A brief PSA:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EME!

😁😁

We took our time this morning, partially out of compassion for me and my difficulty dragging myself out of bed after waking for a phone interview scheduled for 2:30am Spain time (7 hr time difference can be a bugger) and having difficulty falling back to sleep after rousing myself to wakeful-sounding voice and trying to be impressive whilst shivering on the patio and watching moths crawl about.

I’d also stayed up a bit later to trial some foot taping techniques to combat my sore soles. Calcaneal fat pad taping is THE BOMB (jury still out on KT tape for metatarsalalgia). My feet look like they belong to Raggedy Ann, but I didn’t notice foot discomfort until km 15-16, which I would consider normal for spending 10 miles on your feet on pavement! I also used some KT tape for a fellow pilgrim for some posterior tib tendinitis; so worth it to bring the tapes!

Upon leaving Ferreira, we hadn’t quite decided where we would stay for the night, but headed toward Melide for lunch with the idea that we could get lodging there if we so chose. Walking over 20 km to find food is a bit long; for the last 4-5 I was spurred on by thoughts of hot sopa de verduras or bocadillo con pollo.

About 12 km into our jaunt, I returned from a full squat (from, uh, behind a bush) with my backpack on and felt a twinge in my left lateral knee. I knew it wasn’t muscle, so I paid very close attention as I walked to catch my walking partners. After a standing rest of less than a minute, my knee told me it would go no further for the time being. They sat and rested while I stretched and mobilized and tested to the best of my ability. (WARNING: PT speak, eyes may glaze over:) I was grateful to find a negative Thessaly’s and a painfree lunge/squat, but full active extension reproduced my knee pain. I attempted passive motion, but this is somewhat tricky when sitting on a centuries-old rock wall and trying to lift your hiking boot with the wrist strap of a trekking pole. After some stretching and mobs, I felt a cavitation and noted less pain with extension, but could palpate some minor crepitus laterally. Knowing how important my knees are to me, I gingerly performed repeated movements until able to walk, lunge, squat, and pivot without pain. The knee only bothered on descents and when we stopped moving, up until full relief following an hourlong sitting break when we finally reached Melide.

Whew.

PT fears! Feeling no knee pain with the 6-8 km following lunch. Working hard at keeping joints happy!

Tonight, I got to share nueces y castañas with Rafa, Julio, and Victor, three members of a group of jovial Spaniards we keep running into. What a joy to meet more and more people! We really do feel like a Primitivo family, especially after passing through Melide, where the Camino Primitivo meets with the much larger and much more popular Camino Frances. We quickly changed from seeing a dozen other hikers per day to that quantity per minute. The beautiful trail markers that Galicia erected to guide peregrinos have all been defaced, souvenirs pried and chipped away from them, hikers’ names scribbled on each one.

We three Camigas – Julia, Ivy, and myself – all expressed our strong preference for the pre-Melide track.

Exuberant waves and hearty exchanges of tales of the trail were even more prevalent between the Primitivos tonight. We feel a bond that the Frances walkers aren’t welcome or privy to. Amazing how going through common trials melds a group together!