We completed the first 100 miles of our 500-mile expedition today. Just going to let that sentence sink in for awhile….for Sarah and me. Ok…we’re good. We left Arcos early this morning as we had a 29Km / 18 mile walk in front of us…our final day in the Navarra region before moving into the …
I spoke with my sister Linda this afternoon. Among other things, we talked about the weather (we Smiths are famous conversationalists) and she informed me that Chicago has had horrible weather lately with only 2 days in April with temperatures over 50 degrees Fahrenheit…even for Chicago, unusually cool. (For our friends in Europe and Asia, …
Our guidebook for today’s walk referred to it as a “a see-saw day with more climbs than downhills”. My Garmin watch logged 86 floors up and 69 down, confirming that the elevation that we gained against gravity was essentially given back…as we make our way through the final couple days of the mountainous Navarra region. …
(Web co-administrator alert: This site experienced technical difficulties related to user content production and a temporary outage of power to the main grid requiring routine maintenance. In other words, Dave fell asleep last night with the iPad on his chest. Sorry for the delayed posting. Sarah) On Sunday we left the beautiful walled city of Pamplona …
Greetings from Pamplona…home of the famed San Fermin Festival…and the running of the bulls. We arrived this afternoon after our first full day of no rain and sunshine since we left Rome on Tuesday. It was a welcome change…and the additional Vitamin D powered us through another 24 kilometers (15 miles) of walking up and …
It was pointed out to me by someone that adding pictures of cute animals (puppies, kittens, koalas) is a surefire way to increase traffic to your website. So we lead tonight with a photo of a young foal we saw next to the path today as as we descended from Roncesvalles further into Spain. So …
Dear all…we have successfully completed our first day of walking The Camino Frances! 3o kilometers (or 18 miles) and 3500 feet of effective elevation gain in the rain, muddy valleys and slick hilltops of the Pyrenees. Thank you for your well wishes. Enjoy the photo from the summit/mountain pass (above). We are going to sleep. …
Like other marathons, the Rome Marathon now leverages chip technology to provide runners with a lot of feedback and perspective on their performance…maybe too much “perspective”. As I was basking in the accomplishment of completing the run…and enjoying the admiration and attentive care of my spouse (Sarah handed me 4 Advil and a glass of …
A highlight of our trip was participating in the Rome Marathon on Sunday, April 8th. (If you are reading e-mail notification…Go to thewalkingsmiths.com site for more photos.). Dave ran with our good friends made while living in Tokyo – Peter Frost, Maiko Lankau and Weigandt Christian. We have previously run together in several marathons – …
Prior to starting the Camino this week, we visited Rome for the first time to meet up with our good friends, see the city…and for Dave to run the Rome Marathon (or the “Maratona di Roma” as Dave insisted on calling it, using a very irritating attempt at an Italian accent). Key highlights for us… …