Normally when I’ve been about a month out, I’ve published a few more blog posts covering training and packing plans by now. I still hope to include another post or two, but life has been busy. Other travel, a softball team, running Ragnar, etc. has gotten in the way of focusing on my upcoming Camino. But that will need to change as I enter the last month before starting my walk.

I’m still considering what shoes I’ll wear and I’m really down to crunch time on this. I got some new Brooks thanks to a store credit from a previous Christmas present from my dad and I thought they might be perfect. But now I’m starting to think I either need different inserts or potentially different shoes. So that is my focus this week.

I had forgotten until yesterday that I still needed to order my Credential from the American Pilgrims on the Camino website. You can get the credential many places along the Camino but there’s something fun about getting one in advance from a Camino group I’ve spent some time on training walks with. Hopefully that will arrive soon. I’ll be using that as my “passport” collecting stamps from albergues, cafes and bars I stop at along the way. To me, it’s the tangible token I can always look back on to remember different parts of my journey.

I can’t help but mention that I’ve been fairly delinquent in my training as well. Oops! Sure, I walk 5 miles a day on average – which is great – but I haven’t gotten nearly the amount of hiking in that would help my body get used to the elevation gain that I’ll be challenged with, starting on day 1. Hopefully I’ll get out on a trail this weekend to help with some last minute prep. The one thing I know is that I’m stubborn when I’ve set a goal for myself. So no matter how hard the walking may be, my stubbornness to push through it will keep me on target.

One of the things that’s kept me busy, that does count for training, is running my second Ragnar Relay this past weekend. Over two days I ran/walked about 15 miles as part of my three legs of the relay on our 11 person team (full teams consist of 12 runners that divide up 200 miles of running from Blaine, Washington to Langley, Washington on Whidbey Island). This race was a challenge for me because running has become much harder post having covid. I’m not in the greatest shape, due to the fact that working out has become much more challenging for me. My hope is that this Camino helps me find my strength again and reclaim a part of me that has become so important to me.

Ragnar was hard, but I was so proud of myself for signing up and pushing through some pretty tough legs. Yes, I walked about half, but what was important to me, was that I took every step.

Going through my packing list is also one of the important preparation steps that I’ll try to focus on over the next week. Part of that has become old hat being that this my fifth Camino, but I still don’t want to leave that to the last minute. Hopefully I’ll have my final packing list to share on here soon.

Mentally I’m ready to be back on the Camino. It’s a break I need from the day to day. It’s a body and mind reset that many of us take for granted or unfortunately don’t have the time to take. I feel so fortunate for this opportunity yet again.