NOTE: Day by day commentary is a bit dull, even for me. I plan some more (hopefully) insightful posts in addition to the day by day; keep your eyes peeled for a different title style if you’re a skim-reader!

Another very tiring, very fulfilling day, in which Jess discovered that (1) her mood is directly dependent on the amount of sunshine and (2) she is not allergic to stinging nettles, which happen to be EVERYWHERE, and were kind enough to only graze her knee during a visit to the bush. 😉

Good news: My rain gear works.

Today we encountered the famed ankle-deep mud of the Camino Primitivo.

Fact: Kilometers are 49.7% longer when they’re made of sticky mud. Pretty sure it’s a well accepted fact in Europe.

Additional Fact: Jess replaced the weight lost through urination by caking layers of mud on her boots.

We thankfully only had to brace the rain for about 1.5 hours this morning, after Jess played the idiot and packed her headlamp deep in her pack for the pre-dawn start. Julia saved the day again…or at least kept my stuff dry. The mud was a struggle much of the morning. We swapped for walking roadside for the majority of the afternoon; really not sure which I prefer. My feet don’t particularly enjoy pounding the pavement.

Speaking of my feet… zero blisters! But with each successive day, the entire sole of each foot aches earlier and earlier into the miles (over 50 so far). I’m anticipating that the aching will eventually just stop going away. That will make it easier to accommodate each day, I suppose. 😉

Other aches include R ASIS, R lateral malleolus, B vastus medialis, B TFL (I’ve already raised purpura with my ITB raking). Feeling especially grateful to have nearly absent joint pain, particularly the knees. Julia and I have been faithful with stretching morning and night, plus some, and carrying my tennis ball has been worth every ounce for self STM. All in all, holding together! The human body is truly amazing (though I occasionally wonder why I’ve chosen to test it so).