In the beginning..............

I attended a seminar last October where one of the speakers, Sue Kenney, spoke about her travels across an ancient trail, beginning in St Jean Pied de Port, France - and ending in Santiago, Spain. This trail, which people began walking in about 900 AD after the remains of St James were discouvered, is 800 kms long. After hearing Sue's leture, I became hooked. Let me explain...........

I am a pilgrim want-a-be.

I am 49, have worked for the same company for over 30 years and in the same job for over 11 years. I have a lovely wife of 25 years and have two grown children (yes, still at home). I have the house, the cars, the toys, everything one could want. I am 5'8, in good health, but in October, was 300lbs.

I was invited to attend (with several others) to an employee sponsored Quarter Century Club (sounds ancient) event on October 16th, 2009, in Owen Sound where Sue Kenney was the guest speaker. Sue talked about her 2001 adventures of walking the Camino. Prior to this, I had never heard of it.

It was a good presentation but nothing special. The video portion of it did not work, so we missed out on that. A presentation later in the afternoon by an employee of the Ontario Achieves office actually was much more entertaining - very funny.

However, the thought of walking the Camino somehow sunk in. And at the same time, the Toronto Maple Leafs, after having one of their worst starts in their history, were talking about "pushing the re-set button".

So here I am , thinking - that's what I need to do. Push my re-set button. I did run a marathon (Detroit Free Press) in 1979, I did referee hockey (up to the Junior A level) for 25 years - I did advance in my career at least once every five years. But for the past 11 years I have stalled.

Although married into a Catholic family, I am not religious. I do not see this as a religious retreat. I do not see this as finding some inspiration on the trail. I find this as a way of pushing my "re-set" button. My expectations are that I will gain more in the journey of getting 'ready' for the walk - as opposed to the walk itself. I have no way of knowing what will come from the walk itself.

Unlike when Sue walked the trail after just winning the World Master's rowing competition and was in peak physical shape, I am not at the peak of my fitness life. In fact, I am at the extreme worst condition of my life. I am 5’8 and 300 lbs. But I have started training. The first week consisted of riding my recumbent bike 30 minutes a day - and yesterday, 60 minutes. Today, I walked for 3 miles (imagining myself walking through Spain as I was doing it), and then rode the bike for 30 minutes. I have begun.

Will I continue, will I get injured, who knows? But it does give me something to strive for. And if I am in good enough shape (whatever that means), I am eyeing up walking the Camino in May.

(previously written in October 2009)