29 miles, 2,900′ climbing
Mind
The day started at 8ish (breakfast didn’t start until a little before 8). Rain in the morning. Rolling hills all day, mostly filled with wheat field, vineyards, olive trees, and fields of red poppies. I would get to a higher point and look back and see the previous village off in the distance. Wow, it seems like I covered a lot of distance. All the hills are topped with small villages and a church at the highest point.
A mile or two of the trail was on an old Roman road and I crossed a Roman bridge. Pretty amazing.
Fortifying pilgrims for their journey: Fuentes Del Vino (fountain of wine). There was wine on tap, so, you know, when on the Camino! FYI, a water bottle top also double as a wine glass.
Body
The trails were a lot flatter today, so I could run more. It felt nice to jog/cruise along at a modest pace. I definitely slowed down a lot to take pictures and pass people. If I’m honest with myself, I miss the hills. I really enjoy power hiking up the hills and being able to pay less attention to my feet placement. I still look around a lot, but it’s not the same.
After Day 3, my body is tired, but doing amazingly well. I’m still waiting for the inevitable struggles. Adam was a lifesaver in recommending that I bring a small rolling stick, which I use every day.
Foot report: I’m up to two blisters on my right foot. My pinky toe has become a triangle and the bottom is a blister. Luckily taping and toe-socks managed it today. I noticed the second blister on the top of my toe 5-10km in today. Tape, plus changing the laces to pull my foot back made it barely noticeable today.
Spirit
Beautiful churches to pray in today, including an octagonal church of the Holy Sepulichre.
I noticed today that praying while running for longer periods of time is hard and requires more focus, such that I have to actively remind myself to pray.
Common Home
I’m surprised at the amount of garbage on the Camino. I guess I shouldn’t be, since 200-300,000 people walk the Camino every year. Any time you have that many people, you’re bound to see a lot of garbage. A lot is probably just accidental. Outside the town of Sansol, it looked like someone drove their car by the Camino and just let brochures for their Alberque (hostel) fly out of the window. I think I picked up 20-30. I try not to judge (yeah, I’m working on it) and simply pick it up. Luckily in every town we walk by has garbage and recycling containers.