New Trekking Poles!

I used to not much care for trekking poles, but now i just love them. I was using them wrong. What would the world be with out You tube to learn new things?  Not only do they help with balance, they are great for pointing, using to steady a camera, whack weeds out of the way. Also I found that sometimes my hands would swell if  I wasn't careful of the salt in my diet. (Also a Camino concern as fries are pretty much a staple on the pilgrim menu) and that doesn't happen if I use poles. I had previously bought the Black Diamond Z poles that were of a fixed length. While I liked them, there were just slightly too short.  I used them anyway for awhile, but recently decided it was time for new ones. I got the adjustable yet still foldable into Z style,. so they are easy to put in your backpack and hopefully can be carried on planes.  I love them! I got them from Sunny Sports, at a good price. My sister was able to fit my old poles, so I was able to set off the cost of my new ones somewhat. I highly recommend them They are light, easy to deploy.

Stock photos of my new poles!

Since it is still fairly cool, I decided to go a walk thru the shade-less desert

Its actual quite early for wildflowers here, so hopefully it is a sign of a good season.

It was surprisingly difficult to get a shot of my walking stick while holding it. But They are just wonderful! 

Happy St James Day!

St James was this past Saturday. One day I would love to visit Santiago for the celebrations, but really crowds that large are hard for me to take.   I recently had decided to try and keep up  Camino habits in my day to day life and went on a couple of walks, only about 12k each as it really gets pretty hot quiet quickly. I really want to toughen up my feet, as the only niggle injury I have had on camino is a couple of blisters. So it was hot which was hard, but also good to really work on my choice of footwear/ sock combination. This time of year I like to stick to roads, as I am terrifed of snakes that can be lurking under bushes. Luckily I live near some roads that I never see traffic on.  I also made a version of Santiago Cake for my family and I took a photo, but it looked terrible  in the picture.  I can easily see why there are jobs such as a food stylists.

I love this catherdral. I wish I was there, but its fun to look at old photos. THis was from Late May 2014. I am hoping that when I return, the much needed repairs will be finished, so the scaffolding can come down.

It is a nice wide road, easy to see rattlers. Though, I have only seen one dead one this whole summer. 

I love the desert. Its easy to see where the water runs during monsoons, as it will be a darker green.  

Some Night Shade Silverleaf are still hanging on.

As are the desert Marigold, its a bit late for them too. 

Turkey buzzard doing his thng. 

ugh, obligatory selfie. I really like to wear long sleeves with the added Uv protection, so I don't have to mess with sunblock as much. i am sporting my camino buff, which I love.

My maxiumalist shoes have arrived!

On my first camino, I just wore my regular road running shoes, not even trail runners. And they were mostly white, by the end they wore a faint brown. My biggest pet peeves were:
 1) Feeling rocks through the soles on the uneven terrain
 2) Lack of traction when wet

I'm in the camp that doesn't like gore-Tex shoes that much. Probably since its so hot most the time in AZ I really value the ability of shoes to breath, also if your shoes do get wet (and if its really raining they will regardless of what they are made of) they will dry quicker as you walk. So I set out to find a better shoe to take. I like runners because they are comfortable too me and not too heavy. I had read an article about a new shoe that was gaining popularity in the Ultra-marathoning world- the Hoka One One. The trail version retails for $160, but I was so happy to discover they were one on discount on Sierra Trading Post for only 94 plus I got a $20 gift card that I was able to turn into an Icebreaker tank top. So far I love them, there are super comfortable and also give me an inch or two. If I can feel a rock thru these I will be in Princess and the Pea territory. Here they are pictured next to a pair of my regular running shoes- quite the difference. tomorrow will be the real litmus test as I plan on taking them on a long walk thru the desert on uneven ground. I've had a few blisters during my training so far so I am ever hopeful that my feet are tough enough not to get any new ones, always a walkers hope.

Less then three weeks!

I'm a terrible blogger. I really only like blogs that are often updated, but I now know it does take a bit a effort to maintain one. Sincere apologies to all the bloggers I have mentally been annoyed with lack of updates.

I can't believe how close it is to take off. I am so excited. And on other great news I can wear my pants!! I was a bit worried I wouldn't make it in time. there are still a little snug, but hopefully the next little bit and a few days on the camino will take care of that. Secretly I would still like to lose a pound a week on the camino, but have resolved to not obsess about it. I find it strange that I can go from basically not caring as much as I should about my diet to the other end of the spectrum and getting worked over small things. Which is probably why I have a bit of a weight problem, never learned moderation. Another thing for me to add to my list of problems I would like to work on.

I've gotten into training a bit and up to ten miles. I'm not sure if I will go farther than that as most days I have things to be doing, and its hard for me to just walk to walk,  not getting anywhere I would much rather run (not that I can run 10 miles right now). This past walk I did get to see a lot of wildflowers here in the desert. Here are some pictures of flowers and where I normally walk. I do love the desert. One of my big regrets is that the other day there was a surprisingly low flying military airplane, I could read the numbers on the side but I was too slow with my camera, or it was too fast.

Training

Time flies, as did my goal to write 5x a week. How did time go by so quickly?  I can't believe that I am going on Camino in less then six weeks. My personality is sadly such that I keep expecting something bad to happen, and I won't be able to go.

Having that said, I getting pretty excited. I have got a few new things for my kit, I'll make a post of them now and then agian after the Camino to see how they fared. I have also been on several long walk in consecutive days, as I think that is the hardest thing of the camino for me. Due to time constraints I won't have many (if any) really days of rest. I didn't last time either. I think the lack of recovery time is quite hard. Its also diffucult to replicate, while I have been able to do 7-8-7-8 mile walks back to back, on the Via de la plata I will need to do twice that. But at least that will be my job for the day. Thank goodness for Audible, its a bit boring walking just to walk and not get anywhere. I am also going to be starting a bit of upperbody work as well, though I haven't yet.

Oh I have lost a bit of wieght,  I would like to lose 8-9 more lbs. (its more than originally stated as I was more than originally thought) but that may be a tall order due to the amount of time between now and then. If I can't fit my fancy dancy hiking pants I wlll be in quite the dilema, as I really don't want to spend more money on gear and would like to save it all.

Oh, I have decided I much prefer camelbak to the waistback as least that model keep slipping when the water bottles were full.

buen camino!

Battle of the bulge

So today I felt like going over my pack for the camnino which is mostly packed. I decided to try on my super nifty convertible north facepants.And they are supertight. No way I can hike all day in them, fly in an uncomfortable plane for 12 hours, even breathing will be hard. While I have been running fairly consistently, I have been eating, when i'm bored.tired, hungry sad. And I can tell. Let alone the horrible pictures I just saw of myself. I read an article in the UK magazine Running fitness, how little running does for wieghtloss for the average person and it is all about food. while Ideally I would like to lose 25-30lbs, my goal before I leave is going to be eight pounds, about a 1 lb a week, Hopefully I will be able to lose a little wieght on the camino as well. I did last time but I gained it alll back once I wasn't walking for hours day. This is the first time I have publicly declared an intent to lose wieght,  (though its not too public really). Hopefully it will work. I will wiegh in on Weds.. I am too ashamed to post my weight but promise to be truthful about losses and hopefully not gains. Not only for my health but it will help me walk closer to the schedule I need to complete the kms I need to meet daily without putting as much strain on my body.  I've been sick but did manage to jog 2 miles today. I have been runnig about 16 miles a week and would like to get my miles up to at least 25-30 before I go.