vitally important to complete your training hikes in your Camino gear rain or shine.

Spending time getting to know your kit in all conditions before you venture to the unknown will take a huge mental burden off of your shoulders. Long before you leave you will have worked out all the little quirks and issues of your Camino gear and know it like an old friend. The comfort of this can’t be overstated.

Hills are your friends.

There are hills, even mountains on the Camino routes. Lots of them. The Camino Frances will take you over the Pyrenees mountains in the first couple of days. You are going to need to train for them! While no part of Camino Frances is very high in altitude, and there is absolutely no technical climbing, the grades involved can be steep and quite exhausting.

You will need to spend some time hill training. Hopefully your training route at home has a nice mix of steep hills, even if they aren’t very long. Any steep hills will help.

It may be tempting to train on a treadmill, using the incline function but this has some serious drawbacks. First, a treadmill is actually a tiny bit easier because of the nature of the moving belt. This can lead you to believe you are working harder than you are. Second, a treadmill is smooth and regular surface instead of varied like paths and roads. The treadmill does not allow your feet and knees to build the muscular adaptation and flexibility to deal with these variances. Lastly, unless your treadmill had a decline adjustment, you cannot train for decline walking. For some this is the ugliest surprise of any Camino, the brutal aspect of walking downhill for literal hours at a time. You need to train for this.