Crawling Along the Virtual Camino

Well, I started the Virtual Camino on January 25... and I have made some progress.

Progress Report from January 28, 2023

So far, in the first three days I have walked 31.87 km. Which isn't bad. That's about 10 km per day. At this rate, I'll be done the Camino in about 80 days. Soo... fairly decent... I just have to double my km/day! 

Overall... I would say I am doing it in fits and starts. A 30 minute walk here, a 30 minute walk there, a 40 minute walk... maybe a 60 minute walk... and they do add up over the course of the day. Eventually, the walks will start getting longer, but for now, I am fitting the walking into my day, particularly as the mornings and evenings are still dark and gloomy.

Street/Trail View

I've also discovered a few features of the Conqueror app that I really like. I can get a Google Street View (or Trail View) of where I am on the Camino! Which is quite nifty. I imagine that if I was walking on a treadmill or on a stationary bike, I could actually see the landscape flow by me as I walked or pedalled furiously. But, as it is... I don't know that me staring at the screen as I walk through the local forests is a good idea. Better to stay connected to the terrain that I am actually walking in! Still... a neat feature.

Walking vs. Steps

 The other thing I noticed was that the app would include both my walking activities (where I record an actual walk) AND the extra steps that I do around the house. I'm not 100% sure about including those extra steps. Because it's hard to know how much distance that actually involves. I think the app did a calibration session when I first started but... if I recall... I was doing a fair clip walk outside so I don't think it's going to give me an accurate distance for me puttering around the house. So, for now, I'm not including the "steps", just the walks that I do. This might slow me down, but I think that's more accurate.

Because the truth is... when I do the Camino, I'll be doing some serious walking for 5 or 6 hours a day and then puttering around the local village or city, and those steps don't count towards the Camino, so why should my "puttering around the house" steps count? So... I shut off the steps tracking feature... and am just using the distances that my Garmin tracks when I tell it I am doing a "walk". That seems fairer to me!

Frame of Mind

I am not a fan of dark, cold, rainy days, and do find it a bit of a struggle to get out the door on those days. We went on a getaway to a nearby city for a few days and I would get up at 5 am to go to the local Starbucks (about 2 km away). And it was dark... and an industrial area... and lots of traffic. I walked to Starbucks the first day but the second day was a bit of a challenge. I thought about driving but then decided... no... I would walk. 

In some ways, it's similar to my writing. I need to sit down for an hour or so every morning and do some conscious writing. If I am a writer... then writing is what I do. There is no negotiation about "I don't feel like it". It's what I do... so sit and write.

Same with getting out to walk. As a pilgrim on the Camino, walking is what I will do... I will be a walker or pilgrim. I will need to get out the door, regardless of the weather, and start walking. So that is the conversation I am having with myself on those mornings where I am less than eager to get out the door. Because really... from what I've read, the Camino is as much as mental challenge as a physical one. So let the challenge begin now! 

Pamplona (no bulls)

Progress Report from February 12, 2023

Alright... a bit farther along on the journey. I crawled my way through Pamplona and managed not to get gored by a bull (running of the bulls happens there in September). I scampered over Punta de La Reina and passed through Estella. There aren't always Google Streetview images but when there are, the countryside looks very pretty.

Some days are better than others for my progress. Sometimes I manage 10 km a day... other times, I'm only managing 5 km a day. I am trying to do some longer walks each day, like an hour long. My plan is to slowly gear up to longer and longer walks, rather than just doing chunks of 30 minutes or whatever.

And eventually, I will have to weave a backpack into the plan, but for now... managing to crawl along the Camino!

Progress Report on Feb 24, 2023

Well, my progress this past week has slowed to a crawl!! This past week was full of a workshop and I've been lucky if I've hit 8000 steps a day. I still have managed a 3 km walk each day but that's nothing compared to the Camino which is usually 20 km a day.

Right now... I'm just on the outskirts of a small town named Viana. I have done 164.12 km in 30 days, which isn't bad. At least it's something! And I've passed the 20% mark. I'm hoping that now that the workshop is over... life can get back to normal and I can get my morning walk in. It is on that walk, that I can do 5-6 km which adds up quickly!

On the whole, I am enjoying the virtual Camino. There aren't always screenshots of the route but the ones that are there make me feel more connected to the experience.