Aches and Pains....

As I sit in a quiet bar by the main Camino route here in Mansillas, reflecting on the restorative nature of a night's sleep after yesterday's madness, I can see today's pilgrims drifting into town in various states of elation and discomfort. As you walk the Camino you can not help but notice the number of people who are carrying some form of injury. While some people stride confidently ahead many others are more tentative. Knee supports are a common sight and more elaborate strapping and taping are sometimes seen supporting the Achilles, something I have not seen before. At every stop tired, aching and blistered feet are being aired and rested and the injuries you carry are a regular conversation topic. This trip is understandably punishing on the legs, knees, ankles and feet and there are people I have met - and stories of many more - who are taking days off under medical advice to recover from shin splints or severe blisters.

Walking day after day may be punishing but it is unclear to me the link between preparedness and injuries; people who tell me they have trained are suffering whereas others who claim to have come unprepared are not. People who I can see are strong both mentally and physically are having more difficulty than others I would have expected to be more challenged. I can only think that some foot shapes are better suited to extended walking than others which for once makes me grateful for my Hobbit feet; so far I have been blessed with suffering nothing of consequence, even after yesterday’s extended walk. I am hopeful that now I have passed the halfway point my body has been suitably 'broken in' and apart from the usual aches and pains of a long walk my feet should see me through to Santiago and beyond.

Whatever the rationale for developing injuries the Camino is well set up to meet your needs should you develop them. At the outskirts of small villages and towns are makeshift posters for massages and chiropodists and foot specialists. And a string of pharmacists have established themselves more or less on the route of the Camino as it passes through towns and villages; wall to wall products aimed at the suffering walker, from every form of leg or knee or ankle support to blister products and various medications to get you and your suffering body through the day, are available and at very reasonable prices. Another example of how, on the Camino, local people seem to support those that help their economy rather than fleece them.