Today I am feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. After 27 KM and 31 KM back to back, my body is not so happy with me. We kept walking light today, only 18 KM, and tomorrow we reach León (a rest day). The weather today was not the best...it was overcast this morning and eventually it started raining. I knew it was supposed to rain so I wore my boots which was not the best decision. While I was walking with my head down and my hood up, all I could think about was aches and pains that I have experienced on the Camino (at the time my feet were hurting from the boots).
The Camino isn't a walk for the faint hearted. Your feet will feel like they are falling off, your back will hurt, your knees and hips will ache. While you are dragging yourself up the trail, 75 year olds will pass you and you will feel like the slowest human being alive. Most likely you will get blisters (I currently have 4) and sometimes your toenails will get black and fall off (luckily this has not happened to me). The Camino will test you and push you above and beyond your limits. At times you may want to throw down your trekking poles in frustration and give up. You may want to scream, cry, and quit. But if you continue along the Way, your body will adjust and will allow you to keep going. You will be amazed by what you can accomplish.
An Australian man told us that to get through the day, he thinks about the 6-8 hours after he finishes walking. He can shower, eat, and spend time with friends. Thinking about this daily rest time allows him to keep going. We have tried to start thinking of the hours after walking as mini rest days. Lay in bed, eat tons of ice cream, take a three hour nap, do what you need to do to get mentally ready to wake up and walk again in the morning.
The monotony of the Camino can sometimes get to you. Wake up, eat, walk, eat, walk, shower, eat, sleep and repeat. If you get dragged down by the schedule, keep the end goal in mind and enjoy the 6-8 hours of rest you get each day.
Now on to a recap of the past two days.
Yesterday, June 6, we walked from Terradillos de los Templarios to El Burgo Ranero. It was almost a 31 KM day and pretty much all of it was along a road. We woke up extra early (5:30 AM, ugh) to try and beat the midday heat. The good thing about waking up this early is that you pretty much have the trail to yourself, and you get to see the sun rise.
The trail split today, we could either go the Real Camino route or the old Roman route. We chose the Real Camino since it was most direct and would give us a short day today. The split occurs after a city named Sahagún. When we walked into this city, we were greeted with posters advertising a bull fight scheduled for later this month. Abe really wanted to see a bull fight and if it had been the day we were passing through we probably would have watched.
This day I was wearing my Chacos and I was feeling great. No foot pain, no knee pain, no pain at all. Being pain free allowed me to keep pace with Abe and we moved really quickly down the tree lined path.
Look, Lindy! You're here too giving me encouragement (in the form of your most favorite animal)!
We reached El Burgo Ranero and as dinner got closer, I could tell I hadn't eaten enough during th day. I felt sick and sluggish. I thought I was going to throw up at dinner, but after some very slow eating, I began to feel more normal. I have had problems with my blood sugar and dehydration in the past and yesterday I thought I was done for! Luckily I woke up this morning feeling much more normal. We had 18 KM to do, hardly even 4 hours of walking (easy peasy).
The most exciting thing we did was stop in a town named Reliegos and have our 10 AM bocadillo. The Bar Torre has quite a colorful reputation. It is decorated very interstingly, and on the inside, messages from Pilgrims cover the walls.
Of course we had to leave our own mark.
I drew a snail because we often joke that we are snails. We carry all of our things on our backs and move very slowly. Once a man stamped our Pilgrim Passport with his snail stamp and said "Look! A snail, just like you!". We also see about a million snails on the Way every day.
Who knows where these little guys are headed, but they are always traveling from one side of the road to the other, leaving behind thier funny little snail trails.
We have decided (after much thought and reading) to take the bus into León tomorrow. Apparently it is less well marked than Burgos and just as ugly. It also runs next to a major highway and our book says it can be quite dangerous. I feel quite guilty taking a bus to our next destination, but its only 18 KM of the whole entire Way that I won't walk, so I guess I'll let it slide. This also means that we will technically have two days to rest in León, which sounds wonderful.
Until tomorow, Buen Camino!!
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