Our first Camino was an extremely hard and rewarding experience. We were 7 years younger than we are now, and we were very disciplined, training for months for our 500-mile walk on The Strand in Manhattan Beach, at sea level, with no hills except for an occasional walk from our house to the beach.

Two years ago, we trained on hiking trails at 7000-to-8000 feet above sea level, along hilly trails and streets with our 2 Labrador Retrievers Sterling and Willow. Training was great, but I never found shoes that made my feet happy for the 15-mile days on the Camino.

This spring, I lucked out. The guy at REI listened to my tale of woe and description of the terrain in Portugal, and very patiently brought out multiple pairs of trail runners. Finally, my feet were happy! Then I started experiencing excruciating pain in my toes. Turned out to be Morton’s Neuroma, which has been calmed down by topical steroidal cream.

Back on the trails, I took a few falls, tripping over rocks or roots, and then just last week I didn’t notice a step at a restaurant, resulting in a twisted ankle and bruised knee.

We have 1 day left before we leave; I never did meet my goal of walking 10 to 12 miles. 8.5 was my longest hike… I have a feeling that I’ll regret not training harder on those 15-and 17-mile days on the Camino.

Mike, on the other hand, is once again fully prepared, adding extra hiking miles with the dogs each day, happy as a clam with shoes that he orders online that fit perfectly.