Camino Euphoria

59 days to go.

As my foot improved my daily walking had been increasing  up to 12,000 to 15,000 steps.

We had an amazing hike last Tuesday, the first of this year.  We started with temperature of -1 C but by the afternoon it was up to 6 C.  Perfect day for walking. My foot worked as if it was new.  The pain was almost gone and, we did over 15 km on snow (and a bit of ice) in the Nassagawaya Canyon.  The snow is still pretty deep, up to our knees but on the trail the snow is well packed.  We were wearing our Yaktracks (traction cleats for snow and ice) so we had a decent grip on the slopes.  On the trail we had a total gain of about 350 metres). We walked down to the bottom and followed the canyon for a few kilometres, went up the other side to a lookout and then back.  So I figured everything was well.  I was very proud of myself and declared myself ready for El Camino Portugues.

The picture is of Wonder Woman after we climbed up from the canyon on the way back

Friday night as I was getting ready to go to bed, I got up from in front of the TV and I got a very sharp pain in the right knee.  I did not sleep much, I could not find any position where the knee did not hurt.  I think Wonder Woman did not sleep either.  So at 5 am I decided that I needed to go and have it checked.  She took me to ER and we were there by 7 am.  I could barely walk with a cane.  I was sure I had torn or broken something.  They checked me, X rays and all, and the diagnosis was a severe flare up of arthritis.  Me ?  I had never had arthritis before.  I guess the years keep taking its toll.  The good news, the doctor assured me that I should be able to walk in Portugal.

Despite my tire and suspension problems (foot and knee), the Camino euphoria is here.  Yesterday , despite spending the morning at the hospital for the knee, we traveled to the other side of the city to attend an evening presentation that our friend Ron, also a veteran of the Camino Frances,  was doing at his church on his experiences on El Camino last year,

Tonight we are going for dinner to another friends house.  She has invited a couple of her friends that are going to walk el Camino en September for the first time.  She does not know what she is doing.  If you get me to talk about the pilgrimage I will never stop.

So, there are always more  and more obstacles I wonder what else can happen before we board the plane for Portugal.  I guess one of the things we learn on el Camino is to put ourselves on the hands of God.  Once you start your pilgrimage you can plan everyday to the minute but the truth is that the plans very seldom are followed.  You do not know where or when you are going to eat or sleep or rest.

Since we are going to visit the Shrine of Our Lady in Fatima and the Cathedral of the apostle Saint James the Great we just have to trust on the protection of Our Mother Mary and of the apostle Santiago el Mayor.  

Only two months to go

We packed today.  Pretty exciting!!

Equipment:

We are not adding anything to last year packing lists except for bathing suits, we are going to walk on the beach past Porto and the weather should be nice in late May and early June in that area.

We are still missing a few things and my pack is up to 7.2 kg.  I still need to get vaseline (to put them on my feet every morning, it works, last year I did not get any blisters),  we both need new socks and we have not found our brand (Wigwam).  they tell us at both, the Sail store and the Atmosphere store that the spring stock has not arrived yet.  I might have to go all the way to downtown Toronto to the Mountain Equipment Coop store.

Training:

I came back from Santiago with sore feet.  the diagnostic: Plantar Faciatis.  I did not know it could be so painful. My foot is getting better.  Today I have walked 8.5 km and it does not hurt.  The new orthotics and the laser therapy seem to be working.  This is great news for me. Just 3 weeks ago I needed a cane just to go out of the house and I was really beginning to wonder if I would be able to walk el Camino this year.

We attended the Toronto Pilgrims spring meeting last Saturday.  I could not believe the number of people.  The day was still pretty cold but the energy on the room was fantastic. We also had a rally good keynote speaker.  He walked El Camino and the talk was about his experience. But, he is a real comedian so he had us laughing all the time and at the same time he built up our enthusiasm. 

By this time next month we will be in Mexico City visiting family, so everything has to be ready before then.  I also have to deal with the taxes for last year. Not really my favourite task.  Lots of things have to be done.

Tomorrow will be our first hike since before Christmas.  On the one hand my flat tire and on the other one the incredibly cold winter we have had.  We say we will go out on hikes as long as it is not colder than -10 C but this year it was day after day, after day of extreme cold.  Anyway, we have done a lot of mall walking and I discovered that the hall in our condo is 150 steps round trip.  I can go to the hall every couple of hours and walk 600 steps.  That gives me 10,000 steps a day easily or 8 km.  So training has been difficult to say the least but we are doing some walking.

I will find out very soon how much we can walk on the trail.  Today was the fist day over 0 C and tomorrow the temperature  is expected to go up to 6 C.  With all the snow that has accumulated out there we are going to find a lot of slush and mud.  But, it will be fun to finally be OUT!!

Spiritual:

We have the equipment and we are training.  The other aspect of preparation is the spiritual.  I git a couple of books on the Theology of Mary and we also found a book on the apparitions of our Lady at Fatima.  And of course, we are in lent so everything is driving us to be a bit more spiritual.  Last year, my wife says she noticed that I changed in el Camino Frances and for the better.  I hope I can change a bit more this year.

I cannot wait!