I’m probably not far from Hornillos now, steadily climbing over the hill that I know comes before the village. It’s one of those hills that gently rises and you think you’ll come to the top, only to find another gentle rise before you as you come around the bend.
I felt like an early start today, so I actually woke up at 5:30. By the time I had packed, done my stretching exercises and had a tasty breakfast I was on the road by 6:30. It’s quite chilly at this time in the morning, but I’m sure within 10 or 15 minutes I ‘ll have warmed up enough, to start eating my egg sandwich that I made the night before, that is warming up in my pocket.
As I’m walking through this beautiful countryside today, I’m just reflecting on whether my decision was right to make this a solo journey. I think for me at this particular time, it was the right decision. Of course everyone walks the Camino at different stages of their life, and for many different reasons.
I’ve been walking for about 2 and a half hours now, on the stretch from Castrojeriz to Fromista. The walk was quite interesting in the early stages with a big hill to climb out of Castrojeriz and views across the open Meseta with quite a cool wind blowing. We’re now down near a thousand year old bridge as you can see on the video.
I’m walking today along the senda from Fromista to Carrión and it’s one of those days where my mood is not so buoyant. I don’t know whether it’s the overcast day, or the boredom of the straight path next to the road. I expect I’ll just be putting my head down, and counting the kilometers, until we reach Carrión.
The walk today will be a bit of a challenge for many reasons. It’s almost 27 kilometers and I’m finding my comfortable distance is 20-22 kilometers so I know I’ll be pushing the last section. Also the weather forecast is for 28 degrees, and a very high probability of rain. And to add to that, this is the section where the first village and water stop is 17 kilometers.
I was pondering on this this morning. It’s an overcast day, which always seems to affect my mood. But it wasn’t just that. I feel like I’ve gone through an enormous transformation already on this Camino. There was the physical stage, initially just getting used to the walk. Then I guess you would call it the stage of relaxation as I started to get into the rhythm of the walk.
Today was not easy. For many reasons. Some of those internal struggles have resurfaced, and took up much of my thinking time today. But also of concern, was the physical. About 5 kilometers from Leon I started getting pains in the front of my shins. Oh no, I thought, not shin splints!
Today was a day of relaxation and recuperation. I slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, and then went in search of a good physio. A very helpful receptionist at my hotel managed to arranged a physio at the other side of town, so I caught a taxi over there. The physio center was obviously of a very high quality, as depicted around the walls with all the newspaper cuttings of the famous sports people who used the facility.
I’ve tried to take it easy today to give my legs a bit of a break so it’s been slow and easy. And of course more chances to reflect. At lunch yesterday in Leon, I was sharing some Camino stories with three other guys that I have met off and on over the last couple of weeks. And we all came to the conclusion that sharing these stories with someone who hasn’t walked the Camino, who hasn’t gone through the physical, emotional and spiritual journey, is sometimes very difficult.
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