One Step and Then One More

Hardest Step

Without a doubt, in my opinion, the single most difficult part of any challenge is the first step. A friend of mine, a highly successful businessman, told me just yesterday how, at the age of 18, he hitchhiked from Holland, Michigan to Florida. He did it alone and only took with him a sleeping bag that his mother sewed for him. I have no doubt that at least a part of his success in life comes out of his willingness to say ”yes” to a challenge.

My brother is still recovering from a horrendous battle with cancer. The chemotherapy almost killed him, and I mean that literally. I watch him now as he pushes himself to get stronger. He began behind a walker, shuffling from his condo door to a bench about 100 yards away, his wife, Dee, by his side. Then he went a little farther and then a little more, and then with a cane, and on and on, one halting step at a time. Now he walks a mile or so without an aide. It’s determination, stubbornness—GRiT! But it began with one step out that condo door, a decision to get better.

We were living in Jerusalem when a friend of ours told us about walking the El Camino. As we walked home from our friend’s house we determined that one day we were going to do that walk. And now is that day.

Readying Ourselves

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success” – Alexander Graham Bell.

If you invent something like Bell did, then your words carry a lot of weight. The key to this quote is the first phrase—“Before anything else …” What might be included in the “anything else”?

Amazon.com

I’m pretty sure that one of those other things would be buying everything you think you might need before you test out what you actually need. Early on, before we had a clue, we bought clothes we thought we would bring along only to discover in training that the clothes we purchased weren’t the ones we actually needed. Amazon loved us as we purchased gadgets and thingamabobs and tools and utensils of fancy and neat variety. Like the Squat Strap! Yeaaah? No!

“Just Do It!”

Another one of those ”anything else” things, is the notion that you can just “gut it out” out there! Maybe so, but probably not, right? Am I the only one who’s been there, done that, and hated it? My friend made it to Florida with a gerry-rigged sleeping bag and a bunch of people willing to stop and give him a ride. Different day, right? The fact is that in life you don’t get many free rides.

Sweat Equity

Both Sally and I are pretty fit for 70 year-olds, but not necessarily walking fit. That’s a different kind of training. As soon as we decided to do the El Camino we started walking. Sally landed on the right pair of shoes first thing. I was not so fortunate. I had to try several before I found a pair that was working. This was a key to preparing well. Now my Lem’s mountain boots are all I wear on our long training walks. Breaking them is a top priority.

As an aside, when we did the 26-day Israel/West Bank hike a bunch of years ago, I did not adequately break in my hiking boots. The result was a serious case of blisters. Not making that mistake again.

Stepping Up Our Stepping Out

Up until this point we have been stretching out our walks from 6 to 9 to 12 and now 16 and 18 miles two or three times a week. The last two weeks we will walk every day, starting on Monday with 6 miles and building up to 21 miles on Saturday. This is not just for endurance but for mental toughness as well—a lesson I learned from my first of two marathons. The longest walk in the El Camino for us is 19 miles, so we are making sure we do that at least twice. Again, this is for mental toughness. Do it and then you are mentally prepared to do it again and again and again.

Our usual pace is about 20-minutes-a-mile. We have no intention of walking the El Camino at a 20-minute-a-mile pace. That defeats the purpose, which is to enjoy the journey. However, we figure that if we can do that pace for 18-21 miles, then we’ll be in good shape to make it day to day. We’ll see how we feel after 15 days straight averaging 14-16 miles a day.

Day One

Climbing, climbing, climbing. We’re walking steps. There is a set of steps near our home—239, to be exact. Our best effort to date is 8 times. But this exercise is causing some pain in my right foot so we are rethinking this part of our training. Getting injured is not something we want to risk. However, it’s a dilemma for a couple of reasons. I’m dumb and stubborn about these things. That’s a problem. And, the first day we cross the Pyrenees into Spain. Our mindset is to prepare for the first day, which every source tells us is the toughest. Hitting the steps is a big part in that. So, we’ll see.

Are we ready? We’ll find out soon enough. But we are excited.