As is often the way, you set out with a drive and enthusiasm for new plans and new goals and then by the third week of January you think, what’s the point and forget all about it.
But this year things need to be different. I’m in my early 40s now and have found myself thinking about my health more often in recent years. Those who know me know that I’m a big lad. I’ve always been tall – the tallest in our family (so much so that I still occasionally call my younger brother “wee man” even though he’s close on six foot tall himself).
But when I was a kid I was skinny as anything and took a lot of bullying at school as a result. It was always difficult to find clothes to fit me too. I might find a shirt or jacket the right size for my body, but the arms would be half-way up to my elbows.
Now I’m older I’m still, of course, tall, but I’m also big as well. I’m not grossly fat, but I do need to lose weight. And, as has been the case my whole life, I still have trouble finding clothes to fit me. Especially in Spain. In the UK I was an XXL and were it not for Marks and Spencer I would have been walking round in bin liners. It’s alright for most of you who are average size. The High Street is a cathedral to clothes of all designs for you. But alas, it never has been for me. And it’s worse in Spain.
Over here, people are generally shorter and smaller. So I’ve discovered that even though I’m exactly the same size as I was in the UK, I’m a 3 or 4 or even a 5XL here. They don’t have M&S here, so it has been a case of not buying many clothes at all here and just waiting until I make trips back to the UK.
That was until I found a shop in Jerez last week. It used to be a common sight on the UK High Street but for some reason it moved out of the UK a few years ago. But it’s still here in Spain and it does a section especially for big and tall men like me. It’s C&A. I didn’t know what the C and the A stood for when it was in the UK and I still don’t now. But I don’t care, because it’s got clothes that fit me. And they’re not those terrible, out-of-fashion baggy things that you usually only get in those XXXXXXXL outlet stores you find stuck in some out-of-the-way industrial estate, advertised by some crappy hand-made sign stuck in a dual-carriageway layby.
So, that’s my first New Year’s resolution out of the way already – find some decent clothes that fit me in Spain - and it’s only January 6.
The second one, and the real reason I write this today, is to get fit and lose weight. Like I said, we all say these things at the start of each year but then forget about them a few weeks in. But I figured that by putting it on the record it would give me a bit of extra motivation to achieve it.
So, for the record, this year in August me and the wife plan to walk the Camino de Santiago. Well, not all 850km of it, but probably 150km at least.
For those that don’t know, the Camino is an ancient pilgrims’ route to the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostella in Galicia, north west Spain, which is said to house the tomb of the apostle St. James. Every year, thousands of people walk part or all of the route, collecting stamps along the way in the special Camino “passport” which then entitles them to an official certificate at the end. There are many different routes you can take to Santiago, but the most common one is the inland route across northern Spain which starts in the Pyrenees at the Spanish-French border. Only the most dedicated start here as it’s more than 800km and can take over two months to complete. Many people do the last 100km as this is the minimum distance needed to quality for the passport stamps and the certificate. But we want to do a little bit further than the minimum. It’ll mean averaging about 20km a day for a week and staying in the traditional hostels known as “albergues” each night. It isn’t too bad, but harder if you’re out-of-shape as we are.
So we have already started preparing. Last week, we walked a tricky river gorge stretch in the Sierra de Grazalema, south east of Seville. It was only 10km but the need to clamber up and down rocky outcrops and negotiate very slippery paths made the route a “media” in the guidebook instead of the easiest “baja”.
On January 1 we went for a 4km walk along the beach at El Puerto, near Jerez – very straightforward if you’re walking along the flatter, more compact sand close to the water’s edge, but harder if you’re walking through the deeper stuff we deliberately chose further up the beach. Ok, neither route was very long. But it was a start for us. So we’re pushing ourselves a bit further each time.
The Camino is an important route for so many people, particularly for pilgrimage. For me, it’s about getting fit. The religious thing used to be important to me, but not anymore. I’ve toyed with it – religion, not the Camino - a couple of times in my life, but have always come to the same conclusion, that it’s not for me. That’s not to say I don’t respect others’ beliefs – I do. But it does nothing for me I’m afraid.
So that’s it. The Camino in August. We’ve got no choice now. I’ve said it for the record. Wish us luck, won’t you.
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