Last day of work, Yehaaaaaaa

Well the count down is finally on.
I worked my last shift today for the next 4 months !!
I am a little shell shocked to say the least and I cant believe that my holiday has finally begun.
All my planning and plotting and spending has come to an end and I fly out to Paris on Tuesday 2nd April  :-).

My last Trek Training with the Wild Women went really well last night.
2.5hrs and 8.8kms in  the urban jungle of Waverton, went down like a treat.
Last nights weather was perfect, with a massive full moon to look at, balmy air, and great company.
We had a lovely supper  to finish.
Finally last night I felt so ready for this trip. First time I've had my boots on for a while so it was nice to slip them on and have them feel like slippers.
Comfy pack @ 4kgs  a little bit of a cheat, but hey, I fly out in 4 days and will be carrying up to 12kgs everyday for a very long time, so took it easy on my last training night!

The urban hikers ensemble:
Took some of my new clothes on a test drive last night and feel like I'm on a winning combination. Lenser head torch, Keens boots , Injinji liners, Bridgedale socks, skins and Exoficcio peach plaid shirt, such a fashion plate !!! Oh and not to forget my mismatched hiking poles.

Wild Women on Top Inner West Group @ Luna Park

Thanks to my wild women on top trainer Jacq for the photo, that was a fun nights  trek.

A big thank you: 
Well I guess my next post will be from somewhere in Europe out on the trail of life, putting one foot in front of the other and praying that I make it up or down that next incline or massive mountain.
To everyone who has supported, cajoled,  pushed, laughed, looked strangely at me, inspired me, believed ,and just felt I deserved to do this, thank you from the bottom of my heart and feet.
I couldn't do this without you all.

I hope to write this blog on a regular basis but it will really be dependant on internet access.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter, be happy and safe.

Pilgrim Catastrophe signing off.

jobieco's photostream

jobieco's photostream on Flickr.

These are some images from my 2008 Camino Frances.
I have been trying to add them as a slideshow and nearly going demented so please enjoy and hopefully I will figure this out before my 2013 Camino commences !

The count down begins

Well I had every intention of writing much more frequently than I have but time has gotten away from me and I fly out in 9 days time.
I have 4 more days of work left and this takes me up to Easter.
All my preparations are done !!

Money:
Money all bought and safely stowed, can only hope Ive calculated well enough.
Ive gone with 50 Euro / day, I think back in 2008 when I attempted the Camino Frances I had allocated approx. 30Euro / day, but with my trips to Hospital, Taxis and private accommodation I well and truly blew that little budget.
Hopefully through my adventures I will keep you all up to date with the costs.

Equipment:
I have had a lovely time over the last couple of months buying lots of stuff for this trip. I cannot believe how lightweight some of my clothes are. My rain jacket is as light as a feather, as are my Exofficio shirts. I was ecstatic the other week when I packed everything and it all weighed 8kg. Plenty of room for that heavy water bladder.

I really have to stay away from the hiking stores as I just keep wanting,wanting,wanting. I was  so tempted to buy new hiking poles the other day but decided that was being a little over indulgent as there is really nothing wrong with the poles I have. They helped me on my last Camino so I think they will bring me luck this time and keep me away from the hospital.

Cosmo checking out the gear.

Boots:
I started my Trek Training last year in a pair of Columbia boots which were fantastic and so very comfortable but towards the end of last year I started to get a little worried as my feet were swelling with the heat and I still wasn't double socking at this stage. On my last Camino I ended up with horrendous blisters because of this and really didn't want a repeat performance.
I started looking and found to my delight the wonderful Keen's boot. They are so roomy and very comfortable.
With the injinji toes sock liners and the Bridgedale wool sock Ive hit a winning combination.

My Keen's Boot, Pink nail polish and Teva's

I was re-reading my diary from my last Camino and I had written a list entitled Notes to self.
One of the notes to self was Bright Pink Nail polish lasts the whole Camino on any existing toenails.
I will be doing a big paint up the night before I leave. There is nothing better than taking your boots off at the end of a long walking day and be greeted by wonderful bright toenails.

What's going in the pack:
1 Rain jacket
1 Rain pants
2 thermal tops
1 thermal pants
1 pair skins
1 pair zip off pants
2 long sleeve shirts
2 pairs nickers + 2 bras
3 pairs socks+ 3 pairs liner socks
1 buff
1 pair gloves
1 wide brim hat
very small amount of toiletries
I am still wrestling with my camera and which one to take, stay posted for that one.

Anyway enough of my ramblings, I am getting excited and nervous at the same time, I just now really want to start walking. The weather remains an issue at the moment and Im not really sure if i will be able to walk the Pyrenees, but it is nearly 2 full weeks away so I am really hoping the snow will stop, the weather will be clear and the roads will be safe. It was very sad today to read on the forum that a pilgrim had died on the decent into Roncesvalles. The information is not clear as to what happened to him, but may he RIP.

Thoughts from my training schedule (2)

I decided to kick the year off with a bang as i saw the year out with many aches and pains and thoughts of what was I really doing and could I do this !

January 1st 2013

Have started today with one goal in focus April 8th let the camino begin. Sitting here at cafe bones pretending that my trek has commenced. American accents abound !! So not the continental surround I am trying to pretend. My feet are already hot and swelling its 2pm and 26degrees I'm wondering if that may have a little to do with the state of the pias. I am quietly confident that I will make it this time and if not all my wonderful memories of last time and the simple joy of walking I feel will sustain me. So after my double cotardo I am ready to continue my training. Just stopped to tape up my feet, get to the hot spots before they turn. I also had something profound to write but alas it's gone. What a surprise I had when my 2008 pants fit me albeit snuggly but hey I'm on the road to fitness, I'm no fashion plate for Tumblr !! Must remember sunscreen next time. 8kg in the pack after no training for 4 weeks, sweet, no back pain yeah !!!!!

New Years Day Trek Training

January 10th

8.2 kg walked Clovely to Bondi and back 80mins 

Trek Training 

6th Feb

Bush so good to be back after the last term missing so many walks because of my back. 

10kg in pack comfortable and managed to keep up, just! First time have worn my new Keens boots with injinji toe socks. The boots and sock combo, so far, so good !

The toe saver socks

February 7th

10kg walked Coogee to Bondi return 2hr 30 min

Trek Training 

13th Feb

Urban jungle not a good night couldn't keep up, back painful felt like a big failure, am really questioning what I'm doing!!!

February 14th

Coogee to Bondi return (no pack) 2hrs felt so good 

The planning in full swing

Trek Training 

20th Feb

Another not so good night glad I went but again back painful and niggling light pack so am starting to worry big time and questioning everything especially reading back I should be carrying more weight, might do more on my Thursday walk as I'm not on a schedule !!!

Have to keep reminding my self that no matter what the training is it will benefit me and the Camino isn't a race, put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Also that's all I will be doing every day for 2-3 months !

5 weeks to go! Good grief !

26th Feb

Just loosely packed my gear and then weighed it!!!

Yeah Ha - 8kg amazing

So happy with that, will still need to look closely at what I'm taking but am very happy. 

The equipment purchased at last

Well that was it from all my musings along the way, the true adventure begins in less that 28 days.

Thoughts from my training schedule (1)

These were the notes I took whilst I was doing my trek Training, hopefully you will get a little laugh out of them. I just read that first entry, it seemed every Wednesday I had a lot of wind, lucky for the others i was really slow and no-one knew !

Trek Training 

9th May

7km Urban jungle walk

Incline 300 meters x 5 times twice 

So many thoughts , so slow ended up on my own, hence song choice in head, "all by myself", "one is the Loneliness number", back not to bad a couple of twinges, walked with poles, cheered on by dogs.  

Build up to 10kg in backpack sit on it for a few months then increase prior to going. On my own farting. 

3 kg backpack 

Trek Training 

16th May

Walked with the big pack girls 16kg mine was lucky to be 3kg

Did 2 hills, 3 sets of stairs, and one giant ramp that went on forever and I died at the top, fogged up my glasses and had to walk down the ramp without them, blind as a bat

Met up with the other teams as we had been broken up into teams of three

The big pack girls had to wear their pack, 8kg and above whilst the rest of us had to hold our packs over our heads whilst we did squats and lunges

We then ran 400m around the oval

By this stage I really wanted to die

This btw was after my brutal massage the day before 

Over the bridge we go

Trek Training 

23rd May

Bush wacking 6km 4kg backpack

Trek Training 

30th May

6km stairs & ramps with push ups

7kg backpack

The moon whilst doing sit ups

Trek Training 

6th June 

8kg backpack - 6km

Bush bashing in the rain, very slippery, my delicate derrière skidding down rocks finding every water well! 

Up boulders, thru muddy tracks, along paths looking at the king tide flooding the walk way. 

Trek Training 

13th June

Stairs, core, step ups, squats, walk across Sydney Uni, stair jumping, pushups

Sydney University Graffiti Tunnel

Trek Training 

20th June

Backpack 8kg -8km

Bushwalking from McMahon's Point across to Balls head. Old coal tunnel

Our beautiful bridge

Trek Training 

27th June

No walking this week as podiatrist investigating feet having scans etc

Trek Training 

18th July

Term 2 commenced but had a very sore throat so decided to give it a miss

Trek Training 

25th July

Backpack 8kg and walked in bush roughly 7km with lots of up and down trails. Stair jumping in sets of 5 so new trainer and different techniques. First time no pain in feet and I didn't double sock in my hiking boots, so think I'm on a winner in the feet department. Getting sick of the foggy glasses though so will need to investigate anti fog. 

Trek Training 

1st August 

Backpack 7.5kg urban training near Observatory Hill. Stair walking 5 ups very tough. Walked to first lookout pylon on HB. Then core work in observatory park. Runs up the hill x 10 times with pushups at each end. Sit ups +squats + lunges, hard going but ok, will be sore on Friday as have not done sits up for a couple of years now, will report on the pain scale if I remember. 

Observatory Hill whilst doing core work

Trek Training 

8th August

Trek Training 

11th Sept

Running Clontarf beach Indian file with 8kg in my backpack past drunken smelly cavemen with their dogs yapping and them cheering us on noice !!!!!

Trek Training 

12th Sept

Out of area walk coastal

11kg yeah I made it can't believe it and managed to keep up

Part (2) to be posted, i've realised there are quite a few gaps in my time line !