I need to get out, I booked a flight to Europe and am ordering gear from REI. I'm going to walk the Camino Frances starting in two weeks, but I need advice. I am a big boy with bad knees, 300lbs.
I currently don't move, I get winded going up stairs and brace myself to sit down. I'll start out by going slow but how bad of an idea is this? It's just walking right? I hear it's an easy one to start with. I can do this right? Besides toe socks is there anything I'm forgetting to bring? If I don't do this I fear my life is over. I'm giving myself two months to finish it.
Start by walking around your neighborhood.
300lbs lmao there is no way.
FPactuallyBP lol
Seriously wtf are you doing? Walk a mile even from your house. Can you even do that?
This is a low effort troll post, but kind of funny I guess. I'll give you a 3/10.
Imagine being the guy who has to sleep underneath the 300 pound American in the hostel. He comes in drenched in sweat, he stinks, and he snores like a freight train.
yeah, im going to try and pay for private rooms when i can, i see some places have them
thanks, im planning to stop frequently. do you think boots are needed? i have a newer pair of new balance i was going to wear, just wondering about waterproofing.
thanks for confirming, the frances looked easiest for someone like me so out of shape so thats why i picked it
btw the north of spain is not warm and sunny, it may rain a ton, specially in galicia, be prepared
I will never understand people who are untrained suddenly plan on walking such distances. Are you mad? You are guaranteed to quit 15% through. Also where you gonna stay in a foreign country? Blow money on hotel rooms for weeks?
Untrained people have no reference, therefore they are unable to correctly judge these things. On top of that, most "people" have no ability to think critically, so they're double fricked in cases like this
you got the really easy one, and in this time of the year there wont be many people so you shouldt have problems finding place in the official hostel were to sleep if you are really slow
also, go to fisterra, always, is the real end of the camino
cannot say shit for the health part sorry, but get a little on shape man
actually is the cheapest tourism one can do, subsidized to death with my taxes...
the coast would be harder for someone soo out of shape.
Hope it’s not a troll. I say post belly to prove it’s not lol.
Since it’s such short notice, you’ll probably benefit the most from stretching rather than exercise. You’ll notice increased flexibility in that time, but you won’t notice cardio improvements for 3 or 4 weeks. That’s for a normal person; shit might be different for a behemoth.
Other random advice: force yourself to take breaks at times intervals (every hour, or half hour of that’s not enough). Sometimes we get so focused on “pushing through” that it becomes a detriment.
I ran a backpacking MeetUp group and we got lots of people who wanted to go from the couch to joining one of our more strenuous, 15+ mile per day hikes. Most could handle maybe 10 over moderate terrain, less if they were older.
First of all: DON'T take the route over the pyrenees( route napoleon). it is very steep uphill and is 22km without an albergue to stay the night so you have to do the whole mountainous 22km that day(.
As a fat frick, you should do the alternate valcarlos route. It's ugly but has an albergue roughly in the middle. or just skip the pyrenees and start in Pamplona or something.
The first week will be hard on you but I took the edge off a little by walking 25km a day the 2 weekends before my Camino( so 50km weekend -2, 50km weekend -1). I had a lot of small aches during those weekends that went away and didn't return on the actual Camino.
most people do it untrained. it's an easy route with a lot of infrastructure
The meseta part of the experience, bro. It's a cool place
Thanks doing the Valcarlos route to start because it's the only option open right now.
Thanks for the advice on consistent breaks, it's something I haven't really thought about but it does sound like I should go easy at first for sure.
I'm about halfway to the starting point, got my fat ass to Europe today, already took a train to France. Now I have a week to work my way to SJPDP and find some gear. I think I'll stop in a larger French city and hit up one of these decathlon stores I read about for a bag and supplies, I only have two pairs of sweats with me but I think with thermals and a poncho I should be okay since I'm big and run hot. Thanks again for the advice.
>OP is actually going
Post some pics along the way.
Decathlon good for budget gear and not the worst quality. Don't overload, any extra weight on the back will make it harder. Good luck, you can do it.
Good to hear you made it there safely, one thing i forgot to mention in my other post thats pretty important is vaseline to stop your legs chaffing.
A lot of cool stuff will happen each day and all kinds of people you meet, be sure to write down somewhere what happens for keepsake, you won't regret it. A huge part of the camino for me is the memories of being there, the fact that you even went and attempted it at all. There will be days thay you're tired and don't want to walk, exhausted and hurting but in time every one of these memories will make you smile.
Good luck my friend and buen camino.
there's a decathlon in Pamplona if your gear ends up lacking so don't sweat it too much. Good luck, I wish I could do it for the first time again. Nothing like it in the world
get some hiking poles, they'll take the load from knees, but they drink a lot of vodka
You will probably need to stop many times along the way. Get light gear including light boots. At least in Portugal there are many hostels along the way.
Between Logrono and Leon you are going to walk through a completly flat countryside with only crops for all the distance your eyes can cover. Very dry, few trees, few people.
I recomend you to take an alternative route closer to the coast, wich is a heavily forested area
primitivo goes through Oviedo and was really nice. not sure how anyone tries to bike it though
Galicia truly is a wonderful country, my comment was specificaly about Castilla (Salamanca, Burgos, Leon...)
Dont worry bro, our taxes get wasted on far more useless shit than some fatty walking around
I miss doing the Camino, always had a great time there even if I didn't get to meet a ton of people and experience the very social side of it.
It's incredibly comercial these days but somehow you can still feel that it makes sense to be there.
I did it with my girlfriend last end of Summer and it was really cool
Minus the 2nd day where we walked 60km which was obviously a bad idea. Holy shit man I couldn't recall the last time I ever hit my physical limit and then pushed beyond it in a hike.
The Pilgrim's Mass was awesome the Cathedral was fricking packed
Based. My biggest Camino day was 57km because it was raining and I just kept going.
Luv me arriving at a very small Spanish town, sit on a comfy bench, eat a bocadillo or empanada de atun and just watch other peregrinos pass by.
Having dinner and sitting outside your albergue staring at the sky and commenting on life with someone from a different country or even continent that you have just met but somehow you perfectly understand each other is peak life.
Relatable, I did 130km in 3 days (56km, 44km and 30km), with the 15kgs ony back, I can say it wasn't fun the 2 weeks following that.
It also made me stronger in faith though, I remember the amount of pain I was in, I would tear up and cry from it, I was restricted in time and didn't want to fail, I remember walking in Leon limping (my left ankle was fricked from those 3 days) and trying to hold back my tears, just praying for help, praying for some relief, sometimes I did feel better, the mornings and night were the worst, the endorphins would be gone.
Whoa there were PEOPLE in a CHURCH?? And someone read something? My mind is fricking blown right now holy shit
protestant detected
300lbs and you get winded up stairs but you think you can walk 500 miles.
Amazing.
Post body or we assume you're a lard and discard your opinion
I weigh 140lbs lol
i dont care about your opinion fatass i just want to tell you you are going to fail because you are a wienery moron
His opinion is correct regardless of his sexy twink body.
He won't. Fat sacks almost never do.
I hope you have a better plan than just start walking lmao. Start training in your area if you are serious about this. Anyway, it will only get kind of steep once you reach Leon, and also don't do it under the tormenting heat of July if you are not used cause you gonna die of dehydration.
>It's just walking right?
Your feet don’t have callouses built up because you’ve been sedentary. You’ll develop horrendous blisters if you try to walk for hours on end.
This can’t be prevented with diet or a gym routine. You have to walk.
You can do it, don't overthink it. I'm a pretty fat person but I've been doing it every year for the past 3 years, it's a lot of fun and I hope you have a good time.
The key thing is to listen to your body and STOP if you think you need it, make sure you give yourself a bunch of extra days compared to what anywhere online says is the recommended amount of time, it's better to have extra days to rest and just hang around town for a day than to feel like you have to force yourself into rushing it (and believe me a lot of people you meet on the camino end up rushing themselves)
Since it's your first time and you've probably already booked flights I'd say don't pressure yourself too hard about finishing it entirely if you feel you can't make it, Spain has busses that connect every city as well as a very cheap railway system, put your safety first as you can always come back. Also Trailrunners > Hiking Boots by far.
My first time I went in boots and my feet were fricked up by the end, the next time i took some adidas trailrunners and didnt get a single blister.
Wear 2 layers of socks and take Aquaphor to apply to your feet at the end of each day, also get some Talcum powder (you can by it there they have pharmacies everywhere) and put it inside your socks before walking each day, this will make a HUGE difference. Don't forget to restock your water every day too. You'll be fine, it's a lot of fun.
I live in the Way. 300lb you are not going to even finish the first day (Saint-Jean - Roncesvalles) as it means going up the Pyrenees