Pilgrimage: Physical preparation and training
While you can just set out with a pack into the dawn, your pilgrimage will be a better experience if you physically prepare for it in some way. How you choose to train will depend on your overall health and fitness, as well as how much time you have before your journey.
You can walk a pilgrimage without specialist training or super fitness
I am not a tough solo adventurer by any means, and you don’t need to be in order to walk most pilgrimage journeys, but you do need to be able to get up and walk every day for several days in a row.
When I walked The Pilgrims’ Way, I was forty-five, slightly overweight, with no experience walking solo over multiple days.
For the St Cuthbert’s Way, I was forty-six, slightly more overweight, and recovering from a bout of COVID-19 that left me struggling for breath more often than usual.
For the Camino de Santiago, I was forty-seven, slightly less overweight, but certainly not a racing snake by any means.
You can walk these pilgrimages as a ‘normal person,’ but I would definitely recommend multi-day, back-to-back walking to train for the longer Camino routes, so you get used to the kilometres involved.
I am able-bodied but I saw pilgrims with disabilities on the Camino, and there are organisations listed in the resources section that can support those with physical or mental challenges.
Walk in preparation
If you want to do a long walking pilgrimage, presumably you like to walk already, and the best way to prepare is to walk more.
On the Camino, I met pilgrims who had never walked long days before and had never done a multi-day walk. They suffered greatly from the lack of experience and this is one reason that many leave the way.
I walk regularly for pleasure and exercise and for many years, we did not have a car, so I often walked eight to ten kilometres on a ‘normal’ day, and around twenty on a longer weekend walk.
I lift weights and work out with a personal trainer twice a week, and strengthening my leg muscles definitely helped prevent the knee issues I witnessed in others on the Camino.
Over the last decade, I’ve been on group walking holidays led by a guide. I’ve also done several ultra-marathon walks of 50 kilometres in one day, and I’ve walked 100 kilometres in a weekend (50 kilometres each on back-to-back days). But before the Pilgrims’ Way, I had never walked six days in a row carrying a full pack, let alone walked solo on a route I didn’t know.
Training for a longer walk means allocating more time for it, and the days are repetitive as you are often walking the same route multiple times instead of an end-to-end journey. But it’s worth doing to strengthen your muscles, get used to your gear, and to experience walking when tired, and potentially in pain, before you tackle the pilgrimage itself.
If possible, train for the terrain and the weather you might experience
Walking on flat, hard ground for long distances is very different from walking up and down steep, boggy hills. Walking in autumnal storms and icy winds is very different from walking in summer heat and humidity.
The terrain and weather will impact your walking speed, as well as what gear you need. If possible, it’s a good idea to test your gear in some of the conditions you expect to encounter, or at least try to anticipate their impact on your pilgrimage.
Questions:
• What physical training and preparation will you undertake for your pilgrimage?
• What kinds of terrain and weather do you expect, and how can you replicate them in your training?
• Are you confident that you can get up and walk each day? If not, how will you gain this confidence?
Resources:
• The Camino with reduced mobility — https://www.pilgrim.es/en/plan-your-way/reduced-mobility
• Confraternity of St James details for pilgrims with disabilities — www.csj.org.uk/faqs/pilgrims-with-disabilities
