a (more) broken pilgrim

[andy.d]

I am supposed to be in the middle of walking The Cistercian Way, a 700 mile pilgrimage around Wales. As always when I set off on a long pilgrimage I promised that I would only stop for two reasons: an emergency call from home or a medical professional telling me to stop.

After 10 days I started getting very bad knee pain. Fortunately I was staying at a monastery and two sisters who were trained nurses looked at it and told me to stop walking. (Also my good friend @Bradypus was nearby and arrived with icepacks, painkillers and a bottle of tinto).

I got the train home the next day. An x ray has been clear and the doctor advised me to rest it for a couple of weeks and then to see if I could gently get back into walking.

It's been a little over two weeks now. The pain is mostly gone and I am able to do normal day to day activity. Next week I will see about some short walks. If that is OK, I will do some day walks the week after.
If that goes well I will rejoin my route towards the end of it (I will be doing a talk at Tintern Abbey anyway on October 18th) and finish it with a very light pack.

I have been at peace with all this. The pilgrimage has taken me in a different direction from the one I had expected, and I have had a huge amount of space to reflect, read and pray all this (I will try to put some of this together in the talk in a few weeks - there's also quite a bit about it on the https://pilgrimpace.wordpress.com/
blog).

What I am trying to say in all this is sometimes on Camino an injury means you have to stop. This is not necessarily the end of the pilgrimage or of the journey. It's hard, but see where it leads.

Andy

 

[wayfarer]

Sorry to hear of your injury Andy, there is always the feeling of unfinished business when this happens, hopefully you can complete your pilgrimage when you are recovered.
Buen Camino.

 

[Nanc]

what I love about our caminos, is learning patience and the ability to listen to our bodies. I hear the acceptance in your words and understand the stopping without defeat. And what good friends you have

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A few days into my camino I was noticing pain in one knee so I paid very careful attention to what was happening. My foot was going flat just before the pain. I wadded up some toilet paper and placed it under the boot's insole at the arch. That made things better immediately and after a few days there was no problem at all. It's been over a year and the paper is still there.

 

[andy.d]

Thank you for the replies.
Yes, Wayfarer, there is a feeling of unfinished business. I'm intending to section hike the bits I've missed in weekly sections over the next few years. Perhaps an invitation to journey into it more deeply?

Thanks Rick - I'm not sure what caused the knee damage. I didn't feel anything while walking, rather a very bad pain came on at night. I was carrying a heavy pack as I needed camping equipment, but I had trained with it without problems. I had walked on quite a bit of very quiet tarmac due to lack of paths in Carmarthenshire, so maybe it was a combination of that.

The main thing now I think is gently getting back into some walking and seeing how the knee holds up with it all.

Andy

 

[Older Guy]

I feel that a lot can be learned from endurance sporting events and applied to a pilgrimage. After vigorous exercise the body needs time to rest and recover. As an older guy if week after week I do more than 4 hard workouts I week, I get over-use injuries. Not always the same ones, but I will get injured and need to take a week or two off. I learned this after many years of running. It amazes me that recovery and rest days are not stresses in extended pilgrimages.

 

[Wokabaut_Meri]

...
I have been at peace with all this. The pilgrimage has taken me in a different direction from the one I had expected, and I have had a huge amount of space to reflect, read and pray all this (I will try to put some of this together in the talk in a few weeks - there's also quite a bit about it on the https://pilgrimpace.wordpress.com/
blog).

What I am trying to say in all this is sometimes on Camino an injury means you have to stop. This is not necessarily the end of the pilgrimage or of the journey. It's hard, but see where it leads.

Andy commiserations on your - hopefully - interrupted journey. As I posted in another thread to @BonitaHolland the decision to stop is both a courageous and difficult one to make.

Sorry to hear of your injury Andy, there is always the feeling of unfinished business when this happens, hopefully you can complete your pilgrimage when you are recovered.
Buen Camino.

Yes, the unfinished business aspect of any journey always lingers...

what I love about our caminos, is learning patience and the ability to listen to our bodies. I hear the acceptance in your words and understand the stopping without defeat. And what good friends you have

Nanc, that comment 'stopping without defeat' is beautiful - pure poetry! What a lesson for the ego.

Defeat is never fatal. Victory is never final. It's courage that counts.
(multiple attributions)

 

[donnercruiser]

Take this break as a part of your camino. May it is a sign to slow down yourself and You have to listen more too your body.

 

[Anniesantiago]

The Brecon Canal Walk in Wales is lovely. Only a couple of days along beautiful waterways. Flat. Easy. A good way to get back in shape.

 

[andy.d]

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful comments.
On a practical level, I had taken some rest days - some because I had the opportunity to spend time in retreat with the monks on Caldey, one because I was tired and had somewhere comfortable to stay for the day. I am a big fan of rest days - especially when I find a place that is nourishing.

I am physically very tired, so perhaps it is my body's way of enforcing some rest.

There is lots to learn in all this - some of the lessons are very hard, but they are important - and I guess a lot of this will only become apparent in the future.

I'm looking forward to trying out a couple of short walks next week.

And there definitely is unfinished business, but I will be able to Section Hike the bits I have missed in weekly sections over the next few years

Andy

 

[andy.d]

and the good news is that I walked three miles today without ill effects. The pain in the knee is less than 2 / 10. Still feels a bit loose inside, but the walk hasn't made it worse

 

[andy.d]

Nearly back on the road.
The knee hurts a lot less and I've managed 20km training walks without mishap.
So - I plan to get the train to Abergavenny on Friday to pick up the Cistercian Way Pilgrimage again.
(along with attending the Small Pilgrim Places Conference on Saturday and giving a talk at Tintern Abbey on Tuesday).
The days should all be relatively short stages. I will carry as light a load as possible.
Prayers!

I'll get the knee properly looked at when I get home.