"Building up Stamina etc"

Reposted from http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com/board/miscellaneous-topics/topic6663.html with the author's permission:

Well, thought I would open this topic ... I wasn't really ready for my first Camino so this year I am building up my stamina.

I have located a supermarket that sells quite good cheap Rioja and after three weeks of sustained, and sometimes quite painful, practise, I now am able to drink about two-thirds of a bottle each evening and still get out of bed in the morning - now I know that this isn't quite enough, especially once I am deep into Spain, but I am working on it (hic).

with coffee, I've failed miserably as I have given up caffiene - what I've been doing is going into coffee shops every morning - a different one each day - buying a double strength coffee (to show machismo) then, when no one is looking, tipping it into the nearest plant pot - I don't know if I am ready for Spain yet with this ... not quite sure what I will do if it doesn't work.

In my bathroom I have broken the bracket that holds my shower head up and hidden the sink plug and I now pay a neighbour to bang on the door and tell me to hurry up after I have been in there for three minutes - I can now shower, shave, and launder my underwear in 3.25 minutes on average - which should be fine ..

I have fitted a timer in my bedroom and at 0535 every morning it switches on, turning on a bright light and a radio set to a loud talk station (usually Radio Munich) ... it is only a fortnight since I have rigged this up but already I can now get up half an hour later without having bitten a hole in my pillow, which I think is quite good really, though I do still scream a bit ... unfortunately I have been unable to reproduce loud rustling noises and I am hoping that this doesn't catch me out on the Camino, but I've done my best ....

Every other evening I go to a cheap restaurant and order a very thin and overcooked piece of unidentifiable fried meat, with some thin half-cold chips and maybe a scattering of cheap peas, and for dessert I have a small ice still in a tub with a plastic spoon embedded in it, then another cup of coffee which I have to tip into a plant pot. I find that this is fairly similar to every cafe pilgrim meal I have ever had - it is quite good to get used to chewing the strange meat and actually not getting indigestion at night again. I had thought of paying them to laugh in my face if I ask for a vegetarian option, but it wouldn't really work without the moustaches and the cheap white shirts ...