Camino Pilgrim

The day started off great. I exited the train station albergue later than usual, at 8am, but my legs felt close to perfect and my speed was good.

I took an oceanside alternative to the next village, Poo. Almost at the border of Poo there were two nuns from Mexico who asked if I was a pilgrim. As a result, they gave me a bag of freshly picked cherries. I tanked them and had a very good time eating them at Celorio beach. The village named Poo just did not feel like a great place to eat…

There were many small villages that passed through quickly. My speed was great and I barely felt any need to pause. I did take a longer pause halfway through the day in Naves and hydrated properly.

I was thinking of another mid-sized break in the next bigger village, but there was a big market happening and all the restaurants seemed full. Instead, I bought myself a cold gazpacho (olive oil and vegetable soup mix) and drank that as I was hiking.

Today was much hotter than usual. Earlier on this Camino it was around 15-17 degrees during the day. Now it is 23 degrees outside. It was not extreme heat, but once reaching the church at Piñeres de Pria, I knew that I had to cool off in the shade of the big church or I would regret it later. There were other pilgrims around, since it was also the entrance point to the albergue next door. I had already booked my place so I kept going.

Reaching Cuerres already took some effort. I was still a good 7km away from my target, but something did not feel quite right. Just to be sure, I ate some packaged cake that Inhad been carrying in my backpack since yesterday morning.

Thinking that I was all better, I pretty much immediately continued. I barely sat a minute in the shade. Something was pushing me to finish fast.

I have been walking non-stop since Naves. I usually took way more time for breaks in the day. I felt hot and uncomfortable. It got so bad that it started turning blue before my eyes when I took the picture of the endless road just two kilometers before finishing. I did pour water into my baseball cap to cool me down. My eyesight became normal again and I pushed forward like nothing happened.

A kilometer before the finish, my right Achilles got some sharp pain and my walking speed halved suddenly. I just felt dead tired and understood that this was already past my limits and going further would do me no good. Still, I was just a kilometer away from my destination.

I slowly walked into Ribadesilla, found my accommodation and immediately jumped into a hot shower to relax the muscles.

I am not completely sure what went wrong today, but I will start tomorrow around sunrise and take lots of breaks. Make sure I eat a lot and drink plenty of fluids.

Today physically should not have been a great challenge. Something went wrong and it makes me worried that I do not fully understand it. I am now halfway there to Santiago. I would rather slow down the next days than forfeit my adventure. The trail today was again really really good. Not that much shade, but an absolute pleasure to walk about.