Virtual Camino Finish Line!

I finished the virtual Camino!!! On November 9, I crossed the finish line and promptly burst into tears.

I know it's not the "real" Camino de Santiago but... for the last 9 and a half months, I've been inching along. A kilometre here, 5 kilometres there... some days no kilometres. Would I ever be done??

But I made it. Maybe one day I'll do the "real" one. Maybe not. For now, I will rest on these laurels...

I averaged 2.67 km for every day of this Camino. Which doesn't really tell the tale. Some days I did 7 km and other days I did 0 km. I lost focus in the spring.

The distance was too long and it seemed to take forever. I got distracted and lost my "oomph". The last few months though, I've found my "oomph" and have been doing well.

I have to admit that there were days where I would forget my smart watch at home, on the charger, and be completely miffed that I couldn't record the distance walked!

And now... I wait for my medal to arrive in the mail. I am easily motivated by any little reward... gold stickers... virtual levels... and a real medal? Well, let's go for it.

The Conqueror Challenges were a bit of a "thing" during Covid, when everyone was stuck at home and treadmill use soared. Can't travel the world? No problem... take a Conqueror Challenge and see the world virtually. I saw their Facebook ads go by during Covid and thought it was silly.

Until this January, where I was bemoaning the fact that I might never get to do the real Camino. And my partner suggested a virtual one. I don't think she had the Conqueror challenges in mind... but I remembered that they had a Camino one and... it was perfect.

During the challenge, I also "planted" 5 trees at various milestones (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%). This is through a partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects. They plant trees in various third world countries. I hope my little trees make a difference.

But now what? Well... when I purchased the Camino challenge, I had bought another code to use on a future challenge. After much deliberating... and dithering between two options, I have chosen Hadrian's Wall. It's short - only 145 km or so. I should be able to do that in a month. After what... we'll see...

If I keep up my current pace, I should be done this challenge in a month... The app gives you the option of counting all of your daily steps or just specific activities. It would probably go a lot quicker if I used the step counter option but that seems a bit like cheating... so I'm doing it with specific activities. Onwards!