Marathon Walking

I decided to hang out in porto for the morning and get a late start after checking out at 12 noon. I enjoyed a proper espresso, although the mocha was too sweet. Then toured a bit of the city and collected stamps at a few places. The 1st stop was the Cathedral - upon arriving there were a swarm of military officers and police - a very busy place. I found out there was a military service just starting which I was able to enjoy for a portion of it.

I picked up my Camino shell at the Cathedral for 2 euro and paid another 3 to tour the inside and take part in the mass. You can duck into a store in Porto and get a nice colorful shell or pick up a white one with a cross added in red at the cathedral. Most pilgrims hang them from their backpack and is just a cool memory to take away with you.

I was to train from Porto to Matasinhos then walk 27km to Pavoa do Varzim. Since my hotel was right on the river I decided to walk along the river front which was part of the camino, to Matasinhos, then walk until I was too tired or it got dark. I took a few breaks - lunch and dinner, and made it all the way to the hotel just after 9 pm with about 10 minutes of light left. 26+ miles in all! Total walking time was around 8 hours - I failed to restart my app after both lunch and dinner - note the gaps in the walking line.

In my mind, I was thinking that doing the extra km’s would make up for the rain day when I had my best Portuguese meal. It was also a personal challenge as I had always wanted to do a marathon, but only had the opportunity to do a Rock-n-Roll relay marathon with three others. I completed 6.25 miles and was wrecked after, then my body started breaking down - knee surgeries, foot surgeries, etc… I have had way too many surgeries in my life and my body just would not hold up to running a marathon - but walking? Hey, that may be and is possible. It helped that the entire day was flat ground or on raised boardwalk along the beach.En savoir plus