I swam 40 laps yesterday. WOW!

I am still amazed.  I swam 40 laps in our pool today.  The community pool is a large one. It is used for swimming competitions.  No short laps here.  The most I had done before was 30 laps.  Yesterday I decided I would push and see what I could do.  Not only did I push, but I changed my strokes to harder ones that worked more muscles.  New parts of my body made themselves known.  My left arm started to ache in the biceps around lap 35 but I kept going.  I was so proud of myself and definitely tired after.

I walk to and from the pool, by the time I got home I was ready to sit.  So of course I did.  Now those of you that do these types of things know exactly what happens when you sit after a lot of exercise.  The lactic acid just stops where ever it is.  Ker plunk!  The poor muscles wonder what happened as they are squeezed by all this junk that is now hanging out in and around them.  I get up to head to the bathroom and nothing wants to work.  It keeps screaming, 'I hurt, don't move.'  Of course what do I do, I keep right on moving as the bladder is louder than the muscles.  Not by much but it is there screaming as well.  Badder wins out over sore muscles.

After much stress, the body finally gives in and begins to move and repair.  A few hours later I am once again moving with ease.  Back to getting ready for the Camino.  Today I decided to focus on my back pack.  Wow!  There are so many and I am just wondering which will be the best.  Also, will the one I buy now still fit me if I lose weight between now and then?  It looks like a trip to REI is in the cards.  This week end I will be talking with the people in the know at REI.  I have to give a plug for REI here.  The reason being, if you purchase something and it is not working for you you can bring it back and exchange it or get a refund.  Now think about this folks.  Where else can you buy camping, hiking and other outdoor gear and exchange it that easily, especially after using?

I had purchased a pair of running shoes from them Part of the netting frayed.  They immediately exchanged the shoes for me.  I had bought the shoes in 2009.  There were no questions asked.  Now this is an important thing here, I did not start wearing them till May 2011.  They were an extra pair I bought to use when my current sneakers all died. (When I find a shoe I like I always buy extras for the future.) No questions asked.  They took one look at them and could see I had just started to wear them.  They have my undying loyalty and all my purchases in the future.  This is a company that really stands behind their stuff and takes care of there customers.  By the way, they also return to their customers/members a % of the profit every year.  Go REI!

I was looking at some other blogs of the Camino and found some neat pics I want to share with you. 

I will start with a great picture of one section of the trail.  This gives a real prospective because I have to walk across this entire area and it is just one small part of the trail.

Here is an entrance to one of the villages along the way.  How cool is this bridge!

Just to show you that everything isn't all flat and easy, here is a short rise in to some low lying hills.  Nothing like the Pyrenees but still a nice climb.  Nice enough to stress those muscles when you go up and down these all day long.

But, just to make your day a bit better, this one is so cool, if you like good wine.  This is set up at a brewery.  Spain makes great wine.  They serve it with every evening meal instead of water.  That still confuses me but the pilgrim meal comes with a bottle of wine.  This is a wine and water dispenser.  The left side gives wine,  FREE, and the right side gives water, also free to all pilgrims.  You just saunter up and put your cup or water bottle under the spigot and pour the wine and enjoy it.  It is one of the many gifts the locals give to the pilgrims as they walk. 

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B  e               am
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                            no   Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa

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