Tough Slog

Hoo boy. Today was the toughest day to get through, for some reason. For a few reasons maybe.

It was a beautiful sunrise, and cooler than it has been at the same time in this unseasonably warm month for this region. But the mileage has taken a toll on my feet. On my right foot at least – thankfully my left foot is doing well. Although the blister on the outside of my big toe and the blister on the outside of my little toe have both been seen to and wrapped with all the care and medical accoutrements we have, the pressure exerted on the extra padding on both sides of my boot meant a lot of pain walking today.

Our usual walking day is 6 hours or so, depending on the terrain, plus maybe three 15 minute breaks here or there for rest, foot and a stretch. When it is flat, easy walking we walk our city-quick pace, between 4 and 5 km an hour. My darling husband has taken the day pack load from me, as I have found that my scoliosis starts to cry out at about the 18km mark, at the point where my curve makes a deep concavity on my right side. I guess the impact of walking along with weight on the back is just too much, along with gravity and my age, to withstand the entire walking day, which is usually about 22 to 25 km. Especially if there is a lot of climbing or descending. So I only have to walk with my poles, which is so easy, but even then, at about 18km, my side is starting to request that we end soon, and I have to take frequent quick stretch breaks.

The other thing that happened today was I ate a small biscuit at about 8 km in, with my coffee. I should have remembered my body doesn’t much like the combination of caffeine, carbohydrates and exercise, and I have been so good about having just hot water with my breakfast every morning, and then making our first rest stop an excuse to have a fresh café con leche. But today’s coffee included a little tiny biscuit and I wolfed it down without thinking. So 2km along the next bit of walking I got dizzy and sweaty, so had to rest longer than usual and that cut into the pattern.

The walking was fairly easy today, not too hilly, past fields of cut hay, and not yet cut sunflowers. But a lot of it was trudging alongside the main motorway. There was no shade and by 11am or so the temperature was closing in on 30 degrees Celcius, as it has done for the best part of the past week. It’s normally wet in this part of the Camino by this time of September and considerably cooler, but we are experiencing a real stretch of hot dry days. Of course this is much, much nicer than cold and wet, and knowing we have ample water with us and a cold shower at the end of our day makes it more bearable. I am really extremely grateful to have heat and dry rather than wet and cold. But today it seemed to be a painful, hot, boring slog and I was almost deliriously happy to stop.

This was our third of six days of walking before our next rest day, but tomorrow is slightly shorter so I may wear my other shoes to see if that helps. It is all part of the Camino experience. And next time, I will give Martin my coffee biscuit!