If I am to be honest about this venture, I need to share the concerns as well as the enthusiasm. My training has fallen into a big hole. A bout of shingles a few weeks ago has drained all my energy and I can’t even walk to the end of the alley without feeling exhausted. A few of the symptoms returned at the weekend but fortunately haven’t developed further. How on earth am I going to walk 300 or so kilometres when right now I can’t manage 300 metres?
In exactly six weeks we will be in Porto, with a three-day rest before setting off on Friday, 6 May. Is six weeks enough time to recover usual energy levels? It will have to be. We have just one chance at this. Too far. Too expensive. Too old. Birthdays, while I am beyond grateful to still be having them, are always reminders that there are more years behind than ahead, and last week there was just such a memory jog.
The first day’s walk is the longest – 36 km. We can save 10km by catching the metro to the river mouth but that feels a bit disappointing. Porto Cathedral to Santiago Cathedral is the goal. One thought is get our credencial stamped at the Cathedral on Thursday, walk the 20km to the river mouth and back, have a good night’s sleep then catch the metro on Friday to set off along the coast. That might work.
But the current dilemma is rest or train? There’s a good argument for each.
Doubt can only be removed by action. Goethe
twowalktosantiago 