From the computer of Dr. Rich Blake
I have just returned from a wonderful journey through the Tuscan hills of Italy and down to Roma. The adventure was inspired 10 years ago by a movie starring Charlie Sheen called “The Way”. The movie was about the Spanish counterpart to my walk involving over 500 miles in Northern Spain. My wife and I walked the Spanish “Camino de Santiago” in 2 parts, 12 days in 2015 and 27 days in 2019. These 2 walks encouraged us to try again so we did 23 days of the “Via Francigena” in Italy in 2022 and 26 days this year.
Slow walking (as this type of walking is called) is an incredible way to experience a country. You average between 13-15 miles (around 30,000 steps) a day of walking, from one hotel to another, typically 2 miles a hour. That is your only job all day. You must get to the next lodging. There are many groups that you can pre-pay for lodging and luggage transfer, and we used Macs Adventures out of Scotland for all 4 of these trips. We found the Camino in Spain to be a little more together in its infrastructure of such a walk and its popularity, but the Via Francigena is through Italy! Who doesn’t want to go there??
My wife and I are both Catholics, and these caminos are revived old Pilgrimages going to Santiago, Spain (burial site of Saint James), and Rome, Italy (you end in Saint Peter’s Square). Therefore, we prayed in every church and shrine we could find, and slowly that inner peace of prayer sets in. However, Catholics and non-Catholics alike will find great joy in these days of walking.
They have almost everything—incredible histories, beautiful landscapes, some incredible towns and cities to explore each evening or on rest days, great food and drink, new friends in those you meet, tons of exercise, and ample time to reflect/meditate/pray/think. You definitely will not come back home as the same person!
So, how do you train for walking 13-15 miles and some hills? I recommend 6-7 months with 10,000 steps a day. Each week should have a long walk which is gradually increasing. Start with 5 miles, then 6, etc. We typically want to get an 18-20 mile walk in once about 2-3 weeks before we are going. And, if you live in a flat part of the country, twice a week you should start walking stairs in buildings, parking lots, etc. You have to get used to hills. In our training, our once a week long walk we made sure to do together (typically Saturday or Sunday), and we never walk more than 4-5 miles before a 30 minute sit down for coffee, lunch, beer, even early dinner. So, on the perfect day for a 15 miler, we will have coffee at 4 miles, lunch date at 8 miles, beer or wine at 12 miles, and then stumble home. San Francisco has a great muni system that will help our freedom of routes we choose. That 15 miles may be far from our home, but we can bus the rest of the way.
Many Europeans walk the whole route at once, but most we met were doing a long weekend, a week, 9 days, or two weeks. It is easy for them to get a short flight to the starting point, and do the whole route over a few years. As I age, not having to walk with a backpack and just pay for luggage transfer from hotel to hotel was amazing. It is hard enough walking that distance each day. Two of our friends we met were doing every hotel booking a few days in advance with Booking.com and using BagsFree.com for their luggage. For sure they paid less than me, but were having to deal with that consistently. Also, the app Whatsapp is the way you typically communicate quite easily in Europe, and you do not have to use your cell service.
This year our walk was the most special since it was a Celebration of Life for me after my Heart Surgery last October 2023. It is not an aerobic walk by name, so my heart was never stressed. I only had a painful corn on my right 4th toe to contend with. I hope I have inspired some of you to try one of the many walks throughout the world that you can do for improved health, and much much more!!!!!
