After a full week on the Camino de Santiago I had my hardest day yet today, both physically and mentally.
We started as usual, up at 6 out by 6:15-30. Three of of us started out strong. The two young women I was walking with today are both very fast (fastest I have met yet) walkers. Heather is a resent grad from law school in Perth, Australia taking time off before her job starts (she also did the Inca trail before coming to Spain – what can I say the kid likes to walk) and the other, Katie, is from East London and is a parametric moving to the US to begin a job on a cruise ship out of California. Before we knew it we had lost the trail. That’s the problem with starting in the dark (although I have most days), first out and knowing it is a long day ahead. After figuring out what we had done and getting back on track we had “only” lost about 30mins. They were a little frustrated, I thought is was a little funny (“So what did you do for your sabbatical?” “Oh, I got lost walking in Spain”).
The day was the first really hot one and a constant up and down. While my legs and rest of my body feel great and are serving me well – my feet have decided to object to the walking with three large blisters. I had to stop a couple of times to deal with my foot issues and as you can imagine, I don’t like to stop other than to take pictures – but, quite frankly they hurt.
This was our second 30+ Km (~20 miles) day in a row, my feet hurt, it was hot……… But we made it into Viana (Spain, we didn’t get that lost) around 2:30. By 4:45 I was not feeling very good and realized I had not eaten all day other than some trail mix, water and some very strong coffee.
I ate and felt better. At the time I thought it might be the best meal I have ever had, but in retrospect and the clarity of being able to think straight again, I can say with out a doubt it is the best meal I have had since I have been in Spain – beautifully executed green beans and local ham and roasted chicken with perfectly fried potatoes and caramelized onions.
A long hard day, spent in good and interesting company and ending with a great meal – I am not complaining. Now just to deal with these damn blisters.