“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” and so goes the tale of our feet as we walk the Camino.
Never before have we given so much attention to the maintenance of our feet (well at least B and Kat, Z gets like bi-weekly pedicures). In the past week, these feet have been massaged, vaselined over and over, bandaged up, soaked in water, rubbed with tiger balm, … you name it, we have done it! At the same time, they have taken a serious battering! Climbing up and down hills/mountains, walking on gravel trails with loose stones along with tarmac roads. We are now clocking in at around the 100+ mile mark and they sure have been screaming at us in agony from time to time.
I have to say, there is nothing quite like the sense of relief and ecstasy you feel when you first get to take those shoes off after a long walking session. Thing is though, about 5 mins later the throbbing commences and having to take any steps after a little break is sheer agony. Amazing to see the resilience of the human body though as when you slowly keep moving them, the pain does start to diminish and off you go again for another 10km, or a siesta!
Written by Kat Holmlund
So, despite the TLC we have been giving our feet, and the super-dooper walking shoes we have, B and Kat are both getting blisters forming. Seems these are still very modest though compared to what other people are having to go through. This little gem below on Kat’s little toe has since gone through a draining process and fingers crossed, will proceed to be infection free.
Evenings are dedicated to the airing of the feeties. Kat and Z swear by Sanuk flip flops made from recycled yoga mats. These flip flops just make you smile as your feet feel so good in them in the evenings as we walk around the towns.
And so goes the tale of our feet every day as we walk the Camino. I want to give a shout out to Amanda Enayati for inspiring me to write this post after some messaging on Facebook.